On Saturday, the University of Virginia dedicated the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers in a virtual ceremony.
The memorial, located not far from the Rotunda and within the footprint of UVA’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, honors the legacy of the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who built and maintained UVA between 1817 and 1865.
The virtual dedication ceremony featured a range of speakers, including alumni who first proposed the idea for the memorial, descendants of the enslaved workers, students giving a spoken word performance and UVA leaders and others who have worked on and supported this project.