Quakertown memorial ideas include garden, sculptures and augmented reality – Denton Record Chronicle

A few clouds. Low 42F. SSW winds shifting to N at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..
A few clouds. Low 42F. SSW winds shifting to N at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Updated: December 2, 2022 @ 4:19 pm
Arthur Logan, a Quakertown resident, is shown in a portrait during World War I. Rev. Reginald Logan from the Southeast Denton Neighborhood Association is a a descendent and working with Denton Parks and Recreation to develop a memorial honoring Quakertown.
The historic Logan House in Quakertown. 

Arthur Logan, a Quakertown resident, is shown in a portrait during World War I. Rev. Reginald Logan from the Southeast Denton Neighborhood Association is a a descendent and working with Denton Parks and Recreation to develop a memorial honoring Quakertown.
The historic Logan House in Quakertown. 
Denton Parks and Recreation held its second public meeting to discuss several options for a permanent memorial and temporary signage to recognize the 100th anniversary of Quakertown’s forced removal from near downtown Denton and Texas Woman’s University.
Several ideas were presented at Thursday evening’s meeting, including creating a healing therapeutic garden with a sculpture or adding in-ground markers to identify where the Black-owned businesses and homes once stood. Participants also said they have talked with tech companies about possibly using augmented reality to recreate what Quakertown looked like before racists in Denton destroyed their 50-year-old community and stole their generational wealth.
“What role does the city play in accepting responsibility?” asked Mat Pruneda, one of seven people who attended the public meeting at the Development Services building near the Square.
“We know that it all happened with city ordinances. They used the law to run people out and deprive the community of generational wealth. Will these memorials and will the city take ownership in what happened in this tragedy?”
Parks and Recreation management analyst Omar Siddiqi, who’s leading the memorial project for the city, said the city is wanting to acknowledge that what happened to Quakertown was based on a racist view of society by installing temporary signage at Quakertown Park, followed a few years later by a permanent memorial, and hosting several citywide events in 2023, including a speaker series and possibly an arts and music festival to raise awareness.
“[We want] to tell it in an honest way and face that history, view that process and build a community more united and understanding,” Siddiqi said.
Thursday evening’s meeting was the second public meeting for Quakertown’s 100th anniversary remembrance. The first one took place virtually Nov. 14, again with seven people in attendance, and touched upon the same topics discussed Thursday evening.
Additionally, Parks and Recreation plans to meet with Southeast Denton residents at noon Tuesday, Dec. 6, at the American Legion Hall Senior Center in Southeast Denton and then again at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center.
Denton City Council member Vicki Byrd, who represents Southeast Denton, said the city will be working with a core group headed up by the Rev. Reginald Logan from the Southeast Denton Neighborhood Association to develop the permanent and temporary memorialization. It’s the same group that helped with the sign topper project, informative historic signage related to Quakertown that appears atop street signs in Southeast Denton.
Logan, a descendant of a Quakertown family, asked Siddiqi if the parks department could create a mockup of what the temporary signage would look like to present at the two meetings next week.
Logan was concerned about the temporary signs and wasn’t sure how they would mark all the homes that once stood in Quakertown, and worried people might trip over such signs.
Siddiqi told him they were thinking about only identifying the notable landmarks such as the Logan House, the Fred Douglass School and the historic churches that still have congregations today. He said staff members were already in the process of creating the temporary signage mockups to present next week.
Logan praised the idea of an augmented reality project.
“But something like that would be fantastic,” Logan said. “We could show it at family reunions in 2024.”
The temporary signage, Siddiqi said, would be a way for the city to recognize Quakertown during the 100th anniversary of the forced removal since it will take a few years to approve a permanent memorial as part of a master design plan for the park. He said it will require public input and City Council approval.
The permanent memorial was briefly discussed Thursday evening and presented as an extensive project. Known as a reconciliation healing garden, it also could include informative plaques and a sculpture in the center. It would be a place where people could gather and remember Quakertown and the dangers of persecuting people whether it’s for the color of their skin, their gender identity or sexual preference.
Siddiqi said TWU was also in the process of creating a garden to recognize Quakertown.
“We realize that the process to a permanent memorial takes time,” Siddiqi said. “What we’re wanting to do … is engage in temporary and memorial options to mark the moment.”
In the early 1920s, civic leaders cited the proximity of the College of Industrial Arts — now known as TWU — as part of their reason for replacing Quakertown with a city park.
The idea of in-ground bronze plaque markers — which Randy Hunt from Historic Denton had been working with SEDNA to create — was mentioned at the meeting, but Siddiqi claimed they would be difficult to implement and could possibly interfere with the maintenance of the park.
It’s unclear how the 200,000 people who attend the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival at Quakertown Park will affect the reconciliation healing garden.
Denton Parks and Recreation said it is planning to have the temporary signage in Quakertown Park by early 2023.
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CHRISTIAN McPHATE can be reached at 940-220-4299 and via Twitter at @writerontheedge.

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