Memorial Wall · Springfield Angel of Hope

What the wall is

A place where their names are spoken.

The Memorial Wall stands behind the Angel of Hope statue, on land within the City of Springfield's Washington Park Botanical Garden. It commemorates children lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death, and the death of older children — losses that often go unmarked elsewhere in public life.

Names are added by families across central Illinois and beyond. Inscription requests are welcomed year-round, and engravings are completed in scheduled cycles by the same volunteer-led organization that commissioned and dedicated the statue in 2008.

The wall, expanded

A wall built for one generation, filled by the next.

The original Memorial Wall was dedicated alongside the statue on October 4, 2008, with nearly 700 people present. It was designed to carry the names of children lost in this community for many years to come. By 2016, it had reached capacity.

In October 2017, the site was expanded — two additional walls, a new walkway, and replanted landscaping — with construction supported by members of OPCMIA Local 18, the Plasterers' and Cement Masons' Union. The expansion was not an achievement. It was a measure of how much loss this community has carried, and how many families wanted their child's name to stand alongside the others.

Beneath the wings of the Angel, every name tells a story. Here, in the quiet of the garden, we honor the children whose lives are carried by those who loved them.

Ava
Samuel
Eleanor
Baby Boy R.
Lillian
Jonah
Grace
Caleb
Margaret
Owen
Isabella
Henry
Baby Girl M.
Charlotte
Daniel
Evelyn

The wall holds more than 1,000 names. These few stand for all of them — and for the families who continue to add to the list, year after year.

To say a child's name aloud is to insist they were here. The wall is one of the few places in this city where that is done in stone.

— from the dedication, October 4, 2008

For families

How to add a child's name.

01

Reach out

Contact us by phone or email to request an inscription form. There is no deadline — names are accepted year-round from families anywhere.

02

Confirm the inscription

You choose how the name appears — given name, full name, dates, or simply "Baby" with a family initial. We confirm spelling and arrangement before anything is engraved.

03

Wait for the next cycle

Engravings are completed in scheduled cycles by the volunteers who care for the site. We will let you know when your child's name has been added to the wall.

The organization is volunteer-run and a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Families are not charged to add a name; donations to support engraving and ongoing care of the site are welcomed but never required.