When it comes to Freedom Park in downtown Raleigh, my camera and I can’t seem to win.
The park comprises an acre and almost a full half-block bounded by Jones, Lane and Wilmington streets and flanked to the west by the North Carolina legislative building, on the east by the Executive Mansion (governor’s official residence) and on the south by the State Archives Building.
The park’s website (follow link in lead paragraph) says the park’s purpose is to provide “a deep reverence for the unyielding spirit of the African American struggle for freedom.” Furthermore, the website says, the park “stands as a timeless tribute to the universal ideals of liberty, resilience and equality.”
When I did my lengthy downtown walk-through shoot in March 2023, the park was under construction. I took a few construction pictures, but I left the site disappointed in my timing, largely because I don’t get to downtown very often. Freedom Park opened officially in August of that year, just five months after I’d been there.
So when I did my recent downtown shoot on May 17, I figured I’d finally be able to do a photo profile of the park. Alas, access to significant portions of it was roped off with yellow construction tape.
Apparently there is nothing major to worry about, but the tape is used to restrict access to certain areas when landscaping or new plantings are going in. The park is managed by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission.
In the center of the park stands a 45-foot Beacon of Freedom, which lights at dusk each evening. The park also includes 20 “Voices of Freedom” — powerful words of North Carolina African Americans — inscribed in the rust-colored low-rise walls. My photos in this post provide evidence of a few of those.
Fortunately, I obtained permission to use the first photo below, a drone shot of a large portion of the park, from award-winning architectural photographer Keith Isaacs, whose photos of the park adorn the Freedom Park website. The remaining images below Keith’s are mine from May 17.
To view a full gallery of images from my shoot, follow the link in this sentence.
Coming tomorrow: Homes, buildings in Downtown Raleigh’s Blount Street Historic District
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