Civil Rights & Social Justice

The Lead

GALLERY: Harrisburg’s newest monument honors voting rights, Old 8th Ward

By: Cassie Miller - August 26, 2020 6:56 pm

Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller

On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Tom Wolf, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and a slew of state legislators met outside the Capitol to unveil Harrisburg’s newest monument.

Unveiled on the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment and the centennial of the 19th Amendment, the bronze monument depicts four statues of influential Harrisburg residents from the 1800s: William Howard Day, civil rights pioneer; Frances Harper, abolitionist and suffragette; Jacob T. Compton, sergeant in the U.S. Colored Infantry; and T. Morris Chester, Civil War correspondent.

Half an hour before the dedication ceremony, the line to be some of the first to see the monument wrapped around the south end of the Capitol lawn.

Quite the line to see the monument! pic.twitter.com/Ej8PqpYYDZ

— Cassie Miller (@Wordsby_CassieM) August 26, 2020

: Pittsburgh Rep. Ed Gainey (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

: State Sen. Sharif Street (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

: Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller

: Department of General Services Secretary Curt Topper (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

: Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at a dedication event for a new monument on the Capitol lawn (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

: (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

: At the dedication, members of the community spoke about what the new monument means to them (Capital-Star photo by Cassie Miller).

A monument at the Capitol will honor Harrisburg’s long-gone immigrant and African American neighborhood

The plan for the monument was announced in January at an event in the Capitol’s main rotunda.

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Cassie Miller

A native Pennsylvanian, Cassie Miller worked for various publications across the Midstate before joining the team at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. In her previous roles, she has covered everything from local sports to the financial services industry. Miller has an extensive background in magazine writing, editing and design. She is a graduate of Penn State University where she served as the campus newspaper’s photo editor. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in professional journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to her role at the Capital-Star, Miller enjoys working on her independent zines, Dead Air and Infrared. Follow her on Twitter: @Wordsby_CassieM.