Building on the opening of the Walker County African American Museum in December, organizers have released plans for a Walker County African American memorial park near the museum in LaFayette, Georgia.
The park will feature six or seven granite monuments honoring prominent Walker County African Americans, as well as trees, picnic tables, an American flag, green space and plantings, organizers say. They said the park, on West Villanow and Oak streets, will open when $300,000 needed to build the park is raised.
“We want all of Walker County to come enjoy it, and while they’re enjoying it, maybe learn a little more history about Walker County beyond the Confederate era,” according to Beverly Foster, founder and president of the Walker County African American Historical and Alumni Association.
Founded in 2002, the association is organizing both Walker County’s African American museum and park.
In a phone call, Foster said one of her group’s goals is to tell Walker County’s more recent history because the majority of what’s commemorated in the county is focused on Civil War history.