1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,494 [MUSIC PLAYING] 2 00:00:01,494 --> 00:00:34,390 3 00:00:34,390 --> 00:00:36,250 In order for us to continue to move forward 4 00:00:36,250 --> 00:00:39,012 and striving for equity and striving for change, 5 00:00:39,012 --> 00:00:40,720 we have to be able to talk about our past 6 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,153 in a way that's really meaningful. 7 00:00:42,153 --> 00:00:44,320 And the memorial, I think, is a beautiful first step 8 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,070 in starting that conversation. 9 00:00:46,070 --> 00:00:51,140 [MUSIC PLAYING] 10 00:00:51,140 --> 00:00:54,220 It's intended to be a space for reflection and healing. 11 00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:55,630 It's a space of truth telling. 12 00:00:55,630 --> 00:00:57,340 We want folks to bring classes here. 13 00:00:57,340 --> 00:01:00,310 We want folks to engage in that way. 14 00:01:00,310 --> 00:01:03,790 Slavery wasn't an experience that, by any means, 15 00:01:03,790 --> 00:01:06,340 should just be something in our past that we say happened, 16 00:01:06,340 --> 00:01:07,382 and we can talk about it. 17 00:01:07,382 --> 00:01:09,140 We should help folks heal past that trauma 18 00:01:09,140 --> 00:01:10,720 and past the brutality of it. 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:17,330 20 00:01:17,330 --> 00:01:19,720 The first thing, design wise, that greets you 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,120 when you come into the memorial is this broken shackle image, 22 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,390 represents a freedom from physical bondage. 23 00:01:25,390 --> 00:01:28,060 There's the path towards the North Star, 24 00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:29,710 and that was the path towards freedom. 25 00:01:29,710 --> 00:01:31,960 And then a second path kind of aligns 26 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:33,520 with the sunset on March 3, which 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,700 is liberation and Freedom, that is 80 feet, which matches 28 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:39,100 the diameter of the rotunda, taking up 29 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:42,700 that space that is so rightly deserved and honoring 30 00:01:42,700 --> 00:01:43,940 this legacy. 31 00:01:43,940 --> 00:01:46,300 There is a timeline of events that 32 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:48,820 happen all the way through until Isabella Gibbons' death. 33 00:01:48,820 --> 00:01:50,737 And Isabella Gibbons was a member 34 00:01:50,737 --> 00:01:51,820 of the enslaved community. 35 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:54,040 And she really took it upon herself 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,500 to encourage reflection, encourage 37 00:01:56,500 --> 00:01:59,050 moving the needle towards equity and equality. 38 00:01:59,050 --> 00:02:02,940 And so her eyes are on the back of the memorial. 39 00:02:02,940 --> 00:02:04,620 I would encourage everyone, if they can, 40 00:02:04,620 --> 00:02:05,760 come witness it in person. 41 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,020 Feel the stone. 42 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:08,039 See the timeline. 43 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:10,800 Be here and be present, and take a second 44 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,650 to reflect, honor, and encourage folks 45 00:02:13,650 --> 00:02:16,398 to move forward with that history. 46 00:02:16,398 --> 00:02:17,892 [MUSIC PLAYING] 47 00:02:17,892 --> 00:02:36,340 48 00:02:36,340 --> 00:02:37,430 Good morning. 49 00:02:37,430 --> 00:02:40,360 My name is Alvin Edwards, and I'm the pastor of the Mt. 50 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,330 Zion First African Baptist Church here in Charlottesville. 51 00:02:43,330 --> 00:02:45,580 And I am a member of the President's Commission 52 00:02:45,580 --> 00:02:48,310 on Slavery and the University, for which I 53 00:02:48,310 --> 00:02:50,530 am thankful to be a member of. 54 00:02:50,530 --> 00:02:52,540 And I want to welcome each of you 55 00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:56,440 to the virtual dedication of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers. 56 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,680 I want to welcome you to the vision of the former president 57 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,720 of the University of Virginia, Miss Teresa 58 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,330 Sullivan and the Board of Visitors, 59 00:03:04,330 --> 00:03:07,000 then for institutionalizing efforts 60 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,390 to recognize enslaved laborers' contributions. 61 00:03:10,390 --> 00:03:14,920 And I also want to thank the PCSU committee and President 62 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:17,890 Ryan for continuing this recognition. 63 00:03:17,890 --> 00:03:20,170 And I would also like to take this moment 64 00:03:20,170 --> 00:03:23,950 to acknowledge that the land we live, learn, and work on 65 00:03:23,950 --> 00:03:28,600 is a traditional territory of the Monacan Indian nation. 66 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,650 We pay respect to the elders, both past and present. 67 00:03:32,650 --> 00:03:34,870 And additionally, we acknowledge and pay 68 00:03:34,870 --> 00:03:38,320 respect to the enslaved people who built and labored 69 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,210 at the University of Virginia. 70 00:03:40,210 --> 00:03:44,920 I welcome you to join us and share in the experience 71 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,530 as we memorialize, as we celebrate, 72 00:03:47,530 --> 00:03:50,320 as we commemorate and learn lessons 73 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,700 of the contribution of people of color who were enslaved 74 00:03:54,700 --> 00:03:58,270 and yet helped to build this university community. 75 00:03:58,270 --> 00:04:00,340 That we're thankful for. 76 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:02,230 Now let us pray. 77 00:04:02,230 --> 00:04:06,940 Thou who are called by many names, as we bow on this day, 78 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:08,440 we thank you that you have put it 79 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,020 in the hearts of the leaders of the University of Virginia 80 00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:15,400 to pause and honor those persons who were enslaved and built 81 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:16,870 the university. 82 00:04:16,870 --> 00:04:22,000 Let their memories remind all of us that our works do follow us. 83 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,930 This we ask, in the name that is above every name, the great I 84 00:04:25,930 --> 00:04:29,170 am, the eternal one, we do pray. 85 00:04:29,170 --> 00:04:29,890 Amen. 86 00:04:29,890 --> 00:04:30,876 [MUSIC PLAYING] 87 00:04:30,876 --> 00:04:47,670 88 00:04:47,670 --> 00:04:49,890 Can we forget the crack of the whip? 89 00:04:49,890 --> 00:04:51,210 The cow hide? 90 00:04:51,210 --> 00:04:52,650 The whipping post? 91 00:04:52,650 --> 00:04:53,940 The auction block? 92 00:04:53,940 --> 00:04:55,380 The handcuffs? 93 00:04:55,380 --> 00:04:56,880 The spaniels? 94 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:58,200 The iron collar? 95 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,960 The Negro trader tearing the young child 96 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,920 from its mother's breast as a whelp from the lioness? 97 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,100 Have we forgotten those horrible cruelties? 98 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:10,650 Hundreds of our race killed. 99 00:05:10,650 --> 00:05:13,890 No, we have not, nor ever will. 100 00:05:13,890 --> 00:05:16,920 Isabella Gibbons, a former enslaved person 101 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,010 owned by a University of Virginia faculty member 102 00:05:20,010 --> 00:05:23,670 wrote these words two years after the end of the Civil War. 103 00:05:23,670 --> 00:05:25,980 She went on to become an educator. 104 00:05:25,980 --> 00:05:30,810 And it is fittingly her words and her eyes through which 105 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:33,810 we can feel the past reach through the stone 106 00:05:33,810 --> 00:05:36,150 of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers 107 00:05:36,150 --> 00:05:39,870 and impel us to greater understanding, empathy 108 00:05:39,870 --> 00:05:41,100 and justice. 109 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:44,460 In a year in which we have too often suffered heartache, 110 00:05:44,460 --> 00:05:49,650 isolation, and loss as a result of a global pandemic that 111 00:05:49,650 --> 00:05:51,960 has taken millions of lives, as well 112 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,690 as unprecedented challenges to democracy 113 00:05:54,690 --> 00:05:57,810 and the unjust deaths of Black citizens 114 00:05:57,810 --> 00:06:00,690 at the hands of law enforcement, we have also 115 00:06:00,690 --> 00:06:02,850 witnessed moments of hope. 116 00:06:02,850 --> 00:06:05,310 Global social justice movements have 117 00:06:05,310 --> 00:06:09,000 sought to redress inequities related to policing, 118 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,520 punishment, and voting rights. 119 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,600 Scientists, meanwhile, have developed an ingenious vaccine 120 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,930 that is bringing the pandemic closer to its end. 121 00:06:18,930 --> 00:06:21,510 Against this context, the memorial 122 00:06:21,510 --> 00:06:23,490 is an especially meaningful symbol 123 00:06:23,490 --> 00:06:25,500 of healing and connection. 124 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,870 It is not only a bridge between generations 125 00:06:28,870 --> 00:06:31,230 but also a bridge from the darkness 126 00:06:31,230 --> 00:06:33,330 of hidden injustices to the light 127 00:06:33,330 --> 00:06:36,360 that knowledge and recognition bring. 128 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,240 I'd like to express my profound gratitude 129 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,350 for the work of so many at UVA and in the local community 130 00:06:43,350 --> 00:06:46,950 to dream, envision, design, research, collaborate, 131 00:06:46,950 --> 00:06:49,800 build and engrave the memorial. 132 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:51,990 Their work will be remembered for as long 133 00:06:51,990 --> 00:06:54,630 as the granite from which the memorial is built 134 00:06:54,630 --> 00:06:58,620 endure.s This work began with the UVA students who 135 00:06:58,620 --> 00:07:02,400 were the driving force behind the memorial we dedicate today. 136 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,570 In 2009, the student council's Diversity Initiatives Committee 137 00:07:06,570 --> 00:07:09,780 established the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers group, 138 00:07:09,780 --> 00:07:13,680 solicited community input, organized scholarly panels 139 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,750 and talks, and ultimately sponsored 140 00:07:15,750 --> 00:07:18,030 a competition for memorial designs 141 00:07:18,030 --> 00:07:20,550 in partnership with the Black Student Alliance 142 00:07:20,550 --> 00:07:24,330 and the University and Community Action for Racial Equity group. 143 00:07:24,330 --> 00:07:28,770 Alumni from the UVA Idea fund led by Tiffany Fairchild 144 00:07:28,770 --> 00:07:31,200 were integral to next steps. 145 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,470 They commissioned a report summarizing existing efforts 146 00:07:34,470 --> 00:07:36,660 around UVA's history with slavery 147 00:07:36,660 --> 00:07:39,480 and recommended an institutional response. 148 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,230 In 2013, President Teresa Sullivan 149 00:07:43,230 --> 00:07:45,450 wisely created the President's Commission 150 00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:47,310 on Slavery and the University. 151 00:07:47,310 --> 00:07:50,160 The commission was co-chaired by Marcus Martin, 152 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,290 then vice president and chief officer 153 00:07:52,290 --> 00:07:54,840 for diversity and equity, And Kirt von 154 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,480 Daacke assistant dean and professor of history 155 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:59,430 in the College of Arts and Sciences. 156 00:07:59,430 --> 00:08:03,030 Their 2018 report was foundational 157 00:08:03,030 --> 00:08:04,860 to our understanding of the ways in which 158 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:07,740 the reprehensible institution of slavery 159 00:08:07,740 --> 00:08:11,370 was, indeed, integral to the building, founding, 160 00:08:11,370 --> 00:08:13,740 and early flourishing of UVA. 161 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:15,840 Their careful scholarship and narrative 162 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,690 were crucial to the design of the memorial. 163 00:08:18,690 --> 00:08:22,650 Kevin Fay, a former member of the Board of Visitors and chair 164 00:08:22,650 --> 00:08:24,420 of the Building and Grounds Committee 165 00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:27,360 at the time of the memorial's approval, 166 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,480 championed this work, as did former board member John 167 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,659 MacFarlane who spearheaded fundraising efforts. 168 00:08:33,659 --> 00:08:37,799 [INAUDIBLE] and Khaleefa Lee were pioneering student 169 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:39,480 advocates and leaders. 170 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,039 Eric Howeler and Meejin Yoon architects extraordinaire 171 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,250 have created a work of lasting significance, 172 00:08:47,250 --> 00:08:50,790 along with project manager Namjoo Kim. 173 00:08:50,790 --> 00:08:53,580 We thank design team members Mabel O. Wilson, 174 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:56,970 the team historian, Eto Otitigbe, 175 00:08:56,970 --> 00:09:00,270 the artist who designed the unforgettable gaze of Isabella 176 00:09:00,270 --> 00:09:04,380 Gibbons; Frank Dukes, who led the public engagement effort, 177 00:09:04,380 --> 00:09:08,490 and Gregg Bleam of Gregg Bleam Landscape Architects. 178 00:09:08,490 --> 00:09:12,210 The talented team of Devon Henry, Patrick Lindsey, 179 00:09:12,210 --> 00:09:15,660 and Mike Spence at Team Henry Enterprises 180 00:09:15,660 --> 00:09:18,270 ably oversaw construction of the work. 181 00:09:18,270 --> 00:09:21,600 Alex Marshall and Jim Durham from [INAUDIBLE] 182 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,660 managed the stonework, even through long days 183 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:25,950 of winter mud. 184 00:09:25,950 --> 00:09:29,520 UVA's office of the architect, including university landscape 185 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,550 architect Mary Hughes, architect for the University, 186 00:09:32,550 --> 00:09:35,910 Alice Raucher; project manager Cerrita Herman 187 00:09:35,910 --> 00:09:38,220 and construction administration manager 188 00:09:38,220 --> 00:09:41,220 Ted Nelson contributed leadership and support 189 00:09:41,220 --> 00:09:42,300 throughout. 190 00:09:42,300 --> 00:09:46,720 Finally Megan Faulkner and MAL community engagement committee 191 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,780 coordinated a collaborative process for events 192 00:09:49,780 --> 00:09:52,870 with the local community and the descendant community. 193 00:09:52,870 --> 00:09:56,650 We are indebted to each of you for your contributions 194 00:09:56,650 --> 00:09:58,390 to the memorial. 195 00:09:58,390 --> 00:10:01,150 I would like to close with a special acknowledgment 196 00:10:01,150 --> 00:10:05,830 of the families with ties to the names, locations, and memory 197 00:10:05,830 --> 00:10:08,530 marks that appear on the memorial. 198 00:10:08,530 --> 00:10:12,280 Your ancestors toiled, often anonymously, 199 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,240 facing violence and harassment, and not under their free will, 200 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,820 to build the University of Virginia. 201 00:10:18,820 --> 00:10:22,750 It is to them that we owe our deepest gratitude. 202 00:10:22,750 --> 00:10:25,270 May this memorial bring to their families 203 00:10:25,270 --> 00:10:30,200 a measure of solace and a step toward spiritual repair. 204 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:31,199 Thank you. 205 00:10:31,199 --> 00:10:32,197 [MUSIC PLAYING] 206 00:10:32,197 --> 00:10:54,153 207 00:10:54,153 --> 00:11:48,045 [DRUMS AND DANCING] 208 00:11:48,045 --> 00:12:30,460 209 00:12:30,460 --> 00:12:31,640 [INAUDIBLE] 210 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,740 I bring you greetings, cousins, from Oakland, California. 211 00:12:34,740 --> 00:12:36,230 My name is Regina Callaway. 212 00:12:36,230 --> 00:12:39,230 I'm so honored to be here to share in this memorial 213 00:12:39,230 --> 00:12:40,520 experience with you. 214 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,032 This day is so important because, indeed, it 215 00:12:43,032 --> 00:12:44,240 is the day the Lord has made. 216 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,720 But it also is the day where our ancestors' promises are 217 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,250 realized through us. 218 00:12:49,250 --> 00:12:51,890 We lift up their names, their stories, 219 00:12:51,890 --> 00:12:55,580 and we usher the healing in spiritual reparations. 220 00:12:55,580 --> 00:12:57,980 So I want to thank you to the South Halls, 221 00:12:57,980 --> 00:13:00,500 to the herms to the berms to the cars 222 00:13:00,500 --> 00:13:03,110 to the miners to the Tyrrells, to the Harrises, 223 00:13:03,110 --> 00:13:04,880 the Harristons, and so many more. 224 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:06,680 We give praise to life. 225 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:10,130 I honor and thank you, Dr. Shelley Murphy, for all things 226 00:13:10,130 --> 00:13:11,810 Virginia that you've shown me. 227 00:13:11,810 --> 00:13:13,760 And a special salute to my cousin, 228 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,450 Nikki Smith Reams, for ushering this day. 229 00:13:17,450 --> 00:13:19,250 Blessings to all of you. 230 00:13:19,250 --> 00:13:20,930 Thank you. 231 00:13:20,930 --> 00:13:26,150 This memorial means to me that I stand here today 232 00:13:26,150 --> 00:13:30,860 on the shoulders of my great, great uncle Peyton Skipwith, 233 00:13:30,860 --> 00:13:36,080 who labored here as a for-hire slave laborer 234 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:42,230 from Brimo Plantation in Fluvanna County, 160 years ago. 235 00:13:42,230 --> 00:13:46,520 And I can thank him this day for his perseverance 236 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,850 toward freedom on my behalf. 237 00:13:49,850 --> 00:13:56,200 God bless him, and all others memorialized here. 238 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:57,670 [MUSIC PLAYING] 239 00:13:57,670 --> 00:14:20,230 240 00:14:20,230 --> 00:14:22,870 While we wish we could be together for this dedication, 241 00:14:22,870 --> 00:14:25,930 I remain humbled to stand before you, representing 242 00:14:25,930 --> 00:14:27,220 the efforts of many. 243 00:14:27,220 --> 00:14:29,590 We know that legacies are powerful. 244 00:14:29,590 --> 00:14:32,020 I've developed an even more intimate appreciation 245 00:14:32,020 --> 00:14:34,180 of that power recently. 246 00:14:34,180 --> 00:14:36,490 My mom passed away last year before getting the chance 247 00:14:36,490 --> 00:14:38,350 to see the memorial in person. 248 00:14:38,350 --> 00:14:40,840 She was a huge supporter of my work on this project, 249 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:42,760 and I want to mention her because I'm 250 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,170 a part of her legacy. 251 00:14:44,170 --> 00:14:46,840 I know she's proud. 252 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:48,910 As students, we've felt the legacies 253 00:14:48,910 --> 00:14:51,280 of the individuals whose names are engraved here 254 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,350 and those whose names we do not know. 255 00:14:53,350 --> 00:14:55,840 As a Black student at the University of Virginia, 256 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,870 those legacies manifested for me in particularly complicated 257 00:14:58,870 --> 00:15:00,340 ways. 258 00:15:00,340 --> 00:15:02,920 They were everywhere and in everything. 259 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,680 Present alongside them, so was the legacy of slavery 260 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,900 that still feeds the systemic racism of today. 261 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:11,830 There was never any disputing the power of the legacies. 262 00:15:11,830 --> 00:15:13,420 We all felt them. 263 00:15:13,420 --> 00:15:16,870 Memory of a complete history is what we were denied. 264 00:15:16,870 --> 00:15:19,480 Yes, and in remembrance, we must not 265 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,440 forget those whose work birthed this memorial and all 266 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,920 the foundational reparative work surrounding it. 267 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,860 For in all great change there stands the spark 268 00:15:29,860 --> 00:15:32,000 that leads to its creation. 269 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,850 The voice that sparked our Big Bang momentum 270 00:15:33,850 --> 00:15:36,790 in 2006, Dean Rick Turner. 271 00:15:36,790 --> 00:15:40,450 Our dean who valiantly fought for an environment that 272 00:15:40,450 --> 00:15:44,350 would ensure the students he served could thrive. 273 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:47,650 Thus laying the very groundwork to bring this idea 274 00:15:47,650 --> 00:15:49,540 into reality. 275 00:15:49,540 --> 00:15:52,780 We give thanks to him and the students and faculty 276 00:15:52,780 --> 00:15:58,495 whom I united with, working tirelessly from 2006 2009, 277 00:15:58,495 --> 00:16:03,700 first for a class project, next for the liberation of bodies 278 00:16:03,700 --> 00:16:05,450 and space. 279 00:16:05,450 --> 00:16:10,020 And even more so, for a peaceful honoring of our ancestors. 280 00:16:10,020 --> 00:16:13,777 Building on years of work of countless faculty, students, 281 00:16:13,777 --> 00:16:15,360 and Charlottesville community members, 282 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,460 the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers Committee 283 00:16:17,460 --> 00:16:20,760 established in 2009 pushed for a truth telling 284 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,990 of a painful but critical part of the university's story. 285 00:16:24,990 --> 00:16:26,910 Most importantly, we came together 286 00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:30,240 to acknowledge the very real lives of those honored women 287 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,750 and men, often erased from common narrative. 288 00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:36,000 It took several generations of stakeholders 289 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,430 fighting to make the case for public recognition. 290 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:41,950 Which include our Charlottesville family, 291 00:16:41,950 --> 00:16:45,690 staff and faculty of UVA, and the many students 292 00:16:45,690 --> 00:16:49,440 who would engage in this work with the university community 293 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,800 Racial Reconciliation project, or UCRRP, 294 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,190 who all worked along with us as two students, 295 00:16:56,190 --> 00:16:59,460 adding Jason James and Lakeisha Banks. 296 00:16:59,460 --> 00:17:04,050 All of us carry the work of reconciliatory action, 297 00:17:04,050 --> 00:17:06,990 community inclusionary education, 298 00:17:06,990 --> 00:17:09,869 as well as proper memorialisation. 299 00:17:09,869 --> 00:17:12,839 Along with the many moons of the Memorial for Enslaved 300 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:17,670 Laborers committee, the students who worked tirelessly for love 301 00:17:17,670 --> 00:17:21,720 and righteousness to guarantee that there would be engagement 302 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,569 in the topics of reconciliation, reparations, 303 00:17:24,569 --> 00:17:28,109 and a correct storytelling of the legacy of enslavement 304 00:17:28,109 --> 00:17:29,400 at UVA. 305 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,040 A pivotal point for our effort, and one of my favorites, 306 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,610 was a student design competition we held in 2011. 307 00:17:35,610 --> 00:17:38,280 Through that we proved that the imagination, imperative, 308 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,520 and desire do all exist to tell this story 309 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,070 in a dignified and honest way. 310 00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:47,695 10 years later, to be here at the site is surreal for me. 311 00:17:47,695 --> 00:17:50,070 There are so many people whose imprint is on this project 312 00:17:50,070 --> 00:17:51,682 and who deserve credit. 313 00:17:51,682 --> 00:17:53,640 I would like to extend a special acknowledgment 314 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,820 to my fellow founding members of the student committee, Kyle 315 00:17:56,820 --> 00:18:00,120 Bancroft, Jasmine Drake, Carrie Fillapetty, Anna Griselda 316 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,360 Funtelar, Ryan Hicks, Alyssa Maran, [INAUDIBLE] ta 317 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,420 Semma, and Edna Turei, as well as Frank 318 00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:08,370 Dukes and the University and Community Action 319 00:18:08,370 --> 00:18:10,890 for Racial Equity for their continued support. 320 00:18:10,890 --> 00:18:13,830 And to the winners of that competition, whose work would 321 00:18:13,830 --> 00:18:17,430 give the very foundation to the very design, 322 00:18:17,430 --> 00:18:20,830 and even the location that we see today. 323 00:18:20,830 --> 00:18:24,750 We feel this project, one of many powerful works, 324 00:18:24,750 --> 00:18:28,530 has brought life and light to the buried and forgotten. 325 00:18:28,530 --> 00:18:31,950 Those long gone and those who are still standing. 326 00:18:31,950 --> 00:18:34,920 Those still teaching, those still cleaning, 327 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,830 and those still living life inside and outside 328 00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:41,640 the plantation as Charlottesville would call it. 329 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,490 To them, we give thanks and acknowledgment. 330 00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:47,370 And to my mother and her drive to see 331 00:18:47,370 --> 00:18:49,710 me reach bounds unseen by coming here 332 00:18:49,710 --> 00:18:53,730 to humbly be a part of the edification of history, 333 00:18:53,730 --> 00:19:01,770 our story at UVA, C-ville, ATL, the USA. 334 00:19:01,770 --> 00:19:04,920 Even in the beautiful ugly that it is. 335 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,870 We pray everyone joins us in the consistent remembrance 336 00:19:09,870 --> 00:19:13,380 and the ongoing reparations work to come. 337 00:19:13,380 --> 00:19:15,460 The people to which this memorial is dedicated 338 00:19:15,460 --> 00:19:18,270 will never know the full extent of their legacies 339 00:19:18,270 --> 00:19:21,090 and the gratitude that I and others have for them. 340 00:19:21,090 --> 00:19:23,550 To their descendants to whom this university owes 341 00:19:23,550 --> 00:19:25,500 a tremendous debt, I hope you find 342 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,300 some comfort in this space. 343 00:19:27,300 --> 00:19:30,030 May we all draw courage and healing from our ancestors 344 00:19:30,030 --> 00:19:32,340 as they live on in all of us. 345 00:19:32,340 --> 00:19:35,310 A physical memorial is important and a long overdue addition 346 00:19:35,310 --> 00:19:36,510 to the university. 347 00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:39,840 But by no means is it an end for the simultaneous dismantling 348 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,790 and building work that still needs to be done. 349 00:19:42,790 --> 00:19:44,940 So even as we celebrate and congratulate, 350 00:19:44,940 --> 00:19:46,770 may we push forward in earnest. 351 00:19:46,770 --> 00:19:50,590 The actions we take, the knowledge we gain-- 352 00:19:50,590 --> 00:19:53,380 that's where the power of change resides. 353 00:19:53,380 --> 00:19:54,376 [MUSIC PLAYING] 354 00:19:54,376 --> 00:20:14,695 355 00:20:14,695 --> 00:20:15,320 [VIDEO PLAYING] 356 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,480 What we memorialize is, of course, important. 357 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,575 There are some things we wish to remember ourselves and have 358 00:20:21,575 --> 00:20:23,360 our children and grandchildren remember. 359 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,060 There are other things we would actually just as soon forget. 360 00:20:26,060 --> 00:20:29,360 The university has gone through various periods and phases 361 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,120 of what it held in memory and what it forgot. 362 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,400 Now the history of slavery, to a large extent, 363 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:35,720 was something we forgot. 364 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,220 So I thought it was important for us 365 00:20:37,220 --> 00:20:40,653 to look at what I thought of as the hidden history of UVA. 366 00:20:40,653 --> 00:20:42,320 The charge of the President's Commission 367 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,110 on Slavery University is to commemorate 368 00:20:45,110 --> 00:20:47,390 the University of Virginia's history, first of all. 369 00:20:47,390 --> 00:20:49,910 But also to recognize the slave laborers' contributions 370 00:20:49,910 --> 00:20:51,410 to the building of this institution. 371 00:20:51,410 --> 00:20:54,550 For many years, that story was not told. 372 00:20:54,550 --> 00:20:57,100 What we fundamentally do as a university 373 00:20:57,100 --> 00:20:58,930 is research and education. 374 00:20:58,930 --> 00:21:02,560 We try to uncover new knowledge, and we pass that knowledge 375 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,110 on to our students. 376 00:21:04,110 --> 00:21:06,370 One of our charges from the president 377 00:21:06,370 --> 00:21:09,250 was to do the research, to go into the records, 378 00:21:09,250 --> 00:21:12,730 to try to tease out the history of slavery at the university 379 00:21:12,730 --> 00:21:14,890 and learn some of the names of the enslaved. 380 00:21:14,890 --> 00:21:16,600 Who was bought and sold. 381 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:17,590 Who was rented. 382 00:21:17,590 --> 00:21:19,210 Who actually laid the cornerstone. 383 00:21:19,210 --> 00:21:20,840 Who erected the institution. 384 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,680 This history-- it's hidden in plain sight, 385 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,120 all across grounds. 386 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,480 The entire university was a site of enslavement. 387 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,000 And our goal has been to reinscribe 388 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,360 that history and the lives of the enslaved back 389 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,080 on to the landscape in as many ways as possible. 390 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,690 Naming buildings after the enslaved. 391 00:21:40,690 --> 00:21:43,450 Creating information in the rotunda visitors 392 00:21:43,450 --> 00:21:45,700 center that provides history about the slave laborers' 393 00:21:45,700 --> 00:21:47,410 contributions to the university. 394 00:21:47,410 --> 00:21:49,390 We've developed an entire curriculum, 395 00:21:49,390 --> 00:21:52,330 classes that teach the local and particular story 396 00:21:52,330 --> 00:21:53,680 at the university. 397 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,200 We've uncovered through archaeology much 398 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,520 of the history of slave families who lived behind the pavilions 399 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,980 in the gardens, behind the serpentine walls. 400 00:22:03,980 --> 00:22:08,170 And now we are about to fundraise and erect a memorial 401 00:22:08,170 --> 00:22:10,750 to the slave laborers that will be placed 402 00:22:10,750 --> 00:22:13,000 on the footprint of UNESCO World Heritage site, 403 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,910 just north and east of the rotunda. 404 00:22:15,910 --> 00:22:18,940 It's meant to echo the diameter of the rotunda. 405 00:22:18,940 --> 00:22:20,950 It will list the names of the enslaved. 406 00:22:20,950 --> 00:22:22,810 We have nearly 1,000 people that we 407 00:22:22,810 --> 00:22:24,340 can identify from the records. 408 00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:27,310 This memorial is meant to finally acknowledge 409 00:22:27,310 --> 00:22:30,340 the thousands of enslaved people who built and maintained 410 00:22:30,340 --> 00:22:32,290 the university, speak to the meaning 411 00:22:32,290 --> 00:22:34,870 and value of their lives, and connect back 412 00:22:34,870 --> 00:22:37,370 to the academical village. 413 00:22:37,370 --> 00:22:39,300 There's more work to be done here. 414 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:42,200 I very much hope that this commission, or another group, 415 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,590 would also be able to look at other parts of the university's 416 00:22:45,590 --> 00:22:46,400 history. 417 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,480 Recent events in America tell us, we have to tell this story. 418 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,860 We have to confront our own past and use it as a teaching tool. 419 00:22:54,860 --> 00:22:56,660 It's our only hope. 420 00:22:56,660 --> 00:22:58,580 Going forward, having that knowledge. 421 00:22:58,580 --> 00:23:01,070 Teaching our students, educating the public, 422 00:23:01,070 --> 00:23:02,430 is an opportunity to heal. 423 00:23:02,430 --> 00:23:03,740 It's an opportunity to learn. 424 00:23:03,740 --> 00:23:06,370 It's an opportunity to know what we need to do next. 425 00:23:06,370 --> 00:23:07,350 [MUSIC PLAYING] 426 00:23:07,350 --> 00:23:26,950 427 00:23:26,950 --> 00:23:30,760 Dealing with the painful parts of our history 428 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,730 is hard in our personal lives, and it's 429 00:23:33,730 --> 00:23:36,940 hard in our institutional life. 430 00:23:36,940 --> 00:23:38,860 I created the President's Commission 431 00:23:38,860 --> 00:23:42,040 on Slavery and the University because there 432 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,590 was so much of UVA's history that we had lost or thrown 433 00:23:47,590 --> 00:23:49,400 away. 434 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,360 And as we approached our bicentennial, 435 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,890 we needed to recover what had been lost. 436 00:23:56,890 --> 00:23:59,980 Dr. Marcus Martin and Kirt von Daacke 437 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:05,410 led a dedicated group of researchers, students, alumni, 438 00:24:05,410 --> 00:24:10,330 community members, and descendents in this work. 439 00:24:10,330 --> 00:24:14,560 Many donors also helped with significant encouragement 440 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,100 from the idea fund. 441 00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:22,840 The commission was charged with a number of tasks. 442 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,340 We are a knowledge-based institution. 443 00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:30,850 An important first task was to recover 444 00:24:30,850 --> 00:24:33,760 the knowledge about the university's history 445 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,980 with slavery. 446 00:24:35,980 --> 00:24:38,710 The commission learned a great deal, 447 00:24:38,710 --> 00:24:42,070 and we are continuing to learn. 448 00:24:42,070 --> 00:24:46,240 Many of the names of the enslaved laborers you see here 449 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:52,560 came from their work in records and in interviews. 450 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,100 A second important task was to propose 451 00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:59,700 appropriate memorialising. 452 00:24:59,700 --> 00:25:02,100 The commission proposed and undertook 453 00:25:02,100 --> 00:25:07,530 memorializing tasks, such as the rediscovery, renovation, 454 00:25:07,530 --> 00:25:11,880 and rededication of the enslaved people's cemetery north 455 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,060 of the university cemetery. 456 00:25:15,060 --> 00:25:19,620 Following on the request and the previous work of UVA students, 457 00:25:19,620 --> 00:25:25,620 the commission proposed this memorial to enslaved laborers. 458 00:25:25,620 --> 00:25:29,580 The memorial's visual links to the rotunda, 459 00:25:29,580 --> 00:25:31,620 to the Charlottesville community, 460 00:25:31,620 --> 00:25:34,110 and to the academical village helped 461 00:25:34,110 --> 00:25:38,010 to tell the story, in stone, that the commission has 462 00:25:38,010 --> 00:25:41,390 helped us to learn. 463 00:25:41,390 --> 00:25:45,470 People memorialize what is important to them. 464 00:25:45,470 --> 00:25:48,800 And with this memorial, the commission 465 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:54,530 helps us ensure that the hidden lives of enslaved laborers 466 00:25:54,530 --> 00:25:58,550 are now publicly remembered for their importance 467 00:25:58,550 --> 00:26:00,691 to the university of Virginia. 468 00:26:00,691 --> 00:26:01,673 [MUSIC PLAYING] 469 00:26:01,673 --> 00:26:16,430 470 00:26:16,430 --> 00:26:18,610 I'm Dr. Marcus Martin. 471 00:26:18,610 --> 00:26:21,250 It was my privilege to serve as co-chair 472 00:26:21,250 --> 00:26:24,550 of the PCSU, President's Commission on Slavery 473 00:26:24,550 --> 00:26:29,140 and the University, with Professor Kirt von Daacke. 474 00:26:29,140 --> 00:26:34,120 Efforts by students, the UVA Idea Fund trustees, 475 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,070 the Office for Diversity and Equity 476 00:26:36,070 --> 00:26:39,940 and others over a decade led to the PCSU, 477 00:26:39,940 --> 00:26:42,640 established by President Teresa Sullivan, 478 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:47,470 September 2013, with the charge to provide recommendations 479 00:26:47,470 --> 00:26:50,200 on the commemoration of UV's historical relationship 480 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,230 with slavery and enslaved people. 481 00:26:54,230 --> 00:26:56,230 This memorial to enslaved laborers 482 00:26:56,230 --> 00:26:59,950 would not be here today without the steadfast support 483 00:26:59,950 --> 00:27:03,220 of President Sullivan and the Board of Visitors 484 00:27:03,220 --> 00:27:06,340 to institutionalize and synergize 485 00:27:06,340 --> 00:27:09,310 the efforts of the community and the university 486 00:27:09,310 --> 00:27:12,790 through the actions of the PCSU. 487 00:27:12,790 --> 00:27:16,600 I extend my heartfelt thank you to President Sullivan 488 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,890 for her unwavering support. 489 00:27:18,890 --> 00:27:22,270 And I think directors, and other board members, 490 00:27:22,270 --> 00:27:26,450 for the tremendous and essential support over the years, 491 00:27:26,450 --> 00:27:30,830 including approval of the memorial design, construction, 492 00:27:30,830 --> 00:27:33,670 and financial commitments. 493 00:27:33,670 --> 00:27:37,820 Barbara Freed, Wood Clement, served as board liaisons 494 00:27:37,820 --> 00:27:43,060 to the PCSU, and John McFarland worked with the PCSU every step 495 00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:47,590 of the way, including chairing the fundraising efforts 496 00:27:47,590 --> 00:27:51,340 in collaboration with University Advancement. 497 00:27:51,340 --> 00:27:56,560 Their support was invaluable, and I can't thank them enough. 498 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,550 The 26-member PCSU consisting of students, staff, faculty, 499 00:28:01,550 --> 00:28:06,250 administrators alumni community members, community relations 500 00:28:06,250 --> 00:28:10,390 task force, our local and national advisory boards, 501 00:28:10,390 --> 00:28:13,150 and the Office for Diversity and Equity staff, 502 00:28:13,150 --> 00:28:16,540 completed numerous initiatives related to our charge 503 00:28:16,540 --> 00:28:19,780 and delivered a final report to President Sullivan 504 00:28:19,780 --> 00:28:24,740 with construction of the memorial well underway. 505 00:28:24,740 --> 00:28:27,550 We acknowledge the past, and must learn from it. 506 00:28:27,550 --> 00:28:31,120 But we will never forget the horrors and dehumanization 507 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:32,740 of slavery. 508 00:28:32,740 --> 00:28:36,130 This memorial, located at the intersection of the North 509 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:39,790 pathway to freedom and sunset on the day 510 00:28:39,790 --> 00:28:42,580 14,000 enslaved in Charlottesville and Albemarle 511 00:28:42,580 --> 00:28:48,430 County were liberated, allows us to reflect and hopefully heal. 512 00:28:48,430 --> 00:28:52,150 So let us, on this momentous occasion and beyond, 513 00:28:52,150 --> 00:28:56,920 also aspire to become a more inclusive, equitable, and just 514 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:58,060 society. 515 00:28:58,060 --> 00:28:59,536 Thank you; 516 00:28:59,536 --> 00:29:00,532 [MUSIC PLAYING] 517 00:29:00,532 --> 00:29:14,980 518 00:29:14,980 --> 00:29:17,410 In 2013, as the President's Commission 519 00:29:17,410 --> 00:29:19,720 on Slavery and the University began our research 520 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,180 documenting slavery here, we knew 521 00:29:22,180 --> 00:29:24,490 we had to be unafraid to follow the truth, wherever 522 00:29:24,490 --> 00:29:25,570 it may lead. 523 00:29:25,570 --> 00:29:27,550 To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, 524 00:29:27,550 --> 00:29:29,500 the life of a university is secure 525 00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:33,970 only while the university is honest, truthful, and virtuous. 526 00:29:33,970 --> 00:29:35,830 We were keenly aware about highlighting 527 00:29:35,830 --> 00:29:38,320 the significant contributions of the enslaved to building 528 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,050 and maintaining the university for decades. 529 00:29:41,050 --> 00:29:44,110 As one community member told us at our first workshop, 530 00:29:44,110 --> 00:29:45,970 you darn well better build a memorial, 531 00:29:45,970 --> 00:29:49,840 to honor their lives, labor, skill, and humanity in the face 532 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:51,640 of oppression and violence. 533 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:53,720 Knowing their names is not enough. 534 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,500 We must call the names of these unsung founders. 535 00:29:56,500 --> 00:30:01,960 Jack, Gregory, John Taylor, Sandy, Squire, and so 536 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,790 many others. 537 00:30:03,790 --> 00:30:06,130 Four years of research in the archives. 538 00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:09,430 We pored over university records as well as student and faculty 539 00:30:09,430 --> 00:30:11,650 written materials that survive. 540 00:30:11,650 --> 00:30:13,870 We made real progress. 541 00:30:13,870 --> 00:30:17,590 The memorial's memory wall includes Sam, Davey, Lewis, 542 00:30:17,590 --> 00:30:20,980 Prudence, Ryland, and so many others. 543 00:30:20,980 --> 00:30:24,520 Isabella Gibbons in 1867 asked, can we 544 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,310 forget the horrible cruelties of bondage? 545 00:30:27,310 --> 00:30:29,260 She answered, no. 546 00:30:29,260 --> 00:30:32,470 We have not nor ever will. 547 00:30:32,470 --> 00:30:35,170 W.E.B. du Bois noted emancipation 548 00:30:35,170 --> 00:30:37,300 was the key to a promised land of sweeter 549 00:30:37,300 --> 00:30:39,730 beauty than ever stretched before the eyes 550 00:30:39,730 --> 00:30:41,710 of wearied Israelites. 551 00:30:41,710 --> 00:30:46,810 In song and exhortation swelled one refrain, liberty. 552 00:30:46,810 --> 00:30:49,840 Today this memorial acknowledges the yearnings of those unsung 553 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,270 founders and calls their names. 554 00:30:52,270 --> 00:30:54,550 Nelson, Lancelot. 555 00:30:54,550 --> 00:30:55,690 Wyatt. 556 00:30:55,690 --> 00:30:56,740 Rhoda. 557 00:30:56,740 --> 00:30:57,820 Randall. 558 00:30:57,820 --> 00:30:59,740 And so many others. 559 00:30:59,740 --> 00:31:03,760 Our work has made great strides in creating a new university 560 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,700 public memory that unflinchingly acknowledges 561 00:31:06,700 --> 00:31:09,220 the horrors of human bondage while honoring 562 00:31:09,220 --> 00:31:11,710 the humanity of the enslaved. 563 00:31:11,710 --> 00:31:14,410 We must call their names. 564 00:31:14,410 --> 00:31:20,470 Anthony, Jackson, Pendleton, Pryor, Jenny, and so 565 00:31:20,470 --> 00:31:21,820 many others. 566 00:31:21,820 --> 00:31:25,210 Our work revealed the names of over 600 people, 567 00:31:25,210 --> 00:31:28,690 this memorial, the culmination of the process of research, 568 00:31:28,690 --> 00:31:32,080 acknowledgment, community engagement, and atonement, 569 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,130 make sure that we will never forget again the stories, 570 00:31:36,130 --> 00:31:38,050 and we will always call their names. 571 00:31:38,050 --> 00:31:44,200 Jeff, James, Robin, Nemo, Charlotte, and so many others. 572 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,670 More than I could possibly call out in these short remarks. 573 00:31:48,670 --> 00:31:52,400 It is in so many ways still just the beginning. 574 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,370 We have so much more work to do. 575 00:31:54,370 --> 00:31:56,440 But today, at least, we can celebrate and call 576 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,320 the names of the university's unsung founders. 577 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:04,850 William Green, Zacharia, Jane, and so many others. 578 00:32:04,850 --> 00:32:05,350 Thank you 579 00:32:05,350 --> 00:32:06,344 [MUSIC PLAYING] 580 00:32:06,344 --> 00:33:28,910 581 00:33:28,910 --> 00:33:33,470 We wanted this monument to be an open monument. 582 00:33:33,470 --> 00:33:36,380 Really, more a memorial than a monument. 583 00:33:36,380 --> 00:33:40,940 Something that was a space nestled into a landscape 584 00:33:40,940 --> 00:33:43,310 that felt comfortable for all. 585 00:33:43,310 --> 00:33:47,150 And so the calibration of scale, the way 586 00:33:47,150 --> 00:33:51,290 the human body feels next to the wall on the inside, 587 00:33:51,290 --> 00:33:55,100 or on the outside, was really important to creating 588 00:33:55,100 --> 00:33:58,670 a sense of safe space, a comfortable space, 589 00:33:58,670 --> 00:34:00,650 that you could gather and you could 590 00:34:00,650 --> 00:34:04,250 engage in an outdoor conversation or seminar 591 00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:06,830 as an individual or as a small group 592 00:34:06,830 --> 00:34:08,920 or as a larger collective. 593 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:10,850 It creates a sort of continuity. 594 00:34:10,850 --> 00:34:14,270 It creates these strings between the names and the gashes. 595 00:34:14,270 --> 00:34:16,570 This project is important to me because it makes 596 00:34:16,570 --> 00:34:18,380 an intervention in history. 597 00:34:18,380 --> 00:34:21,670 The fact that it's located in a UNESCO World Heritage site 598 00:34:21,670 --> 00:34:26,860 is a major victory for those who were enslaved here at UVA. 599 00:34:26,860 --> 00:34:29,679 And also for UVA is taking a stance 600 00:34:29,679 --> 00:34:32,409 about how they're transforming the narrative here 601 00:34:32,409 --> 00:34:35,080 at the University. 602 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,590 I think UVA understands that it's an ongoing commitment, 603 00:34:38,590 --> 00:34:41,350 and that the Memorial doesn't end their commitment 604 00:34:41,350 --> 00:34:44,710 to expanding the story of people who were enslaved here 605 00:34:44,710 --> 00:34:47,230 by the university and who helped build and establish 606 00:34:47,230 --> 00:34:48,400 the university. 607 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,730 The memorial is one signifier of their efforts. 608 00:34:51,730 --> 00:34:55,179 But there will also be ongoing educational efforts and things 609 00:34:55,179 --> 00:34:58,720 that really change the fabric and culture of UVA. 610 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:02,440 It not only tells the story that we know, 611 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:07,930 it participates in the unfolding of the story in the future, 612 00:35:07,930 --> 00:35:09,760 to right past wrongs. 613 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,210 And in that way, becomes a symbol 614 00:35:13,210 --> 00:35:18,255 for equity and social justice forevermore. 615 00:35:18,255 --> 00:35:24,570 [MUSIC PLAYING] 616 00:35:24,570 --> 00:35:27,300 What does the memorial to Enslaved Laborers 617 00:35:27,300 --> 00:35:30,480 at the University of Virginia mean to me? 618 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,360 It means to me, honoring and recognizing 619 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:39,630 my ancestor, Jim Henderson, and the other 4,000 slaves who 620 00:35:39,630 --> 00:35:41,760 built this institution. 621 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,240 It means telling their stories and the start 622 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:48,150 of writing a wrong. 623 00:35:48,150 --> 00:35:50,690 My name is Kimalee Cottrell Dickerson. 624 00:35:50,690 --> 00:35:52,700 Several of my Cottrell ancestors, 625 00:35:52,700 --> 00:35:57,770 including Jim, Lucy, and Dolly were enslaved at UVA. 626 00:35:57,770 --> 00:36:01,610 To me, the memorial represents a visible reminder 627 00:36:01,610 --> 00:36:05,630 of the true history of slavery and racism at UVA. 628 00:36:05,630 --> 00:36:09,920 But it also represents a space to remember 629 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,770 the courage and contributions of my ancestors 630 00:36:12,770 --> 00:36:16,740 and the thousands of others named and unnamed. 631 00:36:16,740 --> 00:36:18,960 My name is Lorenzo Dickerson, and I'm a native 632 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,210 of Albemarle County, Virginia. 633 00:36:21,210 --> 00:36:24,840 And several of my ancestors in the Moppin family 634 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,480 were enslaved at the University of Virginia, 635 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:33,060 including Garland, William Dabney Moppin and Sam Moppin. 636 00:36:33,060 --> 00:36:37,830 What the memorial means to me as a filmmaker and a storyteller, 637 00:36:37,830 --> 00:36:41,520 being that uncovering these important stories 638 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,270 of our history is of the utmost importance, 639 00:36:45,270 --> 00:36:50,280 it means a physical acknowledgment of the work 640 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,520 that these folks did to build the university, 641 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:55,150 and their contribution. 642 00:36:55,150 --> 00:36:59,160 So me being someone who was born at the University of Virginia 643 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:03,610 and who now is employed by the University of Virginia, 644 00:37:03,610 --> 00:37:06,660 the location means more than just being a destination to me 645 00:37:06,660 --> 00:37:07,720 at this point. 646 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:11,280 Knowing this history, it changes that a little bit for me. 647 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,530 And it gives it more importance. 648 00:37:13,530 --> 00:37:14,520 [MUSIC PLAYING] 649 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:27,900 650 00:37:27,900 --> 00:37:29,630 Good morning. 651 00:37:29,630 --> 00:37:32,710 My name is John MacFarlane, and it's a great honor 652 00:37:32,710 --> 00:37:34,490 to be with you today. 653 00:37:34,490 --> 00:37:38,560 Inspired by a journey, which my wife Dudley and I undertook 654 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,400 when we restored an enslaved cemetery on a farm, which 655 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,820 we purchased over 15 years ago, we 656 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:51,120 knew how important it was to support this memorial. 657 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:54,570 Like UVA's enslaved population, our cemetery 658 00:37:54,570 --> 00:37:58,200 had been hidden from sight and left to decay 659 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:02,490 through over 150 years of neglect. 660 00:38:02,490 --> 00:38:07,230 Removed not only from site but also from our nation's history. 661 00:38:07,230 --> 00:38:10,410 Our enslaved cemetery was among countless others 662 00:38:10,410 --> 00:38:14,130 throughout the South that suffered a similar fate. 663 00:38:14,130 --> 00:38:17,010 And so we resolved to tell its story 664 00:38:17,010 --> 00:38:21,030 in a prominent way with an extensive restoration, 665 00:38:21,030 --> 00:38:23,970 culminating with the dedication of a plaque, which 666 00:38:23,970 --> 00:38:28,170 is also applicable to those honored by this memorial. 667 00:38:28,170 --> 00:38:30,720 And I would like to read it. 668 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:36,420 Quote, knowing neither their names nor their circumstances, 669 00:38:36,420 --> 00:38:40,950 we dedicate this monument to honor the lives of those buried 670 00:38:40,950 --> 00:38:44,670 here with the hope that it will serve as a reminder 671 00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:49,410 that many suffered unfairly during the formative years 672 00:38:49,410 --> 00:38:52,020 of our nation, and that we must forever 673 00:38:52,020 --> 00:38:57,420 strive to ensure that past mistakes are neither forgotten 674 00:38:57,420 --> 00:38:59,700 nor rationalized. 675 00:38:59,700 --> 00:39:03,750 Furthermore that we carry forth with an understanding 676 00:39:03,750 --> 00:39:07,590 that the pursuit of an equal and fair society 677 00:39:07,590 --> 00:39:11,430 requires continued evaluation and improvement. 678 00:39:11,430 --> 00:39:13,740 Unquote. 679 00:39:13,740 --> 00:39:16,440 It is in this spirit that Dudley and I 680 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,810 were inspired both to contribute and to help 681 00:39:18,810 --> 00:39:22,740 raise funds for this transformative project. 682 00:39:22,740 --> 00:39:25,230 We are grateful for that opportunity 683 00:39:25,230 --> 00:39:28,710 and extend our heartfelt thanks to the many donors 684 00:39:28,710 --> 00:39:31,360 who have given generously. 685 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,510 This is a very special and proud day 686 00:39:34,510 --> 00:39:38,020 of recognition for the enslaved community of UVA, 687 00:39:38,020 --> 00:39:40,150 and for their descendants. 688 00:39:40,150 --> 00:39:42,490 And I am deeply honored to participate 689 00:39:42,490 --> 00:39:44,980 in this long-deserved tribute. 690 00:39:44,980 --> 00:39:48,298 May God bless those recognized on these walls 691 00:39:48,298 --> 00:39:49,090 and their families. 692 00:39:49,090 --> 00:40:05,887 693 00:40:05,887 --> 00:41:22,733 [DRUMS BEATING AND DANCING] 694 00:41:22,733 --> 00:42:45,750 695 00:42:45,750 --> 00:42:49,920 Hello, I'm Carol Malone, great, great, great niece 696 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:52,440 of Mr. Peyton Skipwith. 697 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,590 On behalf of the descendants of Mr. Peyton Skipwith, 698 00:42:55,590 --> 00:42:58,590 seeing his name on the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers 699 00:42:58,590 --> 00:43:02,010 fills my heart with pride and sadness. 700 00:43:02,010 --> 00:43:04,170 Peyton was a great family man. 701 00:43:04,170 --> 00:43:07,170 Loving father and husband, who loved his siblings 702 00:43:07,170 --> 00:43:09,180 and dearly loved his mother. 703 00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:12,930 An educated man with a signature that was a work of art, 704 00:43:12,930 --> 00:43:15,240 who had to sign his name with an x 705 00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:18,870 for fear of death because he could read and write. 706 00:43:18,870 --> 00:43:21,210 A skilled stonemason who cut stone 707 00:43:21,210 --> 00:43:23,400 from a quarry for the construction of buildings 708 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:25,440 on the UVA campus. 709 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:29,310 In 2017, UVA dedicated Skipwith Hall in his honor, 710 00:43:29,310 --> 00:43:32,970 most likely built on the site of that quarry. 711 00:43:32,970 --> 00:43:35,280 Peyton, along with 4,000 to 5,000 712 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:37,890 known and unknown patriots and citizens, 713 00:43:37,890 --> 00:43:41,940 toiled at UVA under unspeakable horrors and oppression, 714 00:43:41,940 --> 00:43:44,130 to carve out a life of dignity and hope 715 00:43:44,130 --> 00:43:46,940 for their families and descendants. 716 00:43:46,940 --> 00:43:51,180 On November 5, 1833, Peyton Skipwith and his wife, 717 00:43:51,180 --> 00:43:53,880 Lydia, and their six children, departed 718 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:56,610 from Monrovia, Liberia, aboard the Jupiter, 719 00:43:56,610 --> 00:44:00,220 arriving on the last day of the year. 720 00:44:00,220 --> 00:44:02,770 Surviving the death of his wife and daughter, Felicia, 721 00:44:02,770 --> 00:44:07,060 the first year, he survived illness, blindness, 722 00:44:07,060 --> 00:44:10,660 cultural wars, extreme heat and a tough terrain 723 00:44:10,660 --> 00:44:13,930 to become a warrior, liberator, statesman, 724 00:44:13,930 --> 00:44:17,950 successful stonemason, contractor, and mentor. 725 00:44:17,950 --> 00:44:21,310 As his descendants, we carry on his legacy of education 726 00:44:21,310 --> 00:44:23,500 and professional success. 727 00:44:23,500 --> 00:44:25,450 I leave with you his words in a letter 728 00:44:25,450 --> 00:44:31,180 to John Hart Willcock, dated September 29, 1844. 729 00:44:31,180 --> 00:44:34,030 I am blessed with a trade for you have sent me 730 00:44:34,030 --> 00:44:37,240 to this country where I can speak for myself like a man 731 00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:42,550 and show myself to be a man, so fair as my ability allows me. 732 00:44:42,550 --> 00:44:46,030 We are proud of you, Mr. Peyton Skipwith, and we love you. 733 00:44:46,030 --> 00:44:48,140 Your spirit brought us together. 734 00:44:48,140 --> 00:44:48,700 Thank you. 735 00:44:48,700 --> 00:44:51,320 736 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:54,800 What the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University 737 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:58,070 of Virginia means to me is an opportunity 738 00:44:58,070 --> 00:45:02,990 to answer the deafening silent call of the ancestors. 739 00:45:02,990 --> 00:45:08,270 I've stood, cried, grieved in the midst of the monument, 740 00:45:08,270 --> 00:45:10,640 encamped by slopes of granite. 741 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,740 I've heard the voices of the ancestors, 742 00:45:12,740 --> 00:45:15,800 those enslaved, calling yet only heard 743 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,040 by those willing to receive. 744 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,950 They are calling out their God-given names, 745 00:45:21,950 --> 00:45:25,370 those given by their endearing mothers and grandmothers, 746 00:45:25,370 --> 00:45:28,370 who hoped and prayed that the life of their child 747 00:45:28,370 --> 00:45:33,080 would be better and greater than all they could imagine. 748 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,720 I hear the ancestors calling out their names 749 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:39,740 because, on the wall, their names cannot be found. 750 00:45:39,740 --> 00:45:42,290 They are nameless and only identified 751 00:45:42,290 --> 00:45:45,950 by the laborious nature of their occupations, 752 00:45:45,950 --> 00:45:49,850 imposed and mandated by their masters. 753 00:45:49,850 --> 00:45:53,900 My heart hears them calling out to their descendants. 754 00:45:53,900 --> 00:45:59,030 Yes, that call is to each of us, to keep going, 755 00:45:59,030 --> 00:46:02,600 to keep searching, to keep uniting, to keep reclaiming, 756 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:06,140 to keep honoring, and to strive to repair 757 00:46:06,140 --> 00:46:10,680 the generational trauma embedded by 100 years of physical, 758 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,520 emotional, and spiritual bondage. 759 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:15,620 To those enslaved names on the wall 760 00:46:15,620 --> 00:46:19,370 and to those names whom we promise to identify, 761 00:46:19,370 --> 00:46:21,530 we are here because of you. 762 00:46:21,530 --> 00:46:25,320 And we are grateful for your endurance, your strength, 763 00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:27,950 your perseverance, and your love. 764 00:46:27,950 --> 00:46:31,310 We continue to honor you and to find ourselves, 765 00:46:31,310 --> 00:46:34,473 because we still are not yet free. 766 00:46:34,473 --> 00:46:35,459 [MUSIC PLAYING] 767 00:46:35,459 --> 00:46:47,310 768 00:46:47,310 --> 00:46:48,900 My serpentine. 769 00:46:48,900 --> 00:46:52,230 You are the garden snake that slithers through my freshly 770 00:46:52,230 --> 00:46:55,950 plowed lawn, wraps itself around my swollen ankles, 771 00:46:55,950 --> 00:46:58,050 and calls me, boy. 772 00:46:58,050 --> 00:47:02,580 Curves its way up my spine until I have no choice but to kneel. 773 00:47:02,580 --> 00:47:03,960 My serpentine. 774 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,860 You see the way my aching hands bleed, cracked skin faithfully 775 00:47:07,860 --> 00:47:11,700 stacking cracked brick, under a sweltering Southern sun. 776 00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:13,110 My serpentine. 777 00:47:13,110 --> 00:47:17,670 Tonight, I scrub the crinkled stone walls clean, wipe off 778 00:47:17,670 --> 00:47:19,980 the venom before it stains my skin, 779 00:47:19,980 --> 00:47:23,490 let my tears water the trees that loan me shade. 780 00:47:23,490 --> 00:47:27,210 When did time become cemented between these bricks, 781 00:47:27,210 --> 00:47:28,800 my serpentine? 782 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:32,190 Forgive me for overstepping unmarked boundaries, 783 00:47:32,190 --> 00:47:35,610 for stepping all over these bountiful gardens, pavilions 784 00:47:35,610 --> 00:47:38,830 that leave you perched above me in a thickening silence that 785 00:47:38,830 --> 00:47:40,500 swells in my ear. 786 00:47:40,500 --> 00:47:42,990 Hear the names of my brothers and sisters, 787 00:47:42,990 --> 00:47:45,450 echoing down from pristine balconies. 788 00:47:45,450 --> 00:47:48,540 The crack of your whip meets the click of our tongues. 789 00:47:48,540 --> 00:47:51,540 Our languages remain foreign to one another. 790 00:47:51,540 --> 00:47:55,350 My serpentine, you changed your colors with the seasons, 791 00:47:55,350 --> 00:47:59,160 turned your Confederate cardinal red to orange and blue. 792 00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:02,790 Kept your hatred tucked inside corks and curls. 793 00:48:02,790 --> 00:48:07,260 Now you see some secrets simply must unfurl and topple, 794 00:48:07,260 --> 00:48:10,455 the way Kitty Foster's home did, left in the shadows 795 00:48:10,455 --> 00:48:14,520 while your rotunda was rebuilt. Such recklessness reigning 796 00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:18,060 from those called rational, the consequences of your actions 797 00:48:18,060 --> 00:48:19,470 are far from fractional. 798 00:48:19,470 --> 00:48:24,300 My serpentine, must Swansons sue you to get your attention, 799 00:48:24,300 --> 00:48:28,440 use your laws, your language, until you bite your own tongue? 800 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:31,200 Crouch between your colonnades, quoting Jefferson, 801 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:33,900 until the contradictions catch you off guard, 802 00:48:33,900 --> 00:48:36,840 catch you idle, as my humanity is threatened. 803 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:40,200 Catch you silent as my community is displaced. 804 00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:42,910 Catch you indifferent as my story is erased. 805 00:48:42,910 --> 00:48:46,290 Watch how quickly you craft the next excuse. 806 00:48:46,290 --> 00:48:49,830 When did hate become cemented between these bricks-- 807 00:48:49,830 --> 00:48:51,660 My serpentine. 808 00:48:51,660 --> 00:48:54,330 Your fang marks, they swollen my chest. 809 00:48:54,330 --> 00:48:56,880 Trying to suck the life out of our families, 810 00:48:56,880 --> 00:48:59,620 trying to suck the soul out of our names, 811 00:48:59,620 --> 00:49:02,580 trying to suck the truth out of our histories. 812 00:49:02,580 --> 00:49:06,600 When I shout for justice, you cry for understanding. 813 00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:10,800 Your hot breath fogs up windows until I am invisible. 814 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:14,430 When I demand change, you question my legitimacy, 815 00:49:14,430 --> 00:49:18,270 pretend I speak of myths, boy, check your white fragility. 816 00:49:18,270 --> 00:49:21,180 My serpentine, I see you. 817 00:49:21,180 --> 00:49:23,730 Fierce eyes, scales and all. 818 00:49:23,730 --> 00:49:25,770 You cannot shed yourself of me. 819 00:49:25,770 --> 00:49:27,900 My body, my being. 820 00:49:27,900 --> 00:49:29,280 My serpentine. 821 00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:32,970 I built you, winding curves, cracks and all. 822 00:49:32,970 --> 00:49:35,190 You cannot see yourself without me. 823 00:49:35,190 --> 00:49:37,410 My body, my being-- 824 00:49:37,410 --> 00:49:38,940 My serpentine. 825 00:49:38,940 --> 00:49:41,760 I write you down and capture myself. 826 00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:44,440 I tear you down and free myself. 827 00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:45,420 [MUSIC PLAYING] 828 00:49:45,420 --> 00:50:00,610 829 00:50:00,610 --> 00:50:03,730 Hello, I am Deteasa Brown Gathers. 830 00:50:03,730 --> 00:50:06,160 I am a native of Charlottesville, 831 00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:08,740 an employee of UVA. 832 00:50:08,740 --> 00:50:12,220 I am a mom, a UVA mom. 833 00:50:12,220 --> 00:50:16,390 I'm a grandmother, and I'm a local activist and support 834 00:50:16,390 --> 00:50:20,320 my husband, who is also a local activist, Don Gathers. 835 00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:23,380 The Memorial to Enslaved Labor Community engagement group, 836 00:50:23,380 --> 00:50:28,550 we formed in order to make a way for this very day. 837 00:50:28,550 --> 00:50:31,810 So through this, I found myself. 838 00:50:31,810 --> 00:50:34,150 And I'm so happy that I learned more 839 00:50:34,150 --> 00:50:37,270 about who I am and learned my connection 840 00:50:37,270 --> 00:50:38,920 to this great monument. 841 00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:44,140 I became even more interested in this endeavor 842 00:50:44,140 --> 00:50:50,260 after the death of my own mother, Charlotte Brown, whom 843 00:50:50,260 --> 00:50:53,650 was one of the hidden nurses. 844 00:50:53,650 --> 00:50:58,240 So at the time of her death, and by her bedside, 845 00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:01,150 she made one clear statement to me. 846 00:51:01,150 --> 00:51:04,420 She said, don't forget about me. 847 00:51:04,420 --> 00:51:07,480 Me not forgetting about her is not 848 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,790 forgetting about all 4,000 names on this wall. 849 00:51:10,790 --> 00:51:15,250 I want the next Brown girl like me to understand that they come 850 00:51:15,250 --> 00:51:18,970 from people that are resilient. 851 00:51:18,970 --> 00:51:21,550 People that worked hard. 852 00:51:21,550 --> 00:51:25,000 People that labored for this community, and not 853 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:27,610 just the University of Virginia. 854 00:51:27,610 --> 00:51:31,960 And this is why it is important to continue this story, 855 00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:34,600 and to make sure that we continue 856 00:51:34,600 --> 00:51:37,420 to have a place at the table as descendants. 857 00:51:37,420 --> 00:51:40,600 And I would like to now introduce Bertha French. 858 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,390 She is also my co-chair. 859 00:51:43,390 --> 00:51:45,640 She's a UVA alum. 860 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:49,480 And she is a descendant of those that were enslaved at UVA. 861 00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:52,030 In a letter to Governor James Barbour, 862 00:51:52,030 --> 00:51:54,430 Professor Robert Patterson, a resident 863 00:51:54,430 --> 00:51:57,880 of Pavilion Five, requests, the continuance 864 00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,700 of the sickness at the University 865 00:52:00,700 --> 00:52:02,620 and the probability that it might not 866 00:52:02,620 --> 00:52:04,510 disappear before hot weather, have 867 00:52:04,510 --> 00:52:08,410 determined me to take my leave on to Philadelphia. 868 00:52:08,410 --> 00:52:10,810 I wish you to give up my boy, Alfred, 869 00:52:10,810 --> 00:52:14,500 at the end of his current month to Colonel Bram. 870 00:52:14,500 --> 00:52:17,680 He is hired often, no, by the month. 871 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:20,710 His wife, I suppose, has already gone home. 872 00:52:20,710 --> 00:52:23,620 Henry will stay and attend to the garden. 873 00:52:23,620 --> 00:52:26,410 March 9, 1829. 874 00:52:26,410 --> 00:52:29,620 While not much more is known about Alfred and Henry, 875 00:52:29,620 --> 00:52:32,710 we do know that they belonged to a community and network 876 00:52:32,710 --> 00:52:36,100 of enslaved laborers in the Madison-Barbour Historic 877 00:52:36,100 --> 00:52:39,760 District, a corridor of large plantations riddling 878 00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:43,360 the Constitution Route between Monticello and Montpelier, 879 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:47,260 including the governor's, a home designed by friend and mentor 880 00:52:47,260 --> 00:52:49,360 Thomas Jefferson. 881 00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:52,060 It is only recently that we knew of Alfred and Henry's 882 00:52:52,060 --> 00:52:53,920 connection, and just how entrenched 883 00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:56,680 the Barbours were in building the University 884 00:52:56,680 --> 00:52:58,210 in its early years. 885 00:52:58,210 --> 00:53:01,120 And later, the family's influence as the University 886 00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:03,370 emerges from the Civil War. 887 00:53:03,370 --> 00:53:05,830 The governor's son, Benjamin Johnson Barbour 888 00:53:05,830 --> 00:53:08,050 would become the university's first rector 889 00:53:08,050 --> 00:53:10,270 after the Civil War. 890 00:53:10,270 --> 00:53:12,850 Governor Barbour purchased my third-great grandmother 891 00:53:12,850 --> 00:53:17,260 Priscilla at a tender age of 12 for $350 892 00:53:17,260 --> 00:53:20,080 as he ascended into his position and became 893 00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:23,500 the first resident of the governor's mansion in Richmond. 894 00:53:23,500 --> 00:53:25,120 My daughter Josephine would later 895 00:53:25,120 --> 00:53:28,120 reflect on the experience of holding the actual bill of sale 896 00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:32,230 for Priscilla's acquisition as a formative experience, as she 897 00:53:32,230 --> 00:53:36,820 wrote her personal statement on her application to UVA. 898 00:53:36,820 --> 00:53:39,790 While archival research and special collections 899 00:53:39,790 --> 00:53:42,190 helps tell part of my family story, 900 00:53:42,190 --> 00:53:45,790 my most cherished sources have been the oral histories passed 901 00:53:45,790 --> 00:53:47,920 down through the generations. 902 00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:50,890 I can now connect Priscilla to another important figure 903 00:53:50,890 --> 00:53:52,420 at the University. 904 00:53:52,420 --> 00:53:55,660 Priscilla's granddaughter, my great-grandmother Alverta, 905 00:53:55,660 --> 00:53:59,380 would marry a Reverend William James Howard of Zion Baptist 906 00:53:59,380 --> 00:54:02,170 Church in Washington DC. 907 00:54:02,170 --> 00:54:04,090 He was the pastor who would take over 908 00:54:04,090 --> 00:54:06,790 after the death of Charlottesville native William 909 00:54:06,790 --> 00:54:10,180 Gibbons, husband to Isabella Gibbons of the Jefferson 910 00:54:10,180 --> 00:54:11,440 School. 911 00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:14,590 This generation of strivers achieved Priscilla's wildest 912 00:54:14,590 --> 00:54:18,550 dreams, despite emancipation's broken promises. 913 00:54:18,550 --> 00:54:21,730 I am proud to also be a Black alumna of UVA 914 00:54:21,730 --> 00:54:26,380 and share Priscilla's story as we honor our ancestors today. 915 00:54:26,380 --> 00:54:28,450 The descendants of enslaved communities 916 00:54:28,450 --> 00:54:31,540 at the University of Virginia belongs to a growing consortium 917 00:54:31,540 --> 00:54:35,200 of descendants of enslaved laborers from the Commonwealth 918 00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:38,260 dedicated to preserving the memory of the many forgotten 919 00:54:38,260 --> 00:54:41,050 souls who shaped not just the physical 920 00:54:41,050 --> 00:54:44,320 but the political, economic, and cultural landscape 921 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:46,960 of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 922 00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:48,880 and our nation. 923 00:54:48,880 --> 00:54:50,800 Descendant communities are highlighting 924 00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:54,720 the foundational role race-based slavery, white supremacy, 925 00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:58,170 and colonial systems played in building many of our nation's 926 00:54:58,170 --> 00:55:01,890 institutions, including our current systems of finance, 927 00:55:01,890 --> 00:55:05,370 education, health care, and housing. 928 00:55:05,370 --> 00:55:08,190 Empowered descendant voices challenge the public 929 00:55:08,190 --> 00:55:12,120 to consider marginalized interpretations of history 930 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:15,960 and centers the gaps in ethical education about the history 931 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:20,100 and ongoing legacies of American chattel slavery. 932 00:55:20,100 --> 00:55:24,480 The DEC at UVA sees the University of Virginia 933 00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:28,950 as an African-American historic site built by the 4,000-plus 934 00:55:28,950 --> 00:55:33,120 enslaved laborers identified through University-led archival 935 00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:36,690 research, and whose biographies continue to be unearthed 936 00:55:36,690 --> 00:55:38,880 by our organization. 937 00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:40,620 The University literally would not 938 00:55:40,620 --> 00:55:43,530 be here were it not for our ancestors. 939 00:55:43,530 --> 00:55:45,600 The descendants have been here since the laying 940 00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:48,630 of the first cornerstone, and we have inextricably 941 00:55:48,630 --> 00:55:52,210 been linked to UVA throughout the generations. 942 00:55:52,210 --> 00:55:55,020 Our ancestors' legacy is, among many things, 943 00:55:55,020 --> 00:55:57,270 the actual university. 944 00:55:57,270 --> 00:55:59,580 To tell the truth and help people reckon 945 00:55:59,580 --> 00:56:01,680 with this history, the descendants 946 00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:05,250 seek to research and reclaim the narrative, 947 00:56:05,250 --> 00:56:07,590 to honor the legacies of enslaved and free 948 00:56:07,590 --> 00:56:10,080 Black communities and their descendants, 949 00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:12,870 and to achieve restorative justice for communities 950 00:56:12,870 --> 00:56:15,720 rooted at the University of Virginia and surrounding 951 00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:17,070 regions. 952 00:56:17,070 --> 00:56:18,900 Through its membership, we strive 953 00:56:18,900 --> 00:56:22,200 to identify, engage, and build community 954 00:56:22,200 --> 00:56:25,500 with the descendants of free and enslaved families associated 955 00:56:25,500 --> 00:56:29,290 with building and sustaining the University of Virginia. 956 00:56:29,290 --> 00:56:32,340 The DEC serves as the collective and unified voice 957 00:56:32,340 --> 00:56:35,880 of all descendants of enslaved and free Black communities 958 00:56:35,880 --> 00:56:39,630 who labored through investments in research, education, 959 00:56:39,630 --> 00:56:42,420 and preservation. 960 00:56:42,420 --> 00:56:44,160 The Descendants of Enslaved Communities 961 00:56:44,160 --> 00:56:47,310 hopes to offer a place of healing and space 962 00:56:47,310 --> 00:56:50,370 for our coalition, and offers a strong framework 963 00:56:50,370 --> 00:56:54,030 for our membership through key partnerships including 964 00:56:54,030 --> 00:56:57,570 the Jefferson School, leaders in the Charlottesville community, 965 00:56:57,570 --> 00:56:59,940 and UVA's Black Alumni. 966 00:56:59,940 --> 00:57:02,430 We remain committed to connecting our memberships 967 00:57:02,430 --> 00:57:05,640 memory and oral histories to archival sources 968 00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:09,390 to build out the biographies of the enslaved and free laborers, 969 00:57:09,390 --> 00:57:13,990 and identifying new descendents through genealogical research. 970 00:57:13,990 --> 00:57:16,270 As students come and go, the descendants 971 00:57:16,270 --> 00:57:18,970 would like to see how the University will activate 972 00:57:18,970 --> 00:57:22,900 a central function within to institutionalize an entity 973 00:57:22,900 --> 00:57:26,170 or unit that would be the active proponent to advocate 974 00:57:26,170 --> 00:57:29,290 for reparative justice and reparations. 975 00:57:29,290 --> 00:57:34,000 Please join us by visiting our website, DescendantsUVA.org 976 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,940 and see how you can reclaim, honor, and repair. 977 00:57:36,940 --> 00:57:37,902 [MUSIC PLAYING] 978 00:57:37,902 --> 00:57:48,800 979 00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:49,300 [SINGING] 980 00:57:49,300 --> 00:57:58,880 Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, 981 00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:06,000 ring with a harmonies of liberty. 982 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:09,402 983 00:58:09,402 --> 00:58:21,120 Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening tide, let 984 00:58:21,120 --> 00:58:29,724 it resound loud as the rolling seas. 985 00:58:29,724 --> 00:58:37,220 Sing our song full of the faith that the dark past 986 00:58:37,220 --> 00:58:41,165 has taught us. 987 00:58:41,165 --> 00:58:47,420 Sing our song, full of the hope that the present 988 00:58:47,420 --> 00:58:50,689 has brought us. 989 00:58:50,689 --> 00:58:54,430 990 00:58:54,430 --> 00:59:04,720 Facing the rising sun of a new day begun, 991 00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:11,845 let us march on till victory is won. 992 00:59:11,845 --> 00:59:15,070 993 00:59:15,070 --> 00:59:25,490 Stony the road we trod builder the testing rod, 994 00:59:25,490 --> 00:59:35,790 counting the days when hope unborn had died. 995 00:59:35,790 --> 00:59:46,650 Yet with a steady beat have not a ready feat 996 00:59:46,650 --> 00:59:52,510 come to the place for which our fathers sighed. 997 00:59:52,510 --> 00:59:55,400 998 00:59:55,400 --> 01:00:05,480 We have come over a way that with tears has been watered. 999 01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:12,660 We have come treading our path through the blood 1000 01:00:12,660 --> 01:00:14,155 of the slaughtered. 1001 01:00:14,155 --> 01:00:19,280 1002 01:00:19,280 --> 01:00:25,490 Out from the gloomy past till now 1003 01:00:25,490 --> 01:00:35,900 we stand at last, where the bright gleam of a bright star 1004 01:00:35,900 --> 01:00:36,440 is cast. 1005 01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:40,340 1006 01:00:40,340 --> 01:00:50,150 God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, 1007 01:00:50,150 --> 01:01:01,210 Thou who has brought us thus far on the way. 1008 01:01:01,210 --> 01:01:11,740 Thou who has bowed thy might, let us into the light, 1009 01:01:11,740 --> 01:01:20,685 keep us forever in the path, we pray. 1010 01:01:20,685 --> 01:01:26,675 Lest our feet stray from the place 1011 01:01:26,675 --> 01:01:31,764 ere our God where we met thee. 1012 01:01:31,764 --> 01:01:36,820 Lest our hearts drunk with the wine 1013 01:01:36,820 --> 01:01:42,583 of the world we forget thee. 1014 01:01:42,583 --> 01:01:46,226 1015 01:01:46,226 --> 01:02:01,430 Shadow beneath the heaven may we forever stand, true to our God, 1016 01:02:01,430 --> 01:02:07,620 true to our native land. 1017 01:02:07,620 --> 01:02:38,123