UPDATE 9:10 A.M.: Fredericksburg removed its controversial slave auction block early Friday morning to minimize pedestrian and vehicular conflicts later in the day.
Stabilizing straps, weights, and mechanical equipment were used to lift the freed stone onto a custom-designed pallet intended to support the approximately 800-pound artifact. Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, a Spotsylvania County cultural resources management firm, provided oversight of the removal operation.
“The auction block had become a focus of local protesters over the past week, serving as a way stop along procession routes on multiple days of demonstrations. ‘Move the block!’ became a chant of those protesting the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. The block was spray-painted with graffiti twice over the course of the days of protest,” according to a city news release.
The block was a sandstone block in Fredericksburg, Virginia, which according to the article:
Research indicates the auction block, which is made of Aquia sandstone, was installed between 1844 and 1845, when Joseph Sanford constructed what’s now known as the Knoxana building at 401–405 William St.
The three-story brick building was known first as the United States Hotel, and later renamed the Planter’s Hotel. It was the site of many public auctions in the mid-19th century, including those where enslaved people were sold or hired out.
Out of sight, out of mind, as it were.
And if not completely out of mind, at least the conditions in a "oh my gosh, do you see that?" way.
I'd have left it there. If a picture is worth a thousand words, seeing something in person is worth even more.
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