Stand in the Shadows Series
Seitu Jones, sidewalk art installation
The engraved sidewalk squares and an informational plaque highlights the life and legacy of Jeremiah Patterson and Joseph Parker.
Jeremiah Patterson
Born into slavery in North Carolina, Jeremiah Patterson became a student of Julia B. Nelson, the famed Red Wing activist, when she began teaching newly freed slaves in Tennessee. Inducted to the Red Wing Women’s Hall of Fame, Nelson also fought for women’s rights and anti-alcoholism through a Christian nonprofit. But one of her most prominent hometown endeavors was actually spearheaded alongside Patterson, who moved to the area in the 1880s and became a close friend.
Together, in 1897, Patterson and Nelson opened The Equal Rights Meat Market, where the Salvation Army store stands today. Its doors opened just over 30 years after the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery, marking a partnership ahead of its time. The Equal Rights Meat Market didn’t last long, but Patterson remained in Red Wing, marrying Verna Gaylord and starting a family. They were among the city’s first Black residents, and Patterson is considered Red Wing’s first Black business owner.
Seitu Ken Jones’ sidewalk etching honors Patterson’s journey: “I was born as chattel,” it reads, “but on this corner I was an owner and bought cattle for The Equal Rights Meat Market.” Next to the words is an engraved silhouette, while Patterson’s picture can be seen on the accompanying plaque. “The Plum Street location of the Salvation Army Store (is) an ideal site for the shadow of Jeremiah Patterson,” Jones said in his initial project proposal. “This site receives more direct sunlight and (allows) people to stand in the shadow of someone who contributed to the history of Red Wing.”
Joseph Parker
Jones has a personal connection to Red Wing’s history: his great grandfather, Joseph Parker, was a porter employed at the Red Wing Hotel. “I grew up as a descendant of Joseph Parker in South Minneapolis, along with all of these folks who were descendants and all of these other Black folks who settled in these river towns,” Jones said. “None of us knew that. I mean, as adults, we started talking about that— about our ancestors having this kind of common presence here along the river.”
Parker freed himself from slavery in Kentucky and fought for the Union army in an artillery unit. Sometime in the 1870s, Parker made his way North and was counted in the 1880 census. In Red Wing, Parker lived with a Black barber named Henry Fogg and his wife, Amanda.
Jones reflects that the two pieces as the first two steps in a longer journey “to celebrate the diverse history of Red Wing and in particular the African American story in Red Wing.”
Funded in part by the Blandin Foundation and the City of Red Wing’s Human Rights Commission, Jones’ artwork also benefited from advisors including Beth Breeden, the Goodhue County Historical Society and Frederick L. Johnson, a local historian who authored the book “Uncertain Lives: African Americans and their First 150 Years in the Red Wing, Minnesota Area.”
Located near the Salvation Army Store, 509 Plum Street & near the St. James Hotel, 406 Main Street
About the Artist:
SEITU KEN JONES
A multidisciplinary artist, advocate and maker based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Working between the arts and public spheres, Jones channels the spirit of radical social movements into experiences that foster critical conversations and nurture more just and vibrant communities from the soil up. He is recognized as a dynamic collaborator and a creative force for civic engagement.
“My work is a testament of radical love for our Beloved Community — the local community, our ancestral community, and the community of innate humanity.”
