AZ Central, AZ
Oct 26 2006
Plaza memorials a portal to state’s diversity
27 monuments at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza offer lasting reminders
of topics important to Arizonans
Angela Cara Pancrazio
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
Most of the time, with the exception of Memorial Day and Veterans
Day, the only regulars at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza are state
workers on a stroll or schoolchildren on a field trip.
Recently, attention has focused on the Arizona 9/11 Memorial because
of its inscriptions, which some consider disrespectful.
But Alice Duckworth, the bespectacled tour coordinator at the Arizona
Capitol Museum and the unofficial point person for the monuments,
says there is much more to be seen on the 10-acre plaza between Adams
and Jefferson streets in Phoenix. advertisement
Ask Duckworth anything about the 27 monuments outside the state
Capitol, and no doubt she will note some interesting tidbit like the
one about the time capsules buried among the memorials.
If she can’t answer your question, she will go straight to what she
calls her brain: a three-ring notebook swollen with pictures and
stories about each monument.
Because the 9/11 Memorial’s future is uncertain, Duckworth has not
yet added any photos or information about it to her notebook.
On the plaza, east of the state Capitol, stand the silent reminders
of everything from law enforcement canines that have been killed in
the line of duty to Armenians who survived the genocide of their
people in Turkey in the early 20th century and made their way to
Arizona.
It’s an eclectic display, a portal into the state’s diversity.
In Arizona memory
Spread across 10 acres, Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza is the V-shaped
centerpiece at the state Capitol. Monuments there commemorate fallen
peace officers and soldiers from the Civil War, World Wars I and II,
Korean War, Vietnam War and Desert Storm. Fund-raising efforts are
under way for a tribute to soldiers of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The plaza’s monuments also honor crime victims, pioneer women, a
Franciscan chaplain, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Wesley
Bolin.
Before his brief four-month stint as governor in 1977, Bolin was
Arizona secretary of state for 28 years. He died in March 1978. The
plaza was dedicated in 1983.
The plaza’s monuments and memorials:
Wesley Bolin Memorial Marker
Father Kino Statue
Bushmasters Memorial
Arizona Pioneer Women Memorial
Ten Commandments Memorial
Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial
4th Marine Division, World War II
Law Enforcement Memorial
World War I Memorial
Confederate Troops Memorial
Jewish War Veterans Memorial
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Armenian Martyrs Memorial
Desert Storm Memorial
American Merchant Seaman Memorial
Father Braun Memorial
Arizona Peace Officers Memorial
Korean War Memorial
USS Arizona mast
USS Arizona anchor
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Ernest W. McFarland Memorial
Purple Heart Memorial
Arizona Workers Memorial/ El Pasaje
Arizona Crime Victims Monument
Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Memorial
Arizona 9/11 Memorial
