In Gold Star Park in Albion, Michigan, is a marker that shares the names of World War II and Korean War heroes who fell in the struggle for American Democracy. Nearby is a beautiful River Birch that was planted to honor a woman who fell in the American Struggle for Civil Rights.
Viola Liuzzo was a young mother from Detroit who had travelled South to Alabama inspired by a visit to her church by Reverend Martin Luther King. Viola Liuzzo was murdered on March 25, 1965, by Ku Klux Klansmen who shot her in her head as she transported civil rights marchers along the road from Selma to Montgomery. She was the only white woman to fall in the 1960s struggle for Civil Rights. Her name is engraved in the beautiful memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center at Montgomery, Alabama. designed by Maya Lin, the architect who created the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
In the late 1990s, we were introduced to Viola’s son Anthony Liuzzo by Barbara Gladney. With Anthony, Barbara, Sharon Ponds and others, we planted the tree at Gold Star Park in memory of Anthony’s mother. A marker was intended for the tree but did not materialize. It is not too late to remember this courageous Michigan heroine.
Wayne State University. May, 2015
For more about Viola Liuzzo, see:
WES & LES -- MORE OR LESS 
How do you suggest we get a marker or monument?
LikeLike
Since it is a city park, we would need approval. Wes corresponded with Mayor Domingo a number of years ago. Sharon Ponds initiated the planting. We should engage her and other interested parties to see if we could finish the project before it is forgotten.
LikeLike
We would need approval by the City to place a marker. Wes discussed it with Mayor Domingo, but nothing came of it. It would be good to reconnect with those who initiated the planting. I think it should be done soon before all who remember have forgotten or are are gone.
LikeLike