Richmond
City Council – Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305 - Richmond, Virginia 23219
U.S.A. - www.council.richmondva.gov
COUNCIL PUBLIC
INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY
IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO BE FORWARDED AND SHARED
Tuesday,
17 June 2014
Reminder: Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission meetings to
be held
All Richmond Residents invited and encouraged to attend
WHAT
(Richmond,
Virginia U.S.A.) -- The Richmond City Council Slave
Trail Commission's upcoming meeting schedule is listed below.
The Richmond City
Council Slave Trail Commission typically holds monthly meetings regarding
its work and ongoing projects in helping to preserve and present the history of
slavery in Richmond. The upcoming scheduled meeting dates are listed below.
Meetings are typically scheduled to be held the first Thursday of each month at/around
4:00 p.m., at the same location (note: meeting dates, times and locations are
subject to change). Please note time and dates of upcoming meetings.
Meetings are free
and open to the public and all Richmond residents are invited and encouraged to
attend. The agenda for these meetings typically include the following:
·Welcome
·New Business
·Updates
·Committee
Reports
·Upcoming
Events
·Closing
Remarks/Adjournment
WHEN Thursday, July 10, 2014; 4:00-5:30 p.m. (date
change due to July 4 holiday)
(No August Meeting)
Thursday, September 4, 2014; 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 2, 2014; 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 6, 2014; 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 11, 2014; 4:00-5:30 p.m.
WHERE Richmond East District Initiative Government
Services Building
701
N. 25th Street (In Richmond’s Historic East End)
WHO The
Honorable Delores L. McQuinn, Chairman, Richmond City Council Slave Trail
Commission; Delegate, Virginia House of Delegates - 70th Voter District
CONTACT For more information, please contact:
The Honorable Delores L. McQuinn, Chairman, Richmond
Slave Trail Commission (Member, Virginia House of Delegates
-70th Voter District) at 804.698.1070 (tel), or deldmcquinn@house.virginia.gov (email)
Background
___________________________________________________________________________
Richmond
City Council Slave Trail Commission
One
of Richmond City Council's more than 55 official boards, task forces and
commissions that it has created and that assists with providing oversight of certain projects and priorities,
the Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission is a government entity of
Richmond City Council that was established by Resolution Number 98-R 102-107,
adopted July 13, 1998, as amended by Resolution No. 2000-R111-109, adopted July
24, 2000, as amended by Resolution No. 2003-R132-123, adopted July 14, 2003, as
amended by Resolution No. 2003-R155-141, adopted September 8, 2003, as amended
by Resolution No. 2004-R125-131, adopted June 28, 2004.
The purpose of the
Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission is to assist Council with
oversight and assistance in helping to preserve and present the history of
slavery in Richmond. The Commission meets monthly and includes 17 members that
are appointed by Council to serve for three year terms. The composition of
membership is as follows:
The
Commission shall be composed of seventeen (17) members. Such persons shall be appointed by the
Council and shall serve for terms of three (3) years. The membership of the Commission shall
include at least one (1) member of City Council, not less than three (3)
members of the “Hope in the Cities” organization and a representative from the
Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. Any appointed Council members shall be given
the first option of serving as the Chair of the Commission in order of their
appointment. Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for
meetings.
Richmond
City Council provides annual staff assistance and financial support for the
Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission. Council staff support includes
providing fiscal management, public information, writing, publication creation,
graphic design, special event and project management, promotions and
fundraising. Additional staff support is provided by the Richmond City
Administration through the Richmond Department of Economic Development, which
includes project engineering and management.
Over
the years, Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission has worked on a number
of important projects, which have included:
·
2011
Unveiling
of 17 Richmond Slave Trail Markers located throughout the Shockoe Bottom area
of Richmond, marking sites that help tell the historic journey, human impact,
and the role Richmond played in the tragic history of slavery.
The
Richmond Slave Trail Markers will serve to recognize the regrettable time in
our nation’s history when parts of the United States allowed the enslavement of
fellow human beings and an estimated 8 percent of U.S. families owned slaves
just before the U.S. Civil War. The site of the event and location of one of
the 17 markers, Lumpkin's Slave Jail was the largest slave-holding facility in
operation in Richmond, Virginia from 1840 until the end of the U.S. Civil War
in 1865. Prior to that time, Richmond was home to the largest domestic slave
export business in the United States. Richmond was liberated when the
Confederate Army surrendered the city, which was used as the Capital of the
Confederacy, on April 3, 1865.
Following shortly after the end of the U. S. Civil War, which ended in Virginia
on April 9, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States of America
Constitution was adopted on December 6, 1865. This amendment officially
abolished slavery. A
precursor for this Amendment was the Emancipation Proclamation,
an Executive
Order signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, which
proclaimed the freedom of people living in slavery in the 10 states, then under
Confederate control in rebellion against the United States of America.
Approved
by the United States Congress on January 31, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was
signed and approved by President Abraham Lincoln on February 1, 1865. The
Constitutional Amendment was then sent to state legislatures for ratification
and, on December 18, 1865, was officially ratified, therefore officially abolishing slavery in the United
States of America.
The
13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America reads as
follows:
Amendment XIII
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall
exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by
appropriate legislation.
·
2009
Development
of the conceptual Richmond National Slavery Museum.
Development
of the Richmond Slave Trail Marker Program, Signage and
Commemorative
Site: Lumpkin’s Slave Jail
·
2008
Discovery
of Lumpkin’s Slave Jail historic foundation and architectural
artifacts.
·
2008
– 2009
Phase
II Lumpkin’s Slave Jail Archaeological Assessment: which
included
engineering and storm water engineering
· 2007
Richmond
International Unveiling of Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue on Friday,
March 30, 2007, erected at 15th and E. Main Streets. Included design and
construction of the Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statute plaza and erection
of the statue. This project was part of a global initiative placing three
statues in three countries. Dedicated to slavery reconciliation, the
installation of the statue represents nearly 10 years of work between the City
of Richmond, Virginia, USA (North America), Liverpool, England (Europe), and
the Republic of Benin (Africa). A statue was erected in Liverpool in 1989 and
the Republic of Benin in August 2005.
·
2006
Lumpkin’s
Slave Jail Archaeological Assessment
Lumpkin's Slave Jail was the largest slave holding facility in operation
in Richmond, Virginia from 1840 until the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865.
During that time, Richmond was home to the largest domestic slave export
business in the United States. Owned by Robert Lumpkin, the jail was a place
that tens
of thousands of African men, women and children were "stored" before
being transported to slave owners living in states where slavery was legal.
Following Lumpkin's death shortly after the Civil war, his common law widowed
wife Mary Lumpkin, who was African-American, inherited the estate. In 1867, she
leased the jail to Reverend Nathaniel Colver, who established a school for
freed slaves at the site. Founded by the American Baptist Home Missionary
Society and the National Theological Institute, the school grew into what is
now Virginia Union University.
·
2003
Acquisition
of Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue. For three quarters of the 18th
Century, Virginia (North America), Liverpool, England (Europe), and the
Republic of Benin (Africa) represented one of the largest global commercial
trade triangles of enslaved Africans. Liverpool's shipbuilding industry
provided the vessels that sailed to the Kingdom of Dahomey, now the Republic of
Benin, where Africans were loaded on ships and transported to the Americas,
with Richmond, Virginia being one of the major recipients.
Support
Richmond City Council provides annual staff assistance as
available and financial support for the Richmond City Council Slave Trail
Commission. Council staff support includes providing fiscal management, public
information, writing, publication creation, graphic design, special event and
project management. Additional staff support is provided by the Richmond City
Administration through the Richmond Department of Economic Development, which
includes project engineering and management. Council financial support is provided
through appropriations in the Richmond City Budget. This includes
appropriations in the Richmond City Budget Capital Improvement Plan,
Non-Departmental budgets and Departmental budgets. Funding is predicated on
requests made by the Commission and as determined by Council.
An
overview of estimated financial investments in the Richmond City Council Slave
Trail Commission, and some highlighted projects, are listed below per Fiscal
Year (FY). The estimates reflect Richmond Government Budget - General Fund
Budget and Capital Investment Projects disbursements.
• FY
2013 (3/2013) - $59,290.69
For
general Commission support/and for development of the Richmond Slave Trail
Marker Program; signage and commemorative site; Lumpkin’s Slave Jail/Richmond
Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2012- $80,931.46
For
general Commission support/and for development of the Richmond Slave Trail
Marker Program; signage and commemorative site; Lumpkin’s Slave Jail/Richmond
Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2011- $190,258.66
For
general Commission support/and for development of the Richmond Slave Trail
Marker Program; signage and commemorative site; Lumpkin’s Slave Jail/Richmond
Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2010- $102,311.43
For
general Commission support/and for development of the Richmond Slave Trail
Marker Program; signage and commemorative site; Lumpkin’s Slave Jail/Richmond
Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2009 - $286,628.13
For
general Commission support ($30,000 - spent $5,124) and for development of the
Richmond Slave Trail Marker Program; signage and commemorative site; Lumpkin’s
Slave Jail; development of conceptual National Slavery Museum; and, paid
sponsorship for Symposium at the University of Richmond for the Civil War
Sesquicentennial/ Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2008 - $51,212.28
For
general Commission support ($30,000 - spent $7,748) and for Phase II of
Lumpkin’s Slave Jail Archaeological Assessment, which included $155,000 for
earthmoving and $35,000 for engineering and stormwater engineering (floodplain
and proximity to I-95 berm) and $150,000 for archaeological services to hire a
vendor/Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2007 - $493,439.48
For
general Commission support ($11,000) and design and construction of the
Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statute plaza; erection of the statue; and, the
International Unveiling of the Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2006 - $31,535.44
For
Richmond Slave Trail Brochure Creation/Printing Phase I of Lumpkin’s Slave Jail
Archaeological Assessment/Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission
support/Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue
• FY
2005 - $113,599.83
Richmond
City Council Slave Trail Commission support/Richmond Slavery Reconciliation
Statue
• FY
2004 - $1,000
Richmond
City Council Slave Trail Commission support/Richmond Slavery Reconciliation
Statue
• FY
2003 - $41,445
Richmond
City Council Slave Trail Commission support/Richmond Slavery Reconciliation
Statue
Additional financial, staff and
archeological support has also been provided by the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources, Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods, Virginia
Commonwealth University, and a number of corporate, nonprofit and individual
financial sponsors.
-
end -
Steve Skinner
Council Public Information Manager
RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL CHIEF OF STAFF
Richmond City Hall
900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305
Richmond, Virginia 23219 U.S.A.
804.646.6052 (office)
804.335.4054 (mobile)
804.937.1386 (home/mobile)
804.646.5468 (fax)
______________________________________________________________
MISSION The mission of Richmond City Council is to
represent citizens in creating and amending local laws,
providing government
policy and oversight, and
approving the city budget.
VISION Richmond City Council is committed to
creating a vibrant community that is a great place
to live, work, learn, play, visit and raise a family.
