Discussions continue about Court Square auction block marker

Smith also stressed the importance of street names being near the geographic location of the person or thing they are honoring. For instance, a portion of Avon Street is currently named after the late Franklin Delano Gibson, a celebrated philanthropist who owned a grocery store on the street for more than 40 years.

That won’t always be possible, though. “Because one of the reasons we’re doing this is out of equity concerns, there may be people who aren’t permanently associated with a distinct geography,” said co-chair Genevieve Keller. “We would need to memorialize and honor them anyway [and] find the most appropriate place.”

While some preferred that the street proposals be submitted by city residents, people who live on the street, or family members of the individual being honored, the committee decided to leave the applications open to anyone in the larger Charlottesville area.

However, a public notice will be sent to residents living on the streets with name proposals, so they can provide input on the decision.

The committee also decided to scrap the 500-word essay on the current application, and replace it with a series of short, direct questions about the street proposal.

After deciding on the policy changes, the committee briefly discussed the applications

“Especially in a small city like this, [rotating] can be beneficial if there are this many people that should be honored.”

SALLY DUNCAN, HISTORIC RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBER

submitted to the city over the summer. Several seek to honor notable Black figures, like activist Wyatt Johnson and enslaved laborer Henry Martin, and historical events, like the razing of Vinegar Hill, while other proposals cover a variety of categories, including two in honor of UVA men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett.

In September, before turning to the HRC, City Council approved two of the original 13 applications. One renames a section of Grady Avenue after the late Reverend C.H. Brown, who built 12th Street’s Holy Temple Church of God In Christ in 1947. Behind the church, Brown also constructed several homes, helping the area to become a thriving Black neighborhood.

The other approved request honors the ongoing movement against police violence and systemic racism, recognizing Market Street between First Street Northeast and Ninth Street Northeast as Black Lives Matter Boulevard. It was proposed by community activist Don Gathers.

At its next meeting, the committee will officially vote on the naming policy changes, and decide which of the remaining 11 applications it should recommend for council’s approval, using the newly established guidelines.

Holding court

Auction block memorial remains in flux as descendant engagement process continues

By Ben Hitchcock editor@c-ville.com

Late on a rainy night in February, the plaque marking the location where enslaved people were bought and sold in Court Square disappeared. Shortly after, area activist Richard Allan came forward as the culprit, saying he removed the marker—and threw it in the James River— because it was an insufficient remembrance of the horrors that had occurred on the spot. Allan was arrested and briefly jailed.

Nine months later, he’s among the leaders of a group of citizens advocating for the creation of a Court Square Enslavement Museum. They also want to see the installation of an immediate stop-gap commemorative marker on the site of the old auction block. (The spot is currently marked out with a paper replica of the original plaque and a few small flower pots.)

Last week, the city’s Historic Resources Committee urged patience, citing ongoing discussions over the future of the site.

The citizens’ group supporting the museum recently submitted a proposal to the state’s Department of Historic Resources, asking the state to place a commemorative sign on the location as a short-term solution. The proposal requires a sign-off from the city, however, and so a handful of citizens made their case at the meeting.

“We come to speak not about the museum, but about a basic yet highly important historic marker,” said Marvin Morgan, the interim pastor at Sojourners United Church of Christ. “Make haste in your response so this may be properly marked. Then current passersby—young and old and generations yet unborn—may be reminded of what happened on the space that is Court Square.”

Marie Coles Baker echoed those comments, noting that the spot had been inadequately marked for decades. “It’s certainly time, I think, to move very quickly and get

CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

The original plaque marking the spot of the auction block was removed from Court Square in February, leaving the city with an opportunity to re-imagine the location. the historic site recognized and a marker placed there,” she said.

The HRC declined to endorse the proposal, however. After the plaque was removed in February, the committee began engaging with descendants of those who were bought and sold in Court Square to determine the appropriate way to memorialize the space. That process was disrupted by the pandemic, and committee members felt it should continue before more decisions were made.

The engagement process so far has been “very deliberate,” said committee member Phil Varner. “That is the type of process that should occur with these types of things. Particularly with the people that are most affected by this.”

“This independent proposal has circumvented the community engagement process that was ongoing with the descendant community,” said committee member Jalane Schmidt. “What’s become standard in public history over the last decade or two is to do that community engagement work, to get the feedback from those most affected.”

Committee chair Rachel Lloyd noted that a larger, years-long joint effort by the city and county to reshape Court Square is underway. “The entire landscape of the Court Square block may be subject to a lot of changes,” Lloyd said. “We want to understand the whole commemorative context as we go forward.”

After the meeting, Allan said he was “flummoxed” by the committee’s decision. Baker is confident a new memorial will be placed one way or another. “It’s certainly a time to strike while the fire and the sentiment is hot, and I think they will,” she says.

The public engagement process isn’t over. “I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the process of the public, of people who took their own time and energy to come together, express their concern, and took collective action at a time when city actions were stifled,” said committee member Genevieve Keller. “I would welcome your continued participation in this greater process.”

Seal of disapproval

As Charlottesville seeks to rectify its racist past by renaming buildings and removing Confederate statues, the city’s colorful patch logo is the next to be updated. It consists of four symbols: the UVA Rotunda, a dogwood blossom, a cannon, and the downtown statues of the U.S. presidents from the Charlottesville area—James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe.

During its Monday meeting, City Council briefly discussed changing the logo by hosting a community design contest, which is how it was originally selected in 1971.

Though Councilor Sena Magill had inquired with city staff about a new logo, landing it on the meeting agenda, she—along with the rest of council—was not in favor of starting the process now, citing the city’s long list of current priorities.

“I don’t think our current city logo represents us as a city. I think we have changed. We have been reexamining who we are,” said Magill. “But with COVID, where our businesses [and] people are right now, diverting city dollars or staff time when we need to be figuring some other things out, we might need to take a look at this in six months.” Interim City Manager John Blair agreed to put the logo redesign back on council’s agenda in June. In the meantime, city staff will evaluate how much the replacement process will cost.—Brielle Entzminger

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