National Memorial for Peace and Justice
National memorial in Montgomery, Alabama that commemorates the victims of lynching in the United States
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, is a memorial to commemorate the black victims of lynching in the United States. It is intended to focus on and acknowledge past racial terrorism and advocate for social justice in America. Founded by the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative, it opened in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018.
It consists of a memorial square with 805 hanging steel rectangles representing each of the U.S. counties where a documented lynching took place. It includes sculptures depicting themes related to racial violence.
The monument was positively received by architectural critics, activists, and the general public. Philip Kennicott of The Washington Post described it as "one of the most powerful and effective new memorials created in a generation".
Background
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice was created by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) on a six-acre site in the downtown area of Montgomery, Alabama. The memorial opened to the public April 26, 2018. The memorial is connected to The Legacy Museum, which opened the same day, near the site of a former market in Montgomery where enslaved people were sold.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “National Memorial for Peace and Justice” as national memorial in Montgomery, Alabama that commemorates the victims of lynching in the United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as national memorial in Montgomery, Alabama that commemorates the victims of lynching in the United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28335255. Authority coordinates are 32.372, -86.313. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2018.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “National Memorial for Peace and Justice”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow National Memorial for Peace and Justice primary sources, National Memorial for Peace and Justice archive and National research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “National Memorial for Peace and Justice”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “National Memorial for Peace and Justice” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.