African American Burial Ground
The abandoned site was rediscovered in 2015 by Rev. Michelle Thomas. Rev. Thomas was the president of the local NAACP chapter in 2019. That year, Governor Ralph Northam appointed her to the Commission on African American History Education in the Commonwealth.
In 2017, the real estate developer Toll Brothers, which owned the land, donated 2.75 acres (1.11 ha) to a new Loudoun Freedom Center. In 2021, the developer agreed to donate an additional 4 acres (1.6 ha), which will be used to re-create a schoolhouse and other structures used by enslaved people.
Also planned are a columbarium and a scatter garden, where people can scatter ashes of their loved ones. In 2020 Michelle Thomas buried the first free Black in the cemetery: her 16-year-old son, dead of drowning.
References
- ^ "School district apologizes for history of racism". The Daily News Leader (Staunton, Virginia). 28 Sep 2020. p. A5.
- ^ Holtzclaw, Mike (2 Sep 2019). "Putting history into context. Commission to increase presence of lessons on African Americans' past". Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia). p. A1.
- ^ Tan, Rebecca (October 24, 2021). "At a historic cemetery for the enslaved, a mother's personal grief mixes with collective mourning". Washington Post.