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Always Read the Plaque

A collection of historical markers, dedications, and memorials from around the world.

Please include the following in posts if you can: -The title, or a descriptive name -Text of any inscription -The physical location, or a link that contains the location

Attribution:
The community banner is from Michael Jovic on Unsplash (source).
The community icon is from the 99% Invisible podcast (source) where it is attributed to Reddit user r/Brumisator.

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  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    1962 Student Protests in Quetzaltenango

    Inscription:

    Compañero estudiante:
    Nunca olvides la sangre
    generosa de los martires
    universitarias caidos en
    l>as gloriosas jornadas
    de marzo y abril de 1962 que se inmolaron por darte
    una patria mejor
    5º aniversario – A.C.D.O.
    Quezaltenango, 21 abril 1967

    English translation:

    Fellow student:
    Never forget the blood that was spilled here by the university student martyrs that fell on those glorious days of March and April of 1962.
    They sacrificed themselves to give you a better nation.
    5th anniversary - ACDO
    Quezaltenango, April 21, 1967

    A brief Google search didn't turn up much information about the protests. The best I have is the brief summary on hmdb.org:

    Regarding 1962 Student Protests in Quetzaltenango. In March and April, 1962 there were widespread protests throughout Guatemala against then-President General Ydigoras Fuentes, who was widely seen as having been elected in corrupt elections. There was also considerable anger for Guatemal

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    BME Church National Historic Site

    Inscription:

    The Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church was the first Black church in St. Catharines. Originally known as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the name was changed to reflect their loyalty to the British Empire. In 1793, the "Upper Canada Act Against Slavery" was passed, allowing Blacks aged 25 years and older freedom from slavery in Canada. This created a safe haven for African American runaway slaves and made Canada the destination for many who fled. As a result, hundreds of escaped slaves settled in St. Catharines and created a vibrant Black community.

    The original church was a small log building that held about 70 members and was built on the land behind today's church. The freedom seekers who settled in St. Catharines constructed this church, dedicated in 1855, to replace the smaller one. Some of the original pews that they built are still in use on the balcony level. The BME Salem Chapel is also significant for its ties to Harriet Tubman, nickn

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Caymanian Catboat 1904-

    Inscription:

    For the first half of the twentieth century, the catboat was integral to the economy of the Cayman Islands and the daily life of Caymanians. Designed primarily for catching turtle far-out at sea and carrying them to schooners for shipment to market, it was also used for fishing close to shore, for transporting people and goods around the islands, and even as an ambulance. Most children learned their sailing skills in small catboats, and catboat races were a favorite recreational activity when people had time to spare. With the decline of turtling and the arrival in the Islands of automobiles and outboard motors, the catboat gradually fell into disuse. In the 1990's the establishment of the Maritime Heritage Foundation and the Cayman Catboat Club led to a revival of interest in this unique craft, and today the Caymanian catboat is celebrated as a living icon of Caymanian culture.

    Here's the monument where the marker is placed:

    ![](https://lazysoci.al/api/v3/image_prox

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Confederate Soldier

    Inscription:

    Confederate Soldier was shot here Oct. 14, 1861, as he tried to remove Union flag.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=57465

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Julius' Bar "Sip-In"

    Inscription:

    On April 21, 1966, members of the Mattachine Society, a pioneering gay rights organization, challenged a regulation that prohibited bars from serving LGBT people by staging a "Sip-In" at Julius', a bar with a large gay clientele.

    With reporters and a photographer in tow, the activists announced that they were homosexuals, asked to be served, and were refused. This early gay rights action and the attendant publicity helped to raise awareness of widespread anti-LGBT discrimination and harassment. Julius' was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=198561

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    James Joyce Pub Award, Bushwells Bar

    Inscription:

    This pub has been granted the
    James Joyce Pub Award
    for being an authentic Irish pub

    'A good puzzle would be to cross Ireland
    without passing a pub.' Ulysses

    James Joyce identified and described the
    characteristic ambience of Dublin pub life
    so successfully that the characters in Ulysses
    may be fictional, but they are based on a
    multitude of living beings, characters who
    Joyce found in pubs just like this one.
    This establishment remains an outstanding
    example of the tradition which
    Joyce immortalised in his works and is a
    truly authentic public house which
    throughout the years has retained
    it's down to earth genuineness of
    atmosphere, friendliness and
    presence of good company.

    James Joyce [signature]

    Best Drinks Best Bar

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=241142

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Molly Amalie Rubinstein

    This is another Stolpersteine plaque commemorating victims of Nazi extermination.

    Inscription:

    På Økern bodde
    Molly Amalie
    Rubinstein
    Fødselsår 1913
    Deportert 1942
    Auschwitz
    Drept 1.12.1942

    English translation:

    In Økern lived
    Molly Amalie
    Rubinstein
    Born 1913
    Deported 1942
    Auschwitz
    Killed December 1, 1942.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=262889

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island

    Inscription:

    On March 28, 1979, and for several days thereafter — as a result of technical malfunctions and human error — Three Mile Island's Unit 2 Nuclear Generating Station was the scene of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear accident. Radiation was released, a part of the nuclear core was damaged, and thousands of residents evacuated the area. Events here would cause basic changes throughout the world’s nuclear power industry.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=900

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Earl Eugene Scruggs, January 6, 1924 - March 28, 2012 [Nashville, Tennessee, USA)

    Inscription:

    Earl Scruggs was the most influential and most imitated banjo player in the world. On December 8, 1945. He joined Bill Monroe's band and helped give birth to bluegrass music when he introduced his innovative and exciting 2-finger style of playing 5-string banjo on WSM-Radio's Grand Ole Opry.

    Before Earl's Opry debut, 5-string banjos had become widely thought of as stage props used only by comedians playing rowdy old-time styles. Earl's refined musicianship electrified audiences and banjo sales skyrocketed, his way of picking became known around the world as "Scruggs Style."

    In early 1948, Earl and Lester Flatt formed a band that Earl's loving wife, Louise, began managing in 1966, "Flatt & Scruggs" became one of the most successful country music acts of the era. In 1962, Flatt & Scruggs provided the banjo-driven music for the theme song of the hit TV series, The Beverly Hillbillies. The 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde, featured their 1949 recording of Earl's composi

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    What is a Shotgun Shack?

    Inscription:

    Cabins once lined roadsides in the Delta
    Known as shotgun shacks, these houses were common in the Mississippi Delta near agricultural fields. Each home featured three to five rooms with no hallway just a series of doors leading from room to room. They were called shotgun houses because you could shoot a shotgun through the front door and it would go out the back door without hitting a wall.

    Sharecroppers lived here
    From 1865 until the 1960s, sharecropping was used in the Delta. A plantation owner would supply a home to a sharecropper's family. In exchange, the workers (both black and white) would farm "on shares" and settle up with the landowner at the end of the season. Once the owner deducted expenses, however, the families received little profit.

    Comforts were limited
    With no insulation, these single-wall houses were often freezing in winter and blazing hot in summer. Pages of newspaper were used as wallpaper, adhered with glue made from

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    G.F. "Betico" Croes

    Inscription:

    G.F. "Betico” Croes
    1938 - 1986

    Luchado incansabel pa Aruba su Status Aparte.
    Pueblo a honre cu e titulo di "Libertador"

    Fought for the right of "Status Aparte” for Aruba
    ~ autonomous status in the Dutch Kingdom ~
    The public honored him with the title of
    Aruba's "Liberator"

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119528

    He had a sad end. From Wikipedia:

    Gilberto François "Betico" Croes (Papiamento pronunciation: [beˈtiko kɾus]; 25 January 1938 – 26 November 1986) was an Aruban political activist who was a proponent for Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles. This eventually occurred in 1986, but following a car accident on 31 December 1985 (the night of status aparte), Croes lapsed into a coma and never became conscious to see his accomplishment.

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    High Water Mark DC

    Inscription (High Water lines from floods are recorded on the display):

    — 5 ft

    2010 -
    1979 -
    1976 -
    1955 -

    — 6 ft

    1984 -
    1985 -

    — 7 ft

    1937 / 1996 -
    1972

    — 8 ft

    — 9 ft

    1942 -

    — 10 ft

    1936 -

    — 11 ft

    100 year (as of 2020)

    — 12 ft

    — 13 ft

    — 14 ft

    500 year (as of 2020)

    — 15 ft
    (NAVD88)

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=204401

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Constitution Elm

    Inscription:

    Constitution Elm
    On this spot, beneath the shade of the elm the Constitution of Indiana was framed in June, 1816

    This tree lived until 1925, attaining a height of fifty feet. A trunk diameter of five feet and a spread of one hundred thirty- two feet.
    This monument was erected in 1936

    https://www.thisisindiana.org/directory/constitution-elm/

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Nazi-Recht (Nazi Law) Wege gegen das Vergessen 1933-1945 Aachen

    Inscription:

    Während des nationalsozialistischen Regimes wurden politisch unliebsame und jüdische Richter, Staatsanwälte und andere Bedienstete entlassen und durch angepasste oder regimetreue ersetzt, um die nationalsozialistische Herrschaft durchzusetzen und zu sichern.

    English translation:

    During the National Socialist regime, politically unpopular and Jewish judges, prosecutors and others employees were dismissed and were replaced by those who were more pliant or loyal to the regime in order to secure and enforce National Socialist rule.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234884

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Trail of Death

    Inscription:

    On October 26, 1838 about 800 Potawatomi Indians being forcibly removed from Indiana camped on the river bank opposite Lexington. They ferried the Missouri River on October 27 and were marched on to Northeast Kansas.

    This monument is in memory of
    Ka-beam-sa
    by the Kabance Family
    August 2000

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=90921

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    José Matías Delgado

    Inscription:

    La Embajada de la República de El Salvador hace un justo reconocimiento y merecido homenaje al presbítero y doctor salvadoreño
    José Matías Delgado
    Padre de la patria, héroe y prócer nacional de la independencia de Centro América
    Lima, Perú 13 mayo de 2014

    English translation:

    The Embassy of the Republic of El Salvador makes a just recognition and deserved tribute to the Salvadoran priest and doctor
    José Matías Delgado
    Father of the nation, hero and national leader of the independence of Central America
    Lima, Peru May 13, 2014

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=192312

    This guy's Wikipedia page is a good read. He was a revolutionary priest with massive popular support.

    On 5 May 1824, he was named the first bishop of San Salvador by the local civil authorities and not by the Catholic Church. This entangled him in a serious and long-lasting controversy with the Archbishop of Guatemala and with Popes Leo XII and Pius V

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
    kersploosh @sh.itjust.works

    Margot Frank, a Stolpersteine marker

    This is one in a series of Stolpersteine plaques commemorating victims of Nazi extermination.

    Inscription:

    Hier wohnte
    Margot Frank
    JB. 1926
    Flucht 1933 Holland
    Interniert Westerbork
    Deportiert 1944
    Bergen-Belsen
    Ermordet märz 1945

    English translation:

    Here lived Margot Frank. Born 1926. Fled to Holland in 1933. Interned at Westerbork. Deported in 1944 to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Murdered in March, 1945.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=242655

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Crucifixion Tableau “Behind the Lord’s Buttocks”

    Inscription:

    An dieser Stelle wurde 1792 ein Missionskreuz In Holz errichtet. Dieses wurde 1897 durch eine Kreuzigungsgruppe in Stein ersetzt, die 1941 in den Kriegswirren entfernt wurde und verloren ging. Durch die Initiative der Bürgergemeinschaft Henger Herrjotts Fott wurde am 27.8.1989 diese neue Kreuzigungsgruppe errichtet und eingeweiht. Geschaffen von Bonifatius Stirnberg.

    English translation:

    In 1792 a mission cross of wood was placed at this location. This was replaced in 1897 by a crucifixion group in stone, which was removed in 1941 and lost in the chaos of war. Through the initiative of the Henger Herrjotts Fott (“Behind the Lord’s Buttocks”) society, this new crucifixion tableau was erected and inaugurated on August 27, 1989. Created by Bonifatius Stirnberg.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=237189

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    John Brown's Convention 1858

    Inscription:

    On May 10, 1858, American abolitionist John Brown held the last in a series of clandestine meetings here at First Baptist Church. Brown planned to establish an independent republic within the United States and wage guerrilla war to liberate the South from slavery. He came to Upper Canada to recruit blacks who had fled here in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Law (1850). On October 16, 1859, Brown and 21 supporters seized the government arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and held it against counter-attack for two days. Brown, executed as a traitor, became for many a martyr and hero. His actions escalated the tensions between North and South that led to civil war in 1861.

    French Text:

    Le 10 mai 1858, l'abolitionniste américain John Brown tient la dernière réunion d'une série de réunions clandestines ici à la First Baptist Church. Brown prévoit établir une république indépendante aux États-Unis et mener une guerre de partisans pour libérer le Sud de l'esclavage. Il vie

  • Always Read the Plaque @sh.itjust.works
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    Geographic Center of Delaware

    Inscription:

    In the vicinity of this marker, a Flat Outline Map of the State would be exactly balanced.

    In 1989, a curious seventh grader from the Caesar Rodney School District asked where the center of Delaware was located. With the help of his teacher and the Kent County Department of Planning, it was determined that the geographic center of the state was located approximately eleven miles south of Dover in the field just south of this marker, on the Killen Farm.

    https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=39607