Memorial to Enslaved Laborers
The idea for a Memorial to Enslaved Laborers garnered widespread support not only from UVA students, faculty, staff and administrators, but also from people in the community, some of whom serve on the Community Engagement Committee.
Workers on Wednesday placed the first stone in the circle of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers.
On Friday, workers installed more than 30 portraits of African Americans in Charlottesville – taken by renowned 20th-century photographer Rufus Holsinger – at the future home of UVA’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers.
Among several local events for Liberation and Freedom Day, which commemorates the ending of slavery in the local area, the University held an additional ceremony: for the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, now in the early stages of construction.
Construction is underway on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, with significant site work beginning on the “triangle of grass” near Brooks Hall and across University Avenue from the Corner.
The $2.5 million fund will provide one-for-one matches of gifts and gift commitments of any amount for the memorial’s construction.
Bicentennial guests waiting to get into the Lawn on Friday can meander over to the location of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, east of Brooks Hall and across from the Corner, to view displays of the design and talk with those working on it, from 4 to 6 p.m.
A memorial will occupy an open green area near Brooks Hall and offer an opportunity for quiet reflection in a design featuring names of enslaved laborers on polished stone.