The Virginia Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will unveil the new Emancipation + Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island today.
The monument features two 12-foot-tall bronze statues, one of a woman holding a baby and another depicting a man with broken shackles.
2 plaques will adorn the east + west sides of the monument to honor Virginians who fought to free those enslaved, as well as those who fought for equality in the generations since 1865. Of the 10 lives remembered on those plaques, 4 directly impacted Richmond.
John Mercer Langston: 1829-1897
- First president of what is now Virginia State University.
- First Black person elected to the U.S. Congress from Virginia, elected during the Jim Crow era in 1888.
- Worked in Richmond during his tenure as a representative.
Rosa L. Dixon Bowser: 1855-1931
- Moved to Richmond as a child after the Civil War.
- First Black teacher hired in the city when she was 17-years-old.
- Founder + first president of Richmond’s Women’s League.
- First branch of the Richmond Public Library to serve Black patrons is named after her.
Mary Jane Richards-Bowser: 1846-1867
- Born into slavery in Richmond.
- Worked as a spy for the Union Army.
- Taught former slaves in the city.
- Gave lectures across the country using the pseudonym “Richmonia Richards.”
John Mitchell Jr.: 1863-1929
- Born into slavery in Richmond.
- Longest-serving editor of the Richmond Planet.
- Served on the Richmond City Council.
- Founded Mechanics Savings Bank in 1901.
- Helped organize the Richmond Streetcar Boycott in 1904.
The monument was initially meant to be unveiled in 2019. It was built by sculptor Thomas Jay Warren, one of his many pieces dedicated to civil rights.
Check out his design process + learn about the many other influential Black Virginians honored through this new monument to freedom.
