Around New England

22-Foot-High Memorial To Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. To Be Put On Boston Common

March 8, 2019

Giant bronze hands holding each other has been selected as the winning design for a 22-foot-high memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King slated for Boston Common.

Called “The Embrace,” the monument is expected to take 12 to 18 months to build and to cost between $3 and $4 million, according to the BU Daily Press.

The two met in Boston in the early 1950s while Martin Luther King (1929-1968) was studying theology at Boston University and Coretta Scott (1927-2006) was a student at the New England Conservatory of Music.

King Boston, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of the couple’s ties to Boston, selected the design. Boston University is donating $250,000 to the project, according to the BU Daily Press. The Boston Foundation is donating $500,000.

King Boston also hopes to establish a King Center for Economic Justice in Roxbury.