Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA)
Dublin Core
Title
Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA)
Subject
Subject (Topic)
Slavery
Mid-Atlantic United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery
Mid-Atlantic United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Commemorative sculpture
Description
According the artists, historians and architects involved with the project, they seeks to create:
"The design of a new Memorial to Enslaved African American Laborers on the grounds of the University of Virginia marks a critical moment to address the complex history of the University—and of the country. The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers responds to a deep need to address an untold and uncomfortable history - one that is still very much a difficult, though necessary, national conversation on race. It is vital to highlight those African American historical sites, ones that are often hiding in plain sight.
UVA’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers should create a physical place of remembrance and a symbolic acknowledgement of a difficult past. The memorial should become a place of learning as well as a place of healing. The memorial must address multiple constituencies on UVA grounds and within the Charlottesville community, in particular the descendants of African Americans who built, worked, and lived at the University.”
The memorial is part of a larger, ongoing process at the University spearheaded by the President's Commission on Slavery and the University (PCSU). PCSU began in 2013, guided by the work of groups such as Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (MEL), the UVA IDEA (Inclusion Diversity Equity Access) Fund, and University and Community Action for Racial Equity (UCARE).
"The design of a new Memorial to Enslaved African American Laborers on the grounds of the University of Virginia marks a critical moment to address the complex history of the University—and of the country. The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers responds to a deep need to address an untold and uncomfortable history - one that is still very much a difficult, though necessary, national conversation on race. It is vital to highlight those African American historical sites, ones that are often hiding in plain sight.
UVA’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers should create a physical place of remembrance and a symbolic acknowledgement of a difficult past. The memorial should become a place of learning as well as a place of healing. The memorial must address multiple constituencies on UVA grounds and within the Charlottesville community, in particular the descendants of African Americans who built, worked, and lived at the University.”
The memorial is part of a larger, ongoing process at the University spearheaded by the President's Commission on Slavery and the University (PCSU). PCSU began in 2013, guided by the work of groups such as Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (MEL), the UVA IDEA (Inclusion Diversity Equity Access) Fund, and University and Community Action for Racial Equity (UCARE).
Creator
Meejin Yoon
Mable O. Wilson
Greg Bleam
Frank Dukes
Eto Otitigbe,
Source
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, President's Commission on Slavery and the University, University of Virginia
Photographs: New York Times
Date
2020
Contributor
University of Virginia, Charlottesville; UVA's President's Commission on Slavery and the University of Virginia
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Coverage
University of Virginia, University, VA 22903
Bibliographic Citation
University of Virginia, "Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia." Accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.virginia.edu/slaverymemorial/goals.html
Mary Hughes, Alice J. Raucher, Mabel Wilson, J. Meejin Yoon. "The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia Panel Discussion." Accessed January 31, 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=388_x4oYmq8
Turning Grief for a Hidden Past Into a Healing Space." New York Times. Accessed January 31, 2021: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/16/arts/design/university-of-virginia-enslaved-laborers-memorial.html
Rights Holder
Renée Ater
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Schematic drawings
Collection
Citation
Meejin Yoon et al., “Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed December 5, 2023, http://slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1127.