The Neill-Cochran House Museum Slave Quarters is Austin’s last intact slave dwelling and one of the few remaining in Texas.
The first Toni Morrison “Bench by the Road,” dedicated in 2008, is located in Sullivan Island, South Carolina. It serves as a memorial to enslaved Africans brought to the island.
Each “Bench by the Road” features a bronze naming plate in the center of the back.
The Bench will be located in the Centennial Courtyard near the NCHM Slave Quarters, oriented north towards the former site of the Wheatville Freedom Colony.
Prairie View A&M University is the site of the only other “Bench by the Road” in the State of Texas. This bench was installed in 2024.
NCHM “Bench by the Road”
The Neill-Cochran House Museum (NCHM) is deeply honored to announce that it will soon be the site of the 35th (or 36th) Toni Morrison “Bench by the Road.” This national program, founded by the Toni Morrison Society, places commemorative benches at locations around the world that hold significance to the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Each bench serves as a quiet monument—a place for reflection, remembrance, and dialogue about the past and its ongoing resonance in the present.
The name "Bench by the Road" is taken from Morrison's remarks in a 1989 interview with World Magazine where she spoke of the absences of historical markers that help remember the lives of Africans who were enslaved and of how her fifth novel, Beloved, served this symbolic role:
“There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves . . . There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. There's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit in Charleston or Savannah or New York or Providence or better still on the banks of the Mississippi. And because such a place doesn't exist . . . the book had to.”
The NCHM was chosen as the site for this new bench because it preserves the only intact slave quarters remaining in Austin, Texas. Built in the 1850s, the quarters stand as a rare and powerful witness to the lives of the enslaved people who labored in and around the property. Today, the Museum works to tell their stories honestly and compassionately, expanding the public’s understanding of Austin’s early history and the people who shaped it.
The Neill-Cochran House Museum “Bench by the Road” will stand beside the NCHM Slave Quarters and serve as a lasting memorial to the lives and legacies of the enslaved people who lived and worked at our site. It will be oriented towards the former site of the Freedom Colony of Wheatville, north of our site, as a gesture of hope and recognition of the communities that grew up after Emancipation.
The Bench will be dedicated at a ceremony during our annual Juneteenth Celebration on June 21, 2026.
Receiving a Toni Morrison “Bench by the Road” is a profound honor and responsibility. It affirms the Museum’s commitment to truth-telling, inclusion, and education—values that Morrison herself championed through her life and work. The bench will offer visitors a place to sit, reflect, and connect the history of this site to the broader story of resilience, creativity, and struggle in Black America. Through this lasting tribute, the Neill-Cochran House Museum joins a global network of places dedicated to remembrance, dialogue, and hope for a more just future.
Support the NCHM “Bench by the Road”
We now invite our friends, neighbors, and supporters to help us bring this vision to life. The Neill-Cochran House Museum is responsible for the costs of installation, landscaping, and the creation of interpretive materials to honor the bench’s meaning, estimated to be $10,000. Your contribution will ensure that this space is both beautiful and worthy of the history it represents—a place for learning, reflection, and connection for generations to come.
This moment is one of both solemnity and joy. It is an opportunity to celebrate progress, to acknowledge truth, and to create something lasting together. Every gift, no matter the size, helps us share this story with our city and the world. Join us in making history—help us place the Toni Morrison “Bench by the Road” at the Neill-Cochran House Museum.