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Uncovering Richmond

Explore the significance of Lumpkin’s Jail Site and African Burial Grounds in Richmond, along with proposed revitalization plans. Should economic growth outweigh historical preservation? Delve into the debate through comprehensive analysis and thought-provoking questions.

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Uncovering Richmond

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  1. Uncovering Richmond Randi BeHan, Julia Fiscella, MarY Minor & helenwasz

  2. Lumpkin’s JAIL SITE • Robert Lumpkin- Slave trader • Operating slave jail from 1844-1865 • From Jailhouse to schoolhouse • Site of first College for African Americans • Virginia Union University

  3. AFRICAN BURIAL GROUNDS • 1750-1814 • Nation’s oldest municipal cemetery • Bought by VCU 2008 and used as parking lot space • Sparked nationwide protests • Ongoing efforts have been made to reclaim area • Lifting asphalt • Excavation projects for archaeological purposes

  4. Questions for further discussion • How should we represent this historically important area? • How do you tell a history that has been removed? • Can Richmond fully acknowledge its dark past? • Does economics trump history? • How do we treat the sensitive historical architecture in the city? In Shockoe Bottom? • What should a place of “Reflection and Reconciliation” look like? Feel like?

  5. Shockoe Bottom, Lumpkin's Slave Jail Site Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcXef8no6vE

  6. PLAN A: Revitalize RVA •  Supporters- Mayor Dwight C. Jones through the Revitalize Richmond Plan • Plan proposed in 2013 to revitalize Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond • Goal is to build a new baseball stadium, Kroger, condominiums, and a Hyatt hotel • “A new Shockoe ballpark would help solve the floodplain problem, unlocking the value of both Shockoe and the Boulevard.” • “The Boulevard could then become the shopping and dining destination that can grow our bottom line.” • Economic growth- more sustainable • More of a contributor to the rest of the city of Richmond

  7. REVITALIZE RVA PLAN

  8. Revitalize RVA • Plan includes 3 new parking lots- totaling 3650 new spots in addition to the decks already present • Demolition of preexisting buildings and infrastructure in order to build the new parking decks • Planned to begin building in 2014 and was supposed to be finished in 2016, but it has continued to be an ongoing battle to get passed • Building up a poor, relatively waste-land like area; but in the process of doing so it is further removing a part of African American history as well as the history of Richmond and the slave era. • 1000 construction jobs would be made available • 400 permanent jobs would come about • Although it is creating 400 new jobs, building in the area would be pushing out workers of the places being bought and demolished, which means it isn’t actually adding to the job scarcity of Richmond • Much of Shockoe has already been paved over and forgotten

  9. PLAN B: MUSEUM • Runaway slaves • Slaves to be sold • Local Economy • Anthony Burn’s Story • Historically Important

  10. PLAN B: MUSEUM • Does it deserve its own museum? • Is the history of the place already lost to the growing city? • Behind it there is an underpass that leads to the historic slave burial ground. How would this historical site be treated in such proximity to a project like this? • What kind of museum would be put in? • How much would it cost? • Can a museum boost the economy of an area? • Richmond as a whole is full of memorials and historical sites, what effects on the atmosphere would be created by this museum?

  11. Conclusion & QUESTIONS • Which plan would be better for the city? • Would prioritizing economic growth over memorializing the area be disrespectful to the descendants of those who suffered at Lumpkin’s jail? • Who should be making the decision? • Should different ideas be presented? • With many of the graves having already been desecrated, what can be done to restore the damage? • What would be the plan that adheres best to the justice and fairness approach?

  12. Bibliography • City of Richmond. “Preliminary History of the Lumpkin’s Jail Property.” www.richmond.gov • Rosewood, E. A. "Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project." Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project. N.p., 1970. Web. 25 Sept. 2016. • Tucker, Abigail. "Digging up the Past at a Richmond Jail." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2016. • “Lumpkin’s Slave Jail.” Google Maps. 2016 • “Aerial view of stadium” Google Maps • Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, “Lumpkin's Jail,” African American Historic Sites Database, accessed October 17, 2016,http://www.aahistoricsitesva.org/items/show/256. • Charles H. Corey, A History of Richmond Theological Seminary with Reminiscences of Thirty Years’ Work Among the Colored People of the South (Richmond, Va.: William Ellis Jones, Printer, 1895), pp. 49-50 • Tucker, Abigail. “Digging up the Past at a Richmond Jail.” Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2016. • "Revitalize RVA Economic Development Plan." Richmond Virginia. Mayor Dwight C. Jones, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. • Svrluga, Susan. "Shockoe Bottom Ballpark Proposal Could Bury Richmond's Slave History, Group Warns." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 23 June 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. • NBC12 Newsroom. "Richmond Mayor Outlines Shockoe Bottom Baseball Stadium." NBC12 On Your Side. NBC12, 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcXef8no6vE

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