African-American Cultural Garden receives Ohio historical marker on Juneteenth

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - On Monday, hundreds gathered at the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland to commemorate the Juneteenth holiday.

Many say this place holds significance because civil rights activists fought for more than 16 years to get the space until it was finally dedicated in 1977 on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

“We could come over here, it was nothing but dirt because everybody else had their spot but us and we would carry water, shovels and dirt, all of that in our cars. We would cultivate what we claimed was our own. And a lot of our elders, my elders have crossed but some of them were able to see it, the manifestation of holding on,” said Lady Gilmore, Board Elder of the Black Women Commission of Cuyahoga County and the Domestic Violence Program Purple Heart Association.

The garden isn’t finished but the progress continues, one that several are taking notice and ownership of.

Just before 1 pm, the Cleveland Restoration Society recognized those efforts with a new addition: an Ohio historical marker.

There are approximately 1,750 Historical Markers in the state of Ohio but this is the 5th marker as part of Cleveland’s Civil Rights Trail.

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