DALLAS — A sculpture honoring a former slave who later owned thousands of acres in the Dallas area was severely damaged at the Dallas park named in his honor, city officials said.
The vandalism happened in an apparent theft attempt at Anderson Bonner Park, which is located off Park Central Drive near LBJ Freeway in North Dallas.
Last year, the city installed a piece of public art that included a medallion sculpture of Bonner, a former slave who later became a prominent landowner in what is now North Dallas.
The city was notified Tuesday of the damage: A large cut was made from the top of the medallion and down across the top of Bonner's face on the sculpture.
City officials with the Office of Arts Culture said the damage happened in an apparent attempt to remove the medallion from the display. The medallion sits within the "Sankofa" statue of a bird that is looking back, a nod to the Bonner family's hope that people would look back on their great-grandfather's legacy. It was installed at the park last fall.
Bonner's great-grandson, Walter Bonner, notified the city of the damage. The Office of Arts and Culture director, Martine Elyse Phillipe, and assistant director, Benjamin Espino, also noticed the damage while touring the area with District 11 councilmember Jaynie Schultz.
Espino notified the public art team, and collections manager Lynn Rushton Reed went to assess the damage. Two experts, conservator Michael Van Enter and surface expert Jhonny Langer, recommended the portrait of Bonner be recast. In the meantime, the city plans to fill the crack in the medallion until a new one is created.
The Office of Arts and Culture is working with Dallas police on the investigation into who damaged the sculpture.
Walter Bonner told WFAA that the large cut along the middle of his great-grandfather's medallion appeared to come from a chainsaw or other similar machinery.
Bonner learned of the damage when a cousin of his was in town visiting and decided to go see the artwork in honor of their great-grandfather. Walter Bonner said the vandalism was "very frustrating."
"A lot of people don't know about what Anderson Bonner did, his accomplishments and all," Walter Bonner said. "It's just the history is not well known, and the city is doing something to show what he has done. And then someone comes along and tries to destroy it. It really hit me hard."
Walter Bonner said the city told him the medallion could be replaced, though there's no timetable on when that might happen. Bonner also said city officials told him they are trying to review any nearby surveillance footage for any leads into who damaged the medallion.
The Bonner family has a long legacy in the North Dallas area where Anderson Bonner Park is located.
Anderson Bonner, born sometime around 1830 on a plantation in Alabama, came to Texas when he was sent here as a wedding gift for his owner's daughter, the Bonner family said.
He was eventually freed and settled northeast of Dallas, along White Rock Creek, near where Forest Lane cuts through Lake Highlands today.
Bonner couldn't read or write. He signed his name with an "X." But he knew how to live off the land, Walter Bonner said.
Piece by piece, he bought up property along White Rock Creek and across present-day North Dallas, near where U.S. 75 meets the LBJ Freeway.
Family records indicate that the deed for one of his earliest purchases, 60 acres, was filed in Dallas County on Aug. 10, 1874.
Over time, he amassed nearly 2,000 acres in the area.
Anderson Bonner died in 1920, at the age of 86.
He left his land with his nine children and their families, and it was eventually split up or sold off over the years, long before it was known how lucrative North Dallas real estate would become.
Part of the land owned by Anderson Bonner became home to Medical City Dallas, one of the largest hospitals in North Texas.
Walter Bonner in a story with WFAA in 2022 said he hoped his great-grandfather's story would be remembered as an inspiration.
"If a man cannot read or write his name can do this," he said, "think about what you can do."
