Lin is the surname of Maya Lin, an American architect and artist who designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. The memorial was commissioned by the Southern Poverty Law Center to commemorate the struggle for civil rights in the United States. It was dedicated in 1989 and consists of a black granite stone inscribed with the names of those who lost their lives in the struggle for civil rights. Maya Lin's design was chosen from over 200 submissions and has since become an iconic symbol of the civil rights movement.