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Preservation Virginia, a statewide historic preservation leader, is among the inaugural class of grantees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s newly established African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The non-profit was awarded $75,000 to conduct an economic study of Shockoe Bottom that will make the case for developing the historic area as a heritage tourism destination through the creation of a memorial park while embracing equitable economic revitalization.  The study will be conducted through a partnership effort between Preservation Virginia, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Sacred Burial Ground Reclamation Project, the Valentine museum, and the Center for Design Engagement, which is directed by UMass Amherst Associate Professor Joseph Krupczynski and Professor Max Page.

“Shockoe Bottom, once an epicenter of the domestic slave trade, tells a uniquely American story of the contradictions between the American ideal of personal freedom and the reality of American slavery and the continuing struggle for economic justice,” said Elizabeth Kostelny, CEO of Preservation Virginia.

In 2014, Preservation Virginia named Shockoe Bottom to their Most Endangered Historic Places list and since then has worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project and the Center for Design Engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to promote a community-based approach to preserving this historic area.

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