LeMoyne Arts to Host Dedication Ceremony Honoring Tallahassee’s Civil Rights Legacy
Donors and families to share stories of the individuals commemorated in the garden. The public is invited.
LeMoyne Arts will host the African American Tribute Garden Dedication Ceremony on Thursday, October 1, 2026, from 10 a.m. to noon. The community is invited to attend the ceremony, which will bring together donors, their friends and families, community leaders, elected officials and LeMoyne supporters to celebrate the lives and legacies represented in the garden.
The African American Tribute Garden is a permanent tribute to individuals who were at the forefront of the struggle for social justice and civil rights in Tallahassee and the surrounding region. The names of the honorees, selected by the garden’s donors, appear on a commemorative plaque in the garden.
During the October 1 ceremony, donors and families will share the personal significance of the individuals they have chosen to recognize and reflect on their enduring impact on Tallahassee. These oral histories will be recorded to create an audio archive that will become part of LeMoyne’s permanent collection, preserving these accounts for future generations.
Former Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, who is among the donors supporting the garden, describes the project as an expression of generational pride.
“This is about what it means to be proud of our forefathers and foremothers — they worked hard, they endured, they suffered for us. And we ought not to be reticent about thinking about them, praising them, and what they did for this country.”
At the heart of the African American Tribute Garden is Plus, a sculpture by artist Fred Holschuh that was given to LeMoyne in memory of Irene C. Edmonds by her Friends and Family in 1969.
Edmonds was a prominent Florida A&M University humanities and theatre professor whose work influenced generations of young people in Tallahassee. The sculpture’s presence in the garden connects the project to an important part of the city’s African American cultural and educational history.
The initiative is chaired by Carol Neyland, a LeMoyne Board Member, native Tallahasseean and former participant in Irene Edmonds’ children’s theater program. The daughter of Florida A&M University faculty members Dr. Joseph Awkard and Dr. Julita Awkard, Neyland remembers Edmonds and the opportunities she helped create for young people in Tallahassee. For Neyland, leading the garden initiative is also a way to recognize Edmonds, her own parents and their generation of community leaders.
“LeMoyne Arts is honored to provide a place where these stories can be preserved and shared,” said Arielle Raff, Executive Director of LeMoyne Arts. “The African American Tribute Garden reflects the power of personal memory and collective history. Each name represents a life that mattered, and together these honorees help us better understand the people and experiences that shaped our community.”
The African American Tribute Garden will remain part of the LeMoyne Arts campus, offering visitors a place for reflection and remembrance and a meaningful connection to the people and history that helped shape Tallahassee and the surrounding region.
Event Details
Dedication Ceremony
Thursday, October 1, 2026
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
LeMoyne Arts
125 N. Gadsden Street
Tallahassee, Florida
