Remembering a Painful Past: Fredericksburg's Slave Auction Block

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The town council of Fredericksburg, Virginia opted to remove its in situ slave auction block from its main street by an overwhelming majority this past June. The imposing stone block represented one of the most tangible relics of the slave era, where documented sales of people occurred. Across town, a monument to a problematic account of battlefield humanity glorifies the “Angel of Marye’s Heights.” This presentation considers the challenges of remembering a painful past. Why do some monuments of this period endure while others are purged? Genuine relics of a painful past prove to be intolerable, yet commemorations of a dubious history prevail.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 179