Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (Charlottesville, Virginia)

Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (Charlottesville, Virginia)

Subject (Topic)
Enslaved persons
Public art
Public sculpture
Virginia--Charlottesville
Slavery--Virginia
University of Virginia

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

The memorial consists of two granite circles nestled into the grassy landscape. The exterior surface of the outer ring is ribbed and textured with shallow depressions designed to catch light and shadow. From a certain angle, the eyes of Isabella Gibbons—an enslaved woman at the University of Virginia—appear on the stone surface. The interior wall of this outer ring bears the engraved names of known enslaved laborers at the University, along with placeholders for those whose names remain unknown.

At the center lies a circular grass lawn, encircled by a smaller stone ring. This inner ring features engravings of Isabella Gibbons’ writings and a timeline depicting the lives of enslaved people at the university from the early seventeenth century through Gibbons’ death in 1889. The structure invites visitors to view and reflect upon the various inscriptions etched onto the memorial.

Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Höweler, Eric, 1972-
Yoon, Meejin, 1972-

Wilson, Mable O. (architect), 1963-

Otiitigbe, Eto (artist), 1977-

Gleam, Gregg (landscape architect), 1952-

Dukes, Frank (community engagement facilitator), 1951-

Photographs by Renée Ater

April 10, 2021

Design Team: Höweler + Yoon Architecture including Namjoo Kim, Caroline Shannon, and Anna Kaertner; Silman, Structural Engineering; Nitsch Engineering; George Sexton Associates, Lighting Designer; DEW, International Water Feature Design Consultants; Team Henry Enterprises, General Contractor; Quarra Stone Company, Stone Fabrication and Installation; Common Name, Typography Design.

Descendants of Enslaved Communities at UVA.

University of Virginia: President's Commission on Slavery and the University, Memorial for Enslaved Laborers student organization, Inclusion Diversity Equity Access IDEA Fund, University and Community Action for Racial Equity (UCARE), Office of the Architect and Facilities Managment, Division of for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity. 

Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL) Community Engagement Committee: Meghan Saunders (chair), Cecil Banks, Bobby Battle, Carolyn Dillard, Kellen Renner-Thomas, Joy Elmore, Tierney Fairchild, DeTeasa Gathers, Jessica Harris, Sarita Herman, Pam Higgins, Mary Hughes, Alexis Mason, Kristin Morgan, Louis Nelson, Shelley Murphy, Stacy Smith, and Cauline Yates.

Community Input: 100 Black Men of Central Virginia, African American fraternities and sororities, Albemarle High School, Black Professional Network, Black Student Alliance (BSA), Buford Middle School, Central Virginia History Research Group (CVHR), Charlottesville High School, City of Promise, Collegiate 100, Daughters of Zion, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Faculty Senate, General Faculty Council, J.P. Burley High School Alumni, Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA), Mason’s Lodge, Monticello High School, NAACP, Office of African American Affairs, The Ridley Scholarship Fund, Trinity Episcopal Church, Union Run Baptist Church, UVA Black Alumni, Virginia Humanities, and Zion Union Baptist Church.

Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity, University of Virginia, Madison Hall, P.O. Box 400881, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904, United States

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

University and Elliewood Avenues, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903, United States

Timeline
https://mel.virginia.edu/history?open=true#timeline-of-enslaved-laborers-at-uva

List of African American individuals (Community Cloud):
http://juel.iath.virginia.edu/node/367 and https://mel.virginia.edu/community?open=true#community-cloud

Virginia mist granite

Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity. "Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia." University of Virginia. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://mel.virginia.edu/.

Silva, Sergio Manuel. "Afterlives in Stone." Religion, Race & Democracy Lab, University of Virginia. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://religionlab.virginia.edu/projects/afterlives-in-stone/.

Wilder, Craig Steven. Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

University of Virginia. "Universities Studying Slavery." President's Commission on Slavery and the University. https://slavery.virginia.edu/universities-studying-slavery/.

Renée Ater

Sculpture