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Memorial to Enslaved Laborers

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The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers is a memorial in honor of those enslaved African Americans who built and worked at the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Description

The memorial is located near the University of Virginia Corner, east of Brooks Hall and the Rotunda, and consists of a wall of local "Virginia Mist" granite,[1] in the shape of a broken ring, to symbolize broken shackles and completion. The ring is about (80 feet (24 m)) in diameter, echoing the dimensions of Jefferson’s iconic Rotunda.[2] The grassy interior of the ring will be used as a gathering place.[2]

On the ring, large enough for the names of the 4,000–some enslaved people known to have worked on what is today the university campus, are engraved the names that are known—578, as of 2020. Another 311 are known by their first name only, their job, or their relation to others who lived and/or worked there. A single engraved word remembers each—Jerry, butler, Agnes, grandmother, midwife, domestic, Billy. Most of the ring is blank, with only notches, representing the other 3,000+ for whom even this basic information is lacking.[3] If more names are discovered they will replace the notches.

Only one photographic image is known to exist of any of these enslaved people: that of Isabella Gibbons, a teacher, holding a baby. She is sculpted on the exterior of the memorial.[4]

History of the memorial

Design

"This was actually a student-led effort from the beginning,” said University of Virginia landscape architect Mary Hughes said. “I guess that effort began in 2007 when the university's board of visitors made a public apology for the institution of slavery.”[5] Another source says that the memorial began with student-led initiatives as early as 2010. There was then an "ideas" competition, and the final design resolution. The President’s Commission on Slavery and the University (PCSU) provided guidance. The Memorial was designed as part of a collaboration between Höweler+Yoon Architects, Studio&, Gregg Bleam, a local landscape architect, Eto Otitigbe, and others.[6] The University's Board of Visitors approved the design in 2019.[7]

Construction and financing

Construction began in January 2019,[3] with concrete pouring beginning in early March.[8] The memorial was scheduled for completion in October 2019, [9] and was to have been formally opened on April 11, 2020,[7] but the university shut down shortly before that because of the coronavirus pandemic.[10] It was paid for by $2.5 million in donations, matched by the university.[3][11][dead link] Another source says the cost, estimated at that time at $6 million, was completely covered by private donations.[12][2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Design". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Svrluga, Susan (June 9, 2017). "University of Virginia plans a large memorial commemorating thousands of enslaved people who worked there". Washington Post.
  3. ^ a b c "Construction on Memorial to Enslaved Laborers Begins at the University of Virginia". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. January 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Freedman, Emmy (January 9, 2019). "UVA to Recognize Lives of Enslaved People with New Memorial Marker". WVIR-TV. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  5. ^ Freedman, Emmy. "UVA to Recognize Lives of Enslaved People with New Memorial Marker". WVIR. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ "Panel Discussion: Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia". ArchDaily. July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Memorial to Enslaved Laborers". President's Commission on Slavery and the University, University of Virginia. 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Suchak, Sanjay (March 7, 2019). "The Bigger Picture: A Concrete Step Forward". UVAToday. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  9. ^ Davis, Moriah (March 3, 2019). "Charlottesville Celebrates Liberation and Freedom Day on UVA Grounds". WVIR-TV. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  10. ^ Kennicott, Philip (August 13, 2020). "A powerful new memorial to U-Va.'s enslaved workers reclaims lost lives and forgotten narratives". Washington Post.
  11. ^ "Matching fund established for construction of Memorial to Enslaved Laborers". WCAV. September 3, 2018. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  12. ^ University of Virginia Office of Advancement (2020). "Memorial to Enslaved Laborers". Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.

Further reading

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