Nine new bronze markers line the streets of Arlington, Virginia, called “stumbling stones.” They memorialize nine enslaved people who helped build Arlington County and the U.S.
Each of the stones are placed in the sidewalk of the last known site of their enslavement.
The names of these nine people are not known, although researchers have discovered that they were enslaved by William and Elizabeth Jewell and likely worked on their farm in Arlington in the 1800s.
The Arlington Historical Society and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington created the project, and they wanted to bring to light the county’s brutal history of enslavement and the fortitude and the resilience of local enslaved people.
“As we work collectively to dedicate these nine simple stones, I could not help but feel the energy from nine cosmic smiles, showing appreciation for the effort of folks who cared enough about their shared humanity to try to reveal their personal histories so that others could hear about and learn from those stories,” said David Sylvester, a co-sponsor of the project.
Organizers have learned from the 1850 census that six of the enslaved people were likely a family. That family included a 35-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman, a 16-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl, and a 1-year-old boy. The three other women memorialized today were enslaved at the Jewells’ Georgetown residence.
