Montpelier planning memorial to enslaved Americans at historic home

ORANGE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - President James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange County is receiving a $5.8 million grant.

The historic home wants to use that money to build memorial to the people who were enslaved there.

“We have a big project to memorialize the enslaved Americans - the men, women and children - over 300 of whom lived here 140 years approximately, and who are buried right outside of this room is very important role in American history,” Montpelier Foundation Board Chair James French said.

French says a memorial will help give enslaved Americans who lived and worked at Montpelier the honor they deserve.

Plans for the memorial are still in the works, and Montpelier says it wants to get the community involved.

“We will be consulting with the community to explore ideas of commemoration of memorialization and interpretation,” French said. “We’re going to use the landscape itself as an as an exhibit and allow people to explore the history that is really, really rich. And also that’ll be something that the American people will will benefit from.”

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