The memorial to the African Americans held in bondage by the College of William and Mary utilizes transparency and light to further understanding of the university’s long engagement with slavery and the oppression of Jim Crow policies. The memorial makes the invisible visible by creating an open, transparent framework for the names of these African Americans.
The memorial is a series of iron arches linked by iron bands, each band stenciled with the name of an African American held in bondage. The name bands are attached to the arches, forming a small, intimate space. Each name appears as a window: the name is cut through the iron band as an absence, a negative that’s read as a positive, written in light. The name bands are positioned in an informal order, allowing for the addition of more names in the future, and communicating that the memorial is unfinished. It is a scaffold, partially built, and the transparency of the names supports its evanescent character.
Reminiscent of both a Victorian rose arch and the post-bellum shanties erected by Freedpeople in the garden after the Civil War, the size and scale of the arches is the same as the arched entry of the Wren Building and Ewell Hall. However, the memorial is erected with thin pieces of iron rather than the heavy masonry around it. Chosen for its dark color and strength, the thin iron elements blend into the background when viewed from a distance. When viewed closely or from within the memorial, the iron recalls the hardware of bondage. The structure rests lightly on the ground, straddling but not touching the brick walkway. Easily placed in the landscape, and easily moved, its location and permanence rests with William and Mary’s commitment to remember.
DETAILS
Slavery Memorial
Williamsburg
AWARDS
2019 - AIA | LA Next LA Design Award
TEAM
Jeffrey Allsbrook, Silvia Kuhle, Eileen Arcos, Denisa Buzatu, Mitchell Hattersley
Renderings ©Standard
©2019 Standard®
