The Builders, 20745 M-60 East, Cassopolis MI

This eye-catching sculpture complex sits right on M-60 and we did a quick turn around in the car to see what it was. It stands next to K & M Machine Fabricating, whose employees did all the fabricating of this work designed by Kirk Newman.

The tallest steel pieces stand 50 feet high and the bronze figures are life-sized and represent a welder, a machinist, a foreman, and a manager.

The plaque is hard to read but it states that "The Builders" is dedicated to the people of the metal working industry. (The name Earl G. Marhanka is beneath the inscription; Marhanka was the founder of K & M Machine Fabricating, Inc.)

It's a striking and impressive work of art, and very accessible so don't pass it by.

 

Underground Railroad Sculpture, 256 W Van Buren, Battle Creek MI ~ May, 2021

Our first attempt to see the sculpture took place last February 😊

We returned last May and had a much better visit.

Erastus and Sarah Hussey were Quakers and abolitionists who started hiding escaping slaves in 1840. Their home became one of the main stations on the Underground Railroad in Battle Creek. Erastus and Harriet Tubman are featured on the front of the monument. There is no evidence Tubman ever set foot in Michigan but the contributions of the "Black Moses" are well-known and made her a national hero. 

One side of the monument depicts the Husseys helping escaping slaves into their home, and the details of the entire sculpture are impressive.

Harriet Tubman is shown on the other side leading slaves to their freedom.

The sculpture is 14 feet tall land 28 feet long and is the largest Underground Railroad Sculpture in the U.S. It was designed by Ed Dwight and dedicated in 1993. Besides being a well-known sculptor, Dwight was an air force jet pilot in 1962 when President Kennedy nominated him as an astronaut trainee. Dwight would have been the first African-American astronaut. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, NASA dropped Dwight from the program. 

Ed Dwight has two other well-known sculptures in Michigan: Rosa Parks in Grand Rapids and another Underground Railroad sculpture in Detroit.

Ed Dwight may not have made history with NASA but he's doing his part to help us remember our history.