St. Jude's iconic sculpture garden spruced up in west Montgomery
They gathered Saturday, on the 58th anniversary of the culmination of the Selma to Montgomery March, to unveil a rebirth of sorts of the sculpture garden at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Oak Street.
It was here on March 24, 1965, on the campus of St. Jude, where tens of thousands of marchers camped overnight before continuing on to the state Capitol. It’s known as Campsite No. 4 on the Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail.
The garden is on city property, and the centerpiece of the low brick-walled plaza is a steel arched structure symbolizing the iconic shape of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and images of marchers starting on the last leg of the week-long journey. The sculpture was sited in 2015, the 50th Anniversary of the march.
The spot had fallen into a state of neglect, neighborhood folk say, with trees growing in the beds. Enter the City of Montgomery and a coalition of those same neighborhood folk, to do a little sprucing up.
New shrubs, rosebushes and flowers have gone in. Mulch has been spread.
“It is serving as a gateway once again, a gateway we can be proud of,” said District 4 City Councilwoman Audrey Graham, who represents the area.
And this is just the beginning. With an eye toward the 60th anniversary celebration, benches are going in, shade trees will be planted, and plaques will be placed to tell the story of the march, a high point of the civil rights movement.
The updated sculpture garden should become a place for people to reflect, said Jocelyn Zanzot, urban design planner for Montgomery and one of the people who worked on the design and implementation.
“Every year we need to pause and renew the collaboration that was required to get to the dream,” she said.
Nelson Malden remembers that night at the campsite 58 years ago. He was there, along with marchers, movement leaders, famous singers and Hollywood stars. He was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s barber.
“Do you know why the campsite was here?” he asked the crowd gathered at the unveiling, pausing to inject that he had bought a new pair of loafers to complete the march the next day. “They had asked for a permit to camp, but Montgomery wouldn’t give a permit.”
St. Jude offered the site for the camp, he said. That last night included concerts as a celebration for what was behind them, and the promise of the next day.
“Tony Bennett got on the stage and said, ‘I left my heart in San Francisco, but I found my soul in Alabama,” Malden remembered.
The celebration continued Saturday afternoon, just a few blocks down Oak Street, the route marchers took before turning right at five points, crossing under Interstate 65 and heading to the Capitol. Kevin King, of Kings Canvas, helped put on a block party, arts show and concert.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: St. Jude's iconic sculpture garden spruced up in west Montgomery
