RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond officials have unveiled the site for a project they say will memorialize the lives of enslaved people.
On Tuesday, a crowd gathered at Main Street Station in Richmond got to see the site for the long-awaited “Shockoe Project,” which will be located in Shockoe Valley. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said that Richmond was one of the epicenters of the domestic slave trade in the 1700’s, and that this project is an important step in telling the city’s story.
“Shockoe Bottom used to be the country’s second largest market for the buying and selling of enslaved Africans,” said Stoney on Tuesday. “We brought down Confederate monuments and relics of the lost cause and we are now raising monuments and memorials that will achieve a more equitable and inclusive Richmond for our future.”
The $50 million project will include “The Shockoe Institute,” a 12,000 square-foot education facility located inside of Main Street station that is scheduled to be completed next year, as well as the site of Lumpkin’s Slave Jail, memorial to the African burial ground and a National Slavery Museum.
“This project seeks to share an accurate and inclusive narrative of Shockoe and the history here, memorialize the traumatic experiences of the enslaved Africans and Native Americans and honor their struggles toward liberation,” said Stoney.
Thought it will take several more years for the project to be completed, state and local officials are excited to see it officially begin.
“This journey has been daunting, but not as daunting as those who had to live in [slavery],” said Del. Doris McQuinn. “They were successful and stayed alive under the most oppressive and brutal and unimaginable conditions, so that we might memorialize their lives under the best of conditions.”
More information about the Shockoe Project can be found on the city’s website and the project’s website.
