EJI’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park has been named by Travel + Leisure as an essential American experience—one of 50 standout spaces to explore in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
The premier global travel magazine selected one experience in each state that it recommends to visitors who wish to explore the world’s third-largest country on its 250th anniversary.
Travel + Leisure’s recommendation for Alabama is EJI’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in downtown Montgomery. Before it opened to the public in 2024, the magazine previewed the 17-acre park on the banks of the Alabama River as “a tribute to America’s enslaved people.”
“Throughout the park, powerful artworks, artifacts, and narratives confront the legacy of slavery while honoring those who endured it,” Travel + Leisure writes in its latest edition. “The site also recognizes deeper Indigenous history, including Muscogee connections to the land.”
The centerpiece of the site is the National Monument to Freedom, which as the magazine notes, “honors four million formerly enslaved people, with nearly 120,000 surnames from the 1870 census engraved on its walls.”
For formerly enslaved people who survived the horrors of slavery, the 1870 census provided the first opportunity to exercise newfound liberty and express deeply rooted hope for the future by officially registering chosen family names.
The names engraved on the National Monument to Freedom represent millions of Black families today. Visitors can use their phones or a provided tablet to search for family names on the monument, which they can reach out and touch.
And they can explore family history in greater detail at the visitor center, where kiosks provide access to our census database.
The highly acclaimed Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is one of four Legacy Sites created by EJI to deepen visitors’ understanding of American history.
At the Legacy Sites, we use first-person narratives, innovative technology, and world-class art to create a powerfully immersive experience in the very places where history happened.
“Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is a special place for millions of people who want to reckon with the history of slavery and honor the lives of people who endured tremendous hardship but still found ways to love in the midst of sorrow,” said EJI director Bryan Stevenson. “Many of us are the heirs to that extraordinary perseverance and hope. There is a lot to learn at this site and we want everyone to experience it.”
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Nearly 120,000 names representing millions of Black families are engraved on the National Monument to Freedom.
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Mama, I Hurt My Hand by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park
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Visitors can reach the park by taking a free boat ride on the Alabama River.
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Waiting for Auction by Vinnie Bagwell at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park
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The world-class art at EJI’s sculpture park animates an unforgettable journey through American history.