INVESTIGATION: Slave auction block ready to move; Associated costs top $30,000

FREDERICKSBURG — A historic slave auction block at the corner of Charles and William Street is being relocated to the Fredericksburg Area Museum, after more than two years of an intensive dialogue between city councilmembers and citizens on the block’s future.

At the July 9 city council meeting, councilmembers and representatives of the Fredericksburg Area Museum agreed that the block would be moved to the museum, contingent on the city and the museum coming to a mutually satisfying plan for the block’s funding and future.

Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw stressed that the block would be a loan to the museum, not a gift.

Councilor Charlie Frye was integral in the block’s relocation. He mentioned to the city council the need to address the slave block in 2017. At the time, the council voted to engage the community in discussing the block’s future and what it meant to citizens.

Moving the block

A debate has swirled over the block’s future for years. Some wanted the block to stay on the street and claimed that moving it to a museum would ruin its historical context. Others said the block was a painful reminder of Fredericksburg’s history of slavery, and that it would be better preserved and suited in a proper museum exhibit.

The city’s public works crew has agreed to oversee the removal of the block at an estimated cost of $3,000. This includes removing the block from the ground, restoring the sidewalk with compact stone, and installing a medallion where the block once stood, directing tourists to the museum.

The block will be moved to the museum on a custom pallet. Archaeologists at Dovetail Cultural Resource Group will be on-site to oversee the artifact’s removal, at the cost of approximately $2,000.

“Mindful of the intense public interest in the block, we will work as quickly as we can to make the block available to the public,” wrote Sara Poore, president and CEO of Fredericksburg Area Museum, in a letter to Fredericksburg city manager, Tim Baroody.

The block will first have an “interim display,” the details of which have not yet been specified. A more thorough permanent display will follow, which will ideally “interpret the block” and “tell the larger story of the African-American experience within the Fredericksburg region,” Poore wrote.

A date has not been set for the block’s removal, but it must be completed by the end of the year, per the council’s agreement. The city’s public works staff estimates that the job can be completed in two to three days during daytime hours to ensure that it is “clearly recognized in full view of the community.”

$20,000 study 

In 2018, the city contracted the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) to help develop a plan for the slave block’s future and more comprehensive facts of the city’s African American legacy. This was achieved through three phases.

Phase 1 involved small group sessions to gather stories and experiences from the community. Phase 2 encouraged collaboration with a specific focus on the slave auction block. Phase 3 delved deeper into discussion topics raised by the community in previous sessions.

The Phase 3 Final Report was released March 13, 2019, and noted that the majority of residents were concerned for the preservation and integrity of the block. An upgraded exhibit, or plexiglas barrier, was recommended at the least. The ICSC cited concerns that the present location could not provide the complete story and context that such an artifact demands.

The city paid the ICSC three payments of $6,666.67 for each phase — a total of $20,000. An additional cost of $5,394 was incurred for travel reimbursements.

‘We learn from history’

In the June 11 Fredericksburg city council meeting, Frye moved to relocate the block. This time, the council voted 6-1. Councilor Matt Kelly was the only member to vote against Frye’s motion.

“It is history, warts and all,” said Kelly. “We learn from history, not just because of the great wonderful things. We learn from history from our failings and our faults, and how we have overcome them to get to where we are today.”

Kelly pushed to postpone the vote on the relocation, citing concerns that the public had not been appropriately notified. “We are asked to be taking a vote without the vast majority of the community knowing what we’re doing,” he said.

“The public is aware of this issue,” Frye countered. He noted that city council meeting agendas are released in advance and that numerous citizens were present at the June 11 meeting. “Eventually… we have to come to a point of when we’re going to make a decision,” he said.

The block has stood at the corner of Charles and William streets since at least the 1850s. It was preserved by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1913.

Today, a plaque in front of the block reads “Fredericksburg’s Principal Auction Site in Pre-Civil War Days for Slaves and Property.”

Slave block or carriage step?

Historians have disagreed on whether the block was used for slave auctions. Newspaper clippings evidence that the corner of Charles and William streets — in front of what was once the Planters Hotel — was consistently used for auctions in Fredericksburg. However, some historians think the block was actually a carriage step, intended to serve guests at the hotel.

Frye said that the relocation “will ensure that we continue to be a place that works for everyone and a community where the people are writing the next chapters of Fredericksburg’s history.”

“As the only minority on this council tonight, it’s huge that we are at this mark,” Frye said at the June 11 meeting. “Sometimes you just have to be heard, and I come from ancestors that were never heard.”