The Atlas Obscura Podcast The Heritage Walk
Feb 17, 2026
Deletri Hollinger, historian and co-director of the Florida Civil Rights Museum, provides context on Tallahassee's civil rights struggles. Phil Glason, project manager at FSU’s Master Craftsman Studio, explains the design choices behind the Tallahassee–Leon County Civil Rights Heritage Walk. They discuss the 1956 bus boycott, the memorial’s footsteps motif and name selection, and community reactions to the reveal.
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Designing The Heritage Walk
- Phil Glason describes designing the Heritage Walk and choosing engraved scenes like bus boycotts and sit-ins to tell Tallahassee's story.
- He recalls the emotional public reveal and how the project changed his perspective on local history.
The 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott
- The episode recounts the 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott sparked by Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson refusing to sit in the back of a bus.
- The boycott lasted 381 days and inspired memorial elements like names engraved on footprints.
Memorials Echo Protest Practices
- The Heritage Walk intentionally roots its design in local protest practices, like picketing patterns represented by footsteps.
- Embedding physical movement and specific names connects memorial design to lived activism.