A statement from Mayor Levar M. Stoney on his vision for Shockoe Valley:
We
have made great progress this year toward building a welcoming, inclusive and
high-functioning city that celebrates diversity and strives for equality of
opportunity to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.
As Richmond’s success story unfolds toward a bright future, we have a responsibility to address the shameful chapters of our city’s complex history leading up to, and following, the Civil War.
We have made strides in this effort just this year by convening a civil, civic conversation focused on the future of our Confederate statuary on Monument Avenue. We are also continuing to take the steps necessary to acknowledge, commemorate and preserve Richmond’s notorious role in perpetuating the evil of slavery.
The Richmond Slave Trail Commission, under the leadership of Del. Delores McQuinn, began this process nearly 20 years ago with the support of many other concerned residents, officials and stakeholders. The importance of these efforts was further underscored in 2006 by the archeological assessment of what was known as Lumpkin’s Jail, the installation of the Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue in 2007, the archeological excavation of the Lumpkin's site in 2008, the unveiling of Richmond Slave Trail Markers located along the Slave Trail in 2011 and the transfer of the African Burial Ground site to the City of Richmond from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2011. The African Burial Ground Site was where enslaved and free blacks were buried between 1750 and 1816, and where Gabriel Prosser was hanged in 1800.
As Richmond’s success story unfolds toward a bright future, we have a responsibility to address the shameful chapters of our city’s complex history leading up to, and following, the Civil War.
We have made strides in this effort just this year by convening a civil, civic conversation focused on the future of our Confederate statuary on Monument Avenue. We are also continuing to take the steps necessary to acknowledge, commemorate and preserve Richmond’s notorious role in perpetuating the evil of slavery.
The Richmond Slave Trail Commission, under the leadership of Del. Delores McQuinn, began this process nearly 20 years ago with the support of many other concerned residents, officials and stakeholders. The importance of these efforts was further underscored in 2006 by the archeological assessment of what was known as Lumpkin’s Jail, the installation of the Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue in 2007, the archeological excavation of the Lumpkin's site in 2008, the unveiling of Richmond Slave Trail Markers located along the Slave Trail in 2011 and the transfer of the African Burial Ground site to the City of Richmond from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2011. The African Burial Ground Site was where enslaved and free blacks were buried between 1750 and 1816, and where Gabriel Prosser was hanged in 1800.
The city, through community engagement, is currently developing a plan for the development of the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail archeological site and a future slavery museum. The “Devil’s Half Acre,” as Lumpkin’s Jail was known, was one of at least five “slave jails” in Shockoe Valley in Richmond, which was the second largest slave trading sites in the nation behind New Orleans. More than 300,000 human beings were held, tortured and auctioned like cattle from 1830 until April 3, 1865, when Union troops marched into Richmond to liberate the city.
As the mayor of a city that was once the former capital of the Confederacy, I feel not only a civic but a personal responsibility to ensure Richmond realizes its potential to become a place where we tell the complete and heartbreaking story of the people in bondage who helped build this city, and our nation, with their sweat, blood and very lives.
The sacred grounds contained within Shockoe Bottom, in particular, the Shockoe Valley footprint, is a nationally significant historical area we will protect and honor. In doing so, we have an opportunity to create a cultural and international destination that will not only educate, but also promote contemplation, dialogue, reconciliation, and ultimately, healing.
Earlier this fall, I was fortunate enough to be one of four mayors selected by the National League of Cities and Urban Land Institute to be a 2018 Daniel Rose Land Use Fellow. This program provides leaders the opportunity to present a design and land use issue to a world-renowned team of urban planners, who provide expert guidance and technical support to cities to assist them in addressing their challenges.
I have decided the land covered by the Shockoe Valley footprint will be the focus of our participation. This week, the other mayors and I are in Toronto with our respective delegations of city officials to learn about the resources and tools available to us through the program, and to discuss how they can be applied to the challenges and opportunities in our respective cities.
In February, a team of experts and Rose fellowship faculty advisors will come to Richmond to review our project. They too will engage the community through additional interviews with stakeholders and make additional recommendations on how we are moving forward to enact our vision for the area.
My vision is to develop an area plan that will enable us to better protect and honor the untold and painful history of this sacred ground. This plan will not be limited to the jail and burial grounds, but will also include the broader footprint of Shockoe Valley.
Furthermore, I believe the development of this plan will support the significant public and private investments that are underway and that have already been made in Shockoe Valley, such as the renovated Main Street Station and 17th Street Farmers Market. It will also strengthen the connections to other historic resources throughout Shockoe Bottom, like the Slave Trail and Reconciliation Statue.
Linking these resources will be critical to the area’s long-term success as an environmentally and economically sustainable community. This plan will help ensure these assets, and others which may develop, will exist in concert, not conflict, with our plans to protect and honor our history.
Charting the future of this area of our city presents challenges, but also incredible opportunities. Our participation in the Rose Fellowship program underscores my commitment to recognizing our complex history. Working together, I truly believe we can find a path that not only honors and protects our past, but also helps to define our city’s future.
