In 2001, the Bronzeville Merchants Association (BMA) began a project to erect ten obelisks around Bronzeville with bronze plaques explaining the neighborhood’s history. Today the first two of those obelisks were unveiled at the northeast and southeast corners of 35th and State. Each triangular obelisk weighs four thousand pounds, stands six feet tall, and includes several Egyptian hieroglyphic characters that, according to historian Timuel Black, spell out “Bronzeville.”

Aldermen Preckwinkle and Dowell, at left, look on as State Rep. Burns reads from the obelisk's plaque.

The ceremony included remarks by aldermen Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Robert Fioretti (2nd), and Pat Dowell (3rd), as well as State Rep. Will Burns (D-Chicago), former State Rep. Elga Jeffries, Black, and BMA president Esther Barnett.  The BMA hopes to install two more obelisks at 35th and King next spring, and the remaining six after that in a circle around the neighborhood.