The Juxtaposition of Memory in Public Space

On a recent trip, I stopped for coffee in Monticello, Georgia, a small town with a population of around 2,500 about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta. As with many older, small towns, everything centered around the town square, a space with the courthouse, shops, an inn, and other businesses. The middle of the square, where the old courthouse once stood, had become a small park in the early 1900s with a large…