Historic Tree Grove: 39 Doves of Peace

More than 50 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech, but his calls for equality and justice for all still serves as a touchstone for many today. In a world both very different and sometimes too much the same as the one that first heard his impassioned prose, his words echo the desire of all men and women to be judged fairly and equally by only "the content of their character." His insistence that this equality could be achieved through peaceful means made him a powerful voice in a time rocked by violence, and made his own assassination in 1968 that much more tragic.

To honor Dr. King's commitment to seeking justice through peace, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Sycamore in the Historic Tree Grove at MOSI is hung with 39 wooden doves, one for each year of his short but meaningful life. One side of each dove is lettered with with "Peace," while the other side displays the word for peace in one of 39 different languages, shown below. A bench beneath this tree invites you to sit and contemplate Dr. King's words and actions, and their impacts on our past, present, and future.

It is not enough to say "We must not wage war." It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace. (The Quest for Peace and Justice, 1964)

The Languages of Our 39 Doves of Peace

• Paz, Spanish, Portuguese
• Paix, French
• Frieden, German
• Síocháin, Irish
• Béke, Hungarian
• Míru, Czech
• Pokój, Polish 
• Amani, Swahili
• Lapè, Haitian 
• Pace, Italian
• Pax, Latin
• Kapayapaan, Tagalog/Filipino

• Santipheap, Khmer/Cambodian 
• Heddwch, Welsh
• Vrede, Afrikaans
• Fred, Danish
• Maluhia, Hawaiian
• Kímía, Lingala
• Kayiroo, Mandinka
• Barış, Turkish
• śānti, Bengali
• Rangima'arie, Maori
• Ska-noh, Seneca
• Ittimokla, Muskogee Creek
• Nanna Ayya, Chickasaw
• Sipala, Hopi
• Udo, Ibo 
• Alaafia, Yoruba 
• Iawa-nyinami, Warlpiri
• ειρήνη, Greek
• 和平, Mandarin Chinese
• سلام, Arabic
• शांति, Hindi
• ความสงบสุข, Thai
• שלום, Hebrew
• 平和, Japanese
• мир, Russian
• صلح, Persian/Farsi
• امن, Urdu