After years of research — and months of delays at the foundry — the City of Charlottesville will on Monday, March 3, unveil a historical marker recognizing the sales of enslaved people throughout Court Square.
The marker will read:
Sales of Enslaved People in Court Square
Between 1762 and 1865, auctioneers sold enslaved men, women, and children at various locations in Court Square: outside taverns, at the Jefferson Hotel, at the “Number Nothing” building, in front of the Albemarle Co. Courthouse (where sales were then recorded), and, according to tradition, from a tree stump. Auctioned at Eagle Hotel in Jan. 1829 were 33 enslaved individuals from the Monticello estate of Thomas Jefferson. Enslaved Charlottesville residents Fountain Hughes and Maria Perkins recalled Court Day sales as dreaded occasions that separated Black families. Such sales were commonplace in Virginia, which was the main source of laborers sent to the Deep South via the domestic slave trade.
The City’s Historic Resources Committee researched and wrote the text, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources approved it in March 2024. The City had hoped to install the plaque last fall, Charlottesville Historic Preservation and Design Planner Jeff Werner previously told Charlottesville Tomorrow, but had to push it back due to backups at the foundry commissioned to create it.
The new plaque is far from the first time this history has been recognized by the community. For decades, community members — some of whom have direct ancestral ties to the people bought and sold at various spots throughout Court Square — have been commemorating this history. Sometimes they’ve had help from the city government, while other times they’ve organized independently with flowers, other plaques, poetry, music and community gatherings.
The marker unveiling takes place on Liberation and Freedom Day, a Charlottesville municipal holiday that commemorates the March 3, 1865, arrival of Union troops — and the liberation of more than 14,000 people who had been enslaved in the Charlottesville area.
Take Action
The City of Charlottesville will unveil a new historical marker recognizing the sales of enslaved people throughout Court Square on Monday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in Court Square Park at 405 East High Street.
Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade will speak at the event. More information is available here.
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“Enslaved Charlottesville residents Fountain Hughes and Maria Perkins recalled Court Day sales as dreaded occasions that separated Black families,” the marker will read.
How can Charlottesville commemorate the countless auctions that ripped apart families of enslaved people in Court Square?
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