Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bust - Chicago, IL
Posted by: adgorn
N 41° 45.360 W 087° 39.287
16T E 445565 N 4622892
This sculptural bust of Dr. King is located in front of new recreational facility recently named by the Chicago Park District in his honor.
Waymark Code: WMJVPB
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 01/04/2014
Views: 4
More from the Chicago Park District website (
visit link)
"LOCATION: 1219 W. 76th Street
INSTALLED: 2004
SCULPTOR: Tina Allen
Clergyman, activist, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) had strong ties with Chicago. He helped launch a campaign called the Chicago Freedom Movement to create opportunities and improve living conditions in minority neighborhoods. He brought national attention to the need for housing reform by moving his own young family to the depressed west side in 1966. He was deeply mourned by Chicagoans after his assassination two years later. This sculptural bust of Dr. King is located in front of new recreational facility recently named by the Chicago Park District in his honor. Its sculptor, Tina Allen (1949–2008) was inspired by Dr. King’s “lasting contributions to American life and the universal admiration of his significant quest for justice and human rights.” For Allen producing lifelike sculptures of important figures could be likened to “writing our history in bronze.” She believed that it was particularly meaningful to make sculptures of recognizable people of color. The artist was especially devoted to memorializing individuals who worked to ensure justice, freedom, and equality for all people. The $20,000 sculpture was funded through donations from the 17th Ward Democratic organization and the St. Sabina Outreach Ministry, and support from the Chicago Park District."
The plaque on the front reads:
"Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tina Allen, Sculptor, 2004
'We must go out with grim and bold determination to free ourselves.
We must desegregate our minds.
We must believe and know that we are somebody.
We must not allow anybody to make us feel that we are inferior.'
From an address by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
To the Chicago Freedom Movement Rally
Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
Sunday July 10, 1966"
Learn more about the adjacent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park recreational facility at (
visit link)
Just happened to find this while driving by with #1 son.