Richmond has a wealth of African-American history and so many worthy sites to visit to learn about our past as we honor Black History Month. Here are just a few suggested places:
There may not be a better place than the Richmond Slave Trail to contemplate the hardships and terror that enslaved people faced as they reached Richmond. Trace the slave trade from Africa to Virginia and onward throughout the United States until 1860. Take a walk along the Richmond Slave Trail and see infamous locations like the Manchester Docks, slave auction houses, the site of Lumpkin’s Jail and the Negro Burial Ground. Also see the sites honoring black history along the path, such as the Kanawha Canal (built mostly by slave labor), the memorial to Henry "Box" Brown on Canal Walk, the Richmond Slavery Reconciliation Statue, and the First African Baptist Church. Richmond is working to develop a museum in the area of Main Street Station at the site of Lumpkin's Jail.
The Virginia Civil Rights Memorial at Capitol Square was erected in July 2008 to honor the actions of 16 year-old Barbara Rose Johns of Robert Russa Moton High School in Prince Edward County. The monument, made of granite and bronze, was sculpted by Stanley Bleifeld.
Discover one of the country's foremost African-American communities, Jackson Ward, known as "The Harlem of the South" with great entertainment venues like the Hippodrome Theater. While there, visit the home of Maggie Lena Walker, the first female bank president in America. The Bill "Bojangles" Robinson statue recognizes the dancer best known for his tap dancing with child-star Shirley Temple. Also, visit the Black History Museum and Cultural Center and see the many historic churches and buildings that remain from that prosperous era. The museum is set to someday move to the Leigh Street Armory.
Sculptor Paul DiPasquale has three contributions to black history. On Monument Avenue -- considered one of the most beautiful boulevards in the world and the only street in the country designated as a National Historic Landmark -- is the statue of tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe. On Brown's Island, the 9 1/2 foot tall bronze "Headman" statue commemorates the contributions of the black bateaux boatman on the James River. In Jackson Ward, find the bust of Civil Rights activist and famed Richmond lawyer Oliver W. Hill.
To view African art, travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the L. Douglas Wilder Library and Learning Center at Virginia Union University. Wilder was the first elected African-American governor and served as Richmond's mayor.
For special exhibits on African-American life during the Civil War, visit the Museum of the Confederacy and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar.
In Henrico's Lakeside neighborhood, Spring Park was the gathering place for Gabriel Prosser, a literate 24-year-old blacksmith, and his fellow slaves one night in 1800. They had rebellion on their mind, and a plan that might have worked. But instead of success, they were greeted by a massive thunderstorm that washed out roads and bridges.
Please share other worthy sites and we will include them on this list and please post your events in our calendar.
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