UVA Memorial to Enslaved Laborers
Charlottesville, Virginia
Nestled into the sloping landscape of the "Triangle of Grass," which sits within the UNESCO World Heritage Site boundary of the University of Virginia's (UVA) grounds, the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers seeks to formally acknowledge the work and the individual lives of the enslaved African Americans who built and sustained the every-day life of the University.
Client
University of Virginia
Amount
$5,400,000
Size
24 m in diameter
Completion Date
January 2020
Architect
Howeler + Yoon
Founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson, UVA is considered by many to be the quintessential university campus.
Yet, like many of its peer institutions, the University depended on the labor and work of enslaved African American men, women, and children. Constructed of local granite, "Virginia Mist," the Memorial creates a space to gather, reflect, acknowledge, and honor the enslaved laborers who contributed to the University. Scholars estimate that at least 5,000 enslaved African Americans worked on the grounds, with many in residence, starting with the construction of the Lawn in 1817 and lasting through the end of the Civil War in 1865.
The construction of the project consisted of site grading and utilities; construction of nearly 300 linear feet of intricate circular concrete foundations and buttress walls to support more than 400 tons of granite; shaping, carving, and setting almost 200 pieces of granite - weighing as much as 35,000 pounds each; installing an underground equipment room to support the infrastructure for a custom granite water feature, and construction of the water feature itself.