Archive for “Negro Burial Ground”
Burial Ground Protesters Not Charged
Last month four protesters blocked access to a Virginia Commonwealth University parking lot and were subsequently arrested and charged with trespassing. The protesters were objecting to the possible desecration of an African-American Burial Ground that is thought to be located beneath the parking lot. Yesterday in Manchester the charges were dropped and since that time [...]
Work to begin on Slave Burial Ground this Month
Later this month work will begin to turn the parking lot believed to be over an African Burial site into a grass covered memorial. The VCU parking lot will close on May 20 and work to begin the next day. This probably wouldn’t be happening without the generosity of 3 contractors.
RTD Editorial on Burial Grounds
Michael Williams goes after VCU for what he perceives as a lack of action and understanding in relation to the Slave Burial Grounds. If VCU finds itself in a parking bind, whose fault is that? The desecration in its midst was exposed nearly three years ago amid university plans to repave its newly purchased lot. [...]
Slave Burial Ground in Style Weekly
The plans or lack of plans is the subject of an article in today’s Style Weekly. VCU will use state money to rip up the asphalt that was laid down but beyond that things get hazy. The Slave Trail Commission has turned to Michael Blakey, director of the Institute for Historical Biology at the College of [...]
Slave Burial Ground Discussed at City Council
I don’t know if discussed is completely correct because that implies an exchanging of ideas from two parties. What occurred last night appears to be a little more one sided. From RVA News’ City Council Recap; The downtown slave burial ground was discussed by King Salim Khalfani, director of the Virginia NAACP. An outspoken advocate [...]
State to buy parking lot / burial ground
cbs6 is reporting that “Gov. Bob McDonnell will hold a news conference on Wednesday, to announce that the state will purchase a controversial Virginia Commonwealth University parking lot in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom.
8th Annual Gabriel’s Rebellion and Burial Ground Commemoration
Via the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project: The 8th Annual Gabriel’s Rebellion and Burial Ground Commemoration wil be held October 10, somewhere: It’s about time to come together and have a community discussion about the progress on reclamaing Richmond’s African Burial Ground. Following the success of the documentary, Meet Me In The Bottom: The Struggle [...]
Lawsuit filed to study VCU parking lot, slave burial ground
Former Richmond City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin filed a lawsuit this morning against Virginia Department of Historic Resources Director Kathleen Kilpatrick. From the RTD: The suit seeks to order the department to conduct an archaeological dig of a Virginia Commonwealth University parking lot at 1541 E. Broad St. to determine the true boundaries of a cemetery [...]
Meet Me in the Bottom
”Meet Me in the Bottom- The Struggle to Reclaim Richmond’s African Burial Ground” premieres October 23 at the Grace Street Theater at 7:00 p.m. The Burial Ground for Negroes (ca. 1750-1816) is located north of Broad Street, between 15th and 16th Streets. It is the oldest municipal cemetery for enslaved and free Blacks known toexist in the [...]
VCU repaves over slave burial ground- the flip side
Following last week’s protests, Style Weekly presents an argument in favor of the repaving of the parking lots which lie over the negro burial ground. The reasoning? Repaving may help protect the artifacts that are buried beneath the asphalt. The Shockoe Bottom parking lot may have caused a stir, but some people say the unintended [...]
“VCU is paving over the dead”
The paving over of the negro burial ground at 15th&Broad, delayed last year after protests, is under way today. Kenneth Yates posted the following message along with pictures of the repaving. We will not know for sure until a proper archeological excavation has been done. This is now made that much more difficult with another [...]
finding Lumpkin’s Jail and locating the Burial Ground for Negroes
The Virginia Historical Society invites the community to attend Hidden Things Brought to Light: Finding Lumpkin’s Jail and Locating the Burial Ground for Negroes. The free event will be held this Saturday, February 28, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. “The goal of this conference is to provide a venue where members of the [...]