Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

They were hard working  members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The crossed the plains of the United States with thousands of other pioneers. On Friday, they were finally honored for their dedication.

Added to This Is The Place Heritage Park was a memorial to four Black Latter-day Saint pioneers; Jane Elizabeth Manning, Green Flake and brothers Hark Wales and Oscar Smith.

M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated the new monument.

“We’re honored to be able to dedicate this memorial and these wonderful features that have now been added to declare to all who visit [This Is The Place Heritage Park] how precious and important every child of God is unto Thee,” Ballard said in his dedicatory prayer. “We are grateful for the Black pioneers and our dear friends of the Black community and in the Church and all that they do to bless the lives of others.”

It has been 175 years since the saints entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Three of those featured at the monument — Flake, Wales and Smith — were in the vanguard group of pioneers who arrived on July 22, 1847. Manning came later in September 1847.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

According to a church statement, the three statues and three 10-foot-high stone slabs (one foot for each of the 10 years of legalized slavery in Utah between 1852 and 1862) represent the contributions of all Black pioneers in the settling of Utah and are intended to create a place of learning, reflection and healing.

The monument was designed by Stefanie and Roger Hunt of Hunt Sculpture Studio and cast in bronze by Metal Arts Foundry. The stories of these pioneers were engraved in stone from the Brown’s Canyon quarry in Utah.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was one of Friday’s featured speakers. He recalled pioneer stories that helped in through some of his difficult teenage years.

“I realized that (my pioneer ancestors) did hard things and that I was somebody, that I came from somewhere, from some people that did some really important things in the state. And that changed my whole outlook,” Cox said. “And I want that for everyone. For far too long, there have been people in (Utah) that have not had that.”

Everyone can find strength in the stories of Black pioneers, the governor added.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

“There is strength in these faces. There is pride in these faces. And yet there’s humility and kindness in these faces. … We’re here to celebrate a certain group of pioneers that have long been forgotten,” he said.

Flake was born into slavery on Jan. 6, 1828, in North Carolina. At age 10, he was given to James and Agnes Flake. They moved to Mississippi and at age 19, Flake drove the first wagon of pioneers into Emigration Canyon under the direction of Orson Pratt.

Manning was born free in Wilton, Connecticut, around 1822. After an arduous journey to Nauvoo, Illinois by foot — she was denied boat passage because of her race — she lived for a time with Joseph Smith’s family. She was expecting her third child when she entered the Salt Lake Valley. Manning remained a faithful and respected Latter-day Saint until her death in 1908.

Wales and Smith were brothers, born into bondage on a plantation in Mississippi. Latter-day Saint pioneer John Brown, the overseer who managed their enslaved labor, took them to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they were chosen to be part of Brigham Young’s company.

“In this moment, at this place, we are who we hope to be,” said Mauli Junior Bonner, the monument’s coordinator. “Distance from these stories is not a remedy. We must journey through the hard parts together. To our Black pioneer ancestors, we bring our peace, our reverence, our joy, our empathy, our shouts of celebration, our love and our unity to this monument.”

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

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