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In former Confederate capital, a push to honor the enslaved

Mayor Levar Stoney, other officials, and activists held a news conference to outline plans for a memorial campus composed of a museum and a park for reflection.
Credit: AP Photo/Steve Helber
Historical markers mark the location of Lumpkin's Slave Jail near downtown Monday, July 27, 2020, in Richmond, Va.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Officials in Richmond, Virginia, have announced a new funding commitment for an ambitious and long-envisioned memorial campus in the city's former slave-trading district, Shockoe Bottom. 

Mayor Levar Stoney, other officials, and activists held a news conference Tuesday to outline plans for a memorial campus composed of a museum and a park for reflection.

The city has committed $3.5 million in funding right away. Stoney said he will propose a capital improvement budget amendment of between $25 million and $50 million that if approved would fund the effort over a series of years. 

By some estimates, more than 300,000 enslaved people were bought and sold in the Bottom.

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