Right off of The Corner, where students dine and drink, as soon as you step on Grounds, is a recently added installation. It is an unassuming broken ring that invites you in. And once you enter, the experience is powerful and moving. The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at UVA is thoughtfully done and I encourage you to see it.
We visited on a slightly dreary Juneteenth day. We found parking off The Corner and joined others in silently taking in the Memorial.
Granite walls from Virginia are etched with the names of slaves – if known, that is. Of the 4,000 slaves who worked on or at the University of Virginia, only 578 names are known. What is additionally chilling is that another 311 human beings are known only as their job or trade. “Butler.” “Mason.” “Grandmother.”
Along the interior of the circle is a water feature. As visitors walk in a clockwise progression, time moves forward as the water ebbs. National events related to slavery are juxtaposed with human events that happened in the lives of particular slaves at UVA.
It is a quiet and effective way of putting things into perspective, and reminding visitors that the slaves were living lives of suffering yet also trying to navigate the human experiences we all share (such as birth and illness).
I do not have enough hubris to try to tell anyone what this memorial means – I think it is a different (yet deep) experience for everyone. I also think that what it brings to the City of Charlottesville and to the University of Virginia is profound, yet defies an easy explanation. It doesn’t rectify events. But it does begin to ensure that our collective memory doesn’t fade. I personally believe that through memorials like this, we can work to ensure that we grow, and that we don’t repeat history.
And I also believe that the next generation should see how fallible humans can be as they grow into the stewards of humanity.
But that’s our family, and that’s me. You may feel differently. This Memorial may be an entirely different experience for you.
I encourage you to go. Render your own opinions. It is free, doesn’t take long to engage with, and is available to all under the big, blue sky we share.
For more on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at UVA:
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