CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – City Council will consider a resolution to place a marker at 0 Court Square, otherwise referred to as “Number Nothing,” recognizing a slave auction block that the Historic Resources Commission said never existed.
According to the policy briefing in the agenda, “A group of citizens, identified as the Court Square Enslavement Memorial (CSEM) group, have requested that Council place a marker on a light post near to the building known as “0 Court Square” and that this marker should read, ” Auction Block of Enslaved Persons; Early 1800s – 1865; Removed 1920s.’”
But a position statement, submitted Sept. 17 by the HRC and revised Sept. 21, said, “No credible evidence has been identified or provided to support the concept that a dedicated slave auction block existed within the Courthouse Square vicinity.”…