The Houston area's first permanent public monument honoring Black trailblazers connected to the space program was dedicated Sunday, Aug. 16, at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church in Nassau Bay, four blocks from Johnson Space Center.

The $125,000 installation, called EarthRise, was funded through the John and Joseph Talbot Fund of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. It honors eight individuals and groups whose work shaped NASA and the broader space program: Ed Dwight, Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., George Robert Carruthers, Ruth Bates Harris, NASA Astronaut Group 8, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr., Sunita Williams and former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. The monument also recognizes other people of color, women and members of underrepresented communities who contributed to space exploration, according to the church's project page.

Bolden, a longtime member of St. Thomas' who served in church leadership roles, spoke at the 11 a.m. ceremony. He said he felt undeserving of the recognition.

"To be quite honest, I'm always embarrassed at things like this because I don't think I deserve to be there, but I'm privileged to be included among this group," Bolden told attendees, according to ABC13.

Rev. Mike Stone of St. Thomas' said the monument grew from a desire to broaden the community's understanding of who built the space program, noting the congregation wanted to share "the hidden faces and hidden figures" so people recognize how many contributed to getting humanity into space.

The monument bears the inscription "We can do more together."

EarthRise is the third space-related monument in Nassau Bay, joining the 53-foot Nassau Bay Spire dedicated in July 2020 and a black granite wall honoring International Space Station partner nations installed in 2005. It is the first focused on Black pioneers, according to Click2Houston.

Genesis Art Collaborative designed the piece after winning an international competition in 2023 that drew 23 submissions. The Rt. Rev. Andrew Doyle, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, said in a statement published Aug. 9 that "history is strongest when every story is told" and that recognizing these pioneers "reflects our commitment to truth, justice and the inherent dignity of every human being."

Nassau Bay was developed in the early 1960s as a planned community for workers at what was then the Manned Spacecraft Center. St. Thomas' was founded in 1964 as the community grew, and its congregation over the years has included astronauts and prominent NASA figures. Research commissioned for the EarthRise project found that fewer than 5% of Nassau Bay homeowners are African American, while more than 30% of the city's apartment residents are Black.

The monument sits at 18300 Upper Bay Road and is free and open to the public year-round. More information is available at sttaec.org/earthrise.