In the 1950s, the city of Pittsburgh demolished 95 acres of the Lower Hill neighborhood to construct what would one day be the Civic Arena. The project displaced over 1,000 families, with many relocating to public housing, and cut a hole in the fabric of the district. The Hill District boarders Pittsburgh's downtown area and Oakland along Center, Forbes, and Fifth Avenues.

Developers in the mid-1800s, intended it to be a wealthy neighborhood. However, with population growth after the Civil War and the expansion of public transportation, middle-class and wealthy residents moved farther from the city. The district became home to many groups of people; Jews, Italians, Greeks, Poles, and African Americans. Blacks came from Southern states to industrialized Northern cities like Pittsburgh to seek jobs and relief from segregation laws. They clustered in neighborhoods like the Hill District.

Already suffering from the barrier imposed by the Civic Arena, residents rioted following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The disturbance lasted over a week.

Before and during this turbulent time residents knew the corner of Center Avenue and Crawford Street, at the edge of the neighborhood, as Freedom Corner. It was the point of departure for more than 2,000 people who attended the March on Washington in 1963. In addition, it was the place where protestors gathered to picket when city officials threatened to destroy more of the Hill in their continued 'urban renewal' project. A committee of residents erected a monumental sculpture on that corner in 2001 to symbolize the spirit of freedom and justice that has so often been present there.

Narrative researched and written by University of West Florida Public History Graduate Student, Malina Suity. Photo courtesy of Stephen Suity.