Elegba Folklore Society to Participate in the Preservation Virginia Event at Shockoe Bottom

Juneteenth 2014, A Freedom Celebration helps people to honor our ancestors and celebrate culture.

Elegba Folklore Society will be in attendance to preside over the pouring of libation for enslaved Afrikans as part of the Preservation Virginia media announcement at Shockoe Bottom.  The public is invited to attend the media event, which will take place  at 10AM at The Devil’s Half Acre (aka Lumpkin’s Jail, 15th and Franklin St.) on June 23rd,

The following is an excerpt from the Preservation Virginia website’s “2014 Most Endangered Sites List”

Significance:  Shockoe Bottom is likely the most archaeologically-rich slave-related site in the state, and significant as the site of the center of the domestic commercial wholesale slave trade circa 1830 to 1865, which acted as a major facilitator of the domestic retail slave trade south of Virginia. The area bounded by Broad, Franklin, 18th and 16th Streets is also significant as the center of the original city of Richmond, and the governmental seat of Henrico, once it moved from its original location at Henricus. This was the epicenter of political thought in Virginia during the Revolutionary and Federal period, serving as the common meeting place of the greatest thinkers of the early Republic, including Jefferson, Marshall, Madison, Monroe, Mason, Wythe (who lived not far from the site), and Randolph, among others.

Threat:  The public-private Revitalize RVA Plan contemplates intensive construction and redevelopment within the Shockoe Bottom flood plain, including a stadium, hotel, grocery store, retail space, office buildings, apartment buildings, parking garages, highway off-ramp modifications, and storm water flood-control infrastructure. These activities are likely to adversely impact historic and archaeological resources that are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (including those located within the Shockoe Valley & Tobacco Row Historic District and those identified in a multiple-property listing entitled The Slave Trade as a Commercial Enterprise in Richmond, Virginia).

Solution:  We urge the City of Richmond and its development partners to avoid taking any action for the Revitalize RVA project that may disturb or harm historic and archaeological resources before the federal Section 106 review and consultation process is complete. An announced plan that will identify and review associated historic resources is a first step. Following through with Section 106 will allow for analyzing alternatives and ensuring a plan for appropriate development and preservation of the historic assets. (view the entire list here)

Also, take a look at the article about the media event that appeared on the NY Times website. (here)