FORT MONROE, VA — Governor Abigail Spanberger today joined state, local, and community leaders at Fort Monroe for the unveiling of a new sculpture at the African Landing Memorial during the National Ceremony of Remembrance and Renewal — a ceremony honoring the site where the first recorded Africans were brought to English North America in 1619. “This is a commemoration and a memorial to us all. In Virginia, we share this history,” said Governor Abigail Spanberger. “Virginia will care for this sacred ground. Virginia will tell its story honestly. Virginia will protect it, sustain it, and make sure its honor is secured for every generation that comes after us — not just today, but for as long as this memorial stands.” Governor Spanberger continued, “To anyone who carries a personal connection to what happened on this ground — I hope this place offers witness. The knowledge that we here in Virginia see what happened here and will not look away.” The ceremony was part of African Landing Commemoration Week, an annual observance at Fort Monroe centered on remembrance, history, culture, and community. This year’s National Ceremony of Remembrance and Renewal also served as a signature event of Virginia’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the nation. The newly installed sculpture depicts a family, which was inspired by the first African family and child — Antony, Isabella, and Baby William — in written records of the Virginia Colony. The unveiled work by sculptor Brian R. Owens is an interpretive representation informed by historical research and consultation; no known portraits of the family survive. The sculpture also honors the broader community of Africans brought to the site near Point Comfort aboard the White Lion, including those whose names are known and unknown, and the generations that followed. Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, delivered remarks recognizing the significance of the remembrance. “It is at this site that memory becomes an act of responsibility,” said Dr. Whitehead. “We are called to remember not simply a date or an event, but people — people with names, families, cultures, dreams and histories of their own. More than four centuries later, we are here. We are still here.” The Governor was joined by members of her Cabinet — including Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery, Secretary of Education Jeffery Smith, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marvin Figueroa, Secretary of Labor Jessica Looman, and Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova, as well as Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Sesha Joi Moon and Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond. The Governor was also joined by Congressman Bobby Scott, Senator Mamie Locke, Delegate Virgil Thornton, and state and local leaders from across the Commonwealth. Also in attendance were the Honorable Filipe Zau, Angolan Minister for Culture, Tourism, and the Environment and His Excellency Agostinho Van-DĂșnem, Ambassador of Angola to the United States, underscoring the global significance of the occasion. Children of descendant families also participated in the ceremony — speaking the known names of the Africans aboard the White Lion in 1619. Point Comfort and Fort Monroe occupy a singular place in the nation’s African American history. More than two centuries after the 1619 landing, Fort Monroe became the site of the 1861 Contraband Decision, when three enslaved men — Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Sheppard Mallory — sought refuge at the Union-held fort. The decision that followed became an important turning point in the journey toward emancipation. The African Landing Memorial is located at Fort Monroe, a National Historic Landmark and a Site of Memory associated with UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples project. |
