VCU to create memorial for people, most of African descent, whose remains were dumped
Virginia Commonwealth University will spend $3.6 million on a memorial to dozens of people, most of them of African descent, whose bodies were stolen from their graves, dissected by medical students and then dumped in a forgotten well.
The Richmond School Board of Visitors voted Friday to fund what VCU calls the East Marshall Street Well Project, an effort to right wrongs committed more than a century ago. Construction of the memorial and burial site is expected to begin in summer 2027.
“Years ago, VCU launched this journey because we recognized a deep obligation to restore human dignity to people who were disrespected in their physical existence,” VCU President Michael Rao said in an article about the effort posted on the school’s website. “The sacred mission of the East Marshall Street Well Project is to ensure that every life is honored with the permanence and respect they deserve.”
The circular memorial will feature a “chamber of unity” inspired by the Toguna structures of the Dogon culture in West Africa. Its design “aims to encourage humility and thoughtful discussion by deliberately having a low roof to facilitate sitting reflection,” said Stephen Davenport, assistant vice president for social and economic development in VCU’s Division of Community Engagement and administrative lead for the project.
In 1994, workers discovered a brick-lined shaft containing human bones during construction of the Kontos Medical Sciences Building on the VCU Medical Center campus. While digging through the mud, researchers also found hair and skin, as well as the remains of leather shoes and glass bottles.
Based on records from the Medical College of Virginia, researchers believe the remains were dumped into the well between the 1840s and 1860s.
“Preliminary anthropological analysis of the recovered human remains showed postmortem signs of dissection and amputation consistent with anatomical training and practice of surgical procedures,” VCU researchers concluded in a paper published this year. “The constant demand for corpses led to systematic practices of grave robbing, primarily targeting African American cemeteries, to supply the medical school. »
Archaeologists had little time to examine the burial site after the 1994 discovery. Before construction continued, the remains were removed using backhoes and sent to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Initial analysis estimated that at least 44 adults and nine children were recovered from the well.
Interest in the remains was renewed in 2011 after the release of a film by a VCU professor and a separate report by two forensic anthropologists.
Results of a DNA study released in February identified at least 43 distinct adults and three juveniles of “predominantly African heritage,” most likely from central and west Africa. Several sets of remains bore traces of European ancestry.
The skeletal analysis “provided insight into the arduous labor endured by these individuals during their lives and the disregard for their bodies after death,” according to the study.
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Associated Press reporter John Raby contributed to this report.
