Originally published in the Autumn 2024 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 75, printed November 6. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Autumn 2024 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

By Ana Edwards

A proposed Richmond ordinance calls for a 1.3-acre section of the more than 31- acre Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground site to be formally established “as a cemetery to assure its perpetual protection from disturbance and to memorialize it as a solemn and sacred landmark in the City of Richmond and for all residents and visitors to the city of Richmond.”

Some 22,000 Black people, both free and enslaved, are believed to be buried at the long-neglected cemetery. The ordinance was introduced to City Council Oct. 15 by Mayor Levar Stoney and 3rd District Councilmember Ellen Robertson.

If it passes, the legislation also would make advertising of any kind illegal on the site. At present, there is a billboard owned by Lamar Advertising. Under pressure from the community and the City, the billboard currently is not being used, and Lamar has said it would remove it altogether if the City grants it the right to put up six more billboards in other parts of Richmond.

The new ordinance (Ord. No. 2024- 283 ) could give the City more leverage to negotiate with Lamar.

Long-time African Burying Ground advocate Lenora McQueen has asked if the rest of the city parcels that comprise the original 31-plus-acre site will be included in the designation. As of the Defender’s presstime, she hasn‘t received a response.

The intersection of 7th and Hospital streets, at the bottom of Shockoe Hill is crossed by the CSX railroad tracks and is known to be an extremely dangerous intersection. Plans to improve signage and add concrete medians to address this problem are invasive and represent further encroachment onto the historic cemetery grounds.

The ordinance goes before the Planning Commission Nov. 4 and is scheduled to be returned to City Council for a vote Nov. 12.