Razing a Trail

Groundbreaking for historic Lumpkin's Jail survey took place Monday Annie McCallumRichmond.comWednesday, April 05, 2006It's not about vengeance. It's about redemption. It's not about division. It's about the past and the future. That's how officials involved in the Lumpkin's Jail archeological survey see the project. On April 3 the Richmond Slave Trail Commission kicked off the survey with a groundbreaking ceremony held behind the old Seaboard Building, on the corner of 15th and Franklin streets. The site was once a major slave-trading block, which later became a school for newly freed blacks. It is where Virginia Union University held its first classes."It's mixed emotions, you know, because its one of the things with these types of events there's a certain presence and there's certain spirit there," said Delores L. McQuinn, chairwoman of the Richmond Slave Trail Commission and Richmond City Councilwoman for the Seventh District. "And you feel that it's almost an opportunity to redeem some of the atrocities of the past."The survey is the work of several area Richmond groups. The Richmond Slave Trail Commission, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.) have partnered with the City of Richmond to conduct the archeological project. "It's really about bringing history to the forefront and then moving forward and using that as a tool to reconcile some of the differences and the division, things that have kept us so divided, particularly in the City of Richmond," McQuinn said. Jennie Dotts, A.C.O.R.N. executive director, said securing the project has been a long process. And throughout that process the project has grown and expanded, becoming an educational project, she added. "Now we realize how much it has to tell us about how the City of Richmond was and has become," said Dotts, calling the project hugely significant because of the slave trade's impact on Richmond. "It was the cornerstone of the Richmond economy for decades and as a result it helped shape the City," Dotts said. "So much of what we think of when we think of Richmond was built through slave labor."Dotts also noted the effort that has gone into getting the survey started. She said it has not been easy, noting A.C.O.R.N.'s ballpark battle. The discussion of the Richmond Braves relocating to the Bottom would have would have negatively impacted efforts to investigate and memorialize the slave trade including the Lumpkin's site, she said. "The footprint of the stadium was going to be right in the middle of the slave trail," Dotts said. The effort to memorialize the slave trade has not been easy for the commission either. The 12-year-old organization has worked to mark areas of the city to memorialize the slave trade and at the survey groundbreaking McQuinn was elated. Full Story: http://www.richmond.com/news/output.aspx?Article_ID=4196310&Vertical_ID=23&tier=2&position=1