While there is no transcript of the famous speech given by abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth, her impact will soon be realized in a public space meant to bring people together, beyond gender and race, in the heart of the city.

Nearly 100 people were on hand for the groundbreaking of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Plaza Wednesday. It is the last step in realizing an effort that started more than 20 years ago, according to Towanda Mullins, who heads the Sojourner Truth Statue Project, which spearheaded the effort. The plaza on North High Street in Akron will commemorate Truth’s speech more than 170 years ago on the site of the former Universalist Old Stone Church at the 1851 Ohio state convention of women’s rights activists.