Philadelphia — A century before the fight to end Jim Crow segregation laws, Octavius Valentine Catto was leading a civil rights movement in Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, the city will laud Catto's legacy with a statue in the shadow of City Hall — the first such named tribute for an African-American in a public space in Philadelphia.
The honour comes amid a national conversation about Confederate memorials, and about who is an American hero and how and where the country chooses to celebrate them.
Philadelphia is in the midst of its own debate on the issue. Catto's statue stands just several hundred yards from a sculpture of former Mayor Frank Rizzo, whose complicated racial legacy has led some to argue that his likeness should be removed from city property since racial violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month.
