Is MLK about to get his due in Plainfield at last?

There is no signage at MLK Plaza in front of the YWCA
indicating it honors the slain civil rights leader.

By contrast, signage honoring the late Mayor Rick Taylor
on Court Place went up right away after it was designated.

Is Dr. King about to get his due in Plainfield at last?

Sixty-one years after King's assassination and 35 years after Plainfield named a public space in honor of the civil rights leader, MLK Plaza still sits without any public indication of its existence.

But that may be about to change.

I have always known that the brick-paved square in front of the YWCA and including a short stretch of Church Street was named in honor of Dr. King.

When I worked on the YWCA's capital fundraising campaign, we made special note of the Plaza's existence.

But there seems never to have been a sign.

Community activist Norman Deen Muhammad emailed me a few days ago wondering why no sign has ever been erected.

In my reply, I noted this was strange since the City had promptly erected a sign on Court Place when the Council designated that street "Richard Taylor Way".

Muhammad sent along a PDF of a Courier news story from August 22, 1983, concerning the dedication of the plaza.

The naming of the project -- which, according to the story, was already being planned but with another name -- was an initiative of the late councilwoman Helen Miller and was supported by then-City Administrator Jerome Harris.

I forwarded his email to several council members whose emails I have on my phone.

Just after midnight that night, Council President McRae emailed me saying, "this is in the process of being addressed by the administration."

Hopefully, that means you can expect to see some signage on this corner soon.

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 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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