Some Arlington sidewalks will soon contain “stumbling stones” identifying locations where people were once enslaved.
Forthcoming markers in and around county rights of way, unanimously approved by the Arlington County Board on Saturday, are part of “Memorializing the Enslaved in Arlington” — an Arlington Historical Society project seeking to uncover and chronicle the history of Arlington’s enslaved population.
“Goals of the Project include: (a) identifying and recognizing the men, women and children who were enslaved in Arlington, and (b) memorializing their lives with Markers installed in locations county-wide where slavery occurred,” a county report says.
While information is available on more than 1,400 individuals enslaved in the county between 1669 and 1865, the initial phase of the project will involve approximately 30 markers, “with more to follow over time based on the research, the scope, and nature of this project.”
On sidewalks, the markers will take the form of non-skid bronze plaques. Markers not directly in the right of way, meanwhile, will be plaques on square blocks resembling the memorials installed outside the Ball-Sellers House Museum in October.
The Ball-Sellers House markers were “designed and fabricated by high school students in partnership with Arlington Tech.” They remember a woman named Nancy and two unnamed men who were enslaved by the Carlin family, which lived in the house from 1772 to 1887.
The new markers are inspired by “Stolpersteine,” or “stumbling stones,” which are plaques embedded in pavement throughout Europe indicating where victims of the Holocaust lived.
The initiative is based on county goals of furthering dialogue about race and equity, building community partnerships to improve equity, acknowledging history and repairing past harms, and supporting and strengthening diverse community values, according to the county staff report.
The Fiscal Year 2025 budget includes a $15,000 allocation for “Memorializing the Enslaved in Arlington.”
The county report does not list specific locations for the forthcoming markers. A map of all known locations where enslaved people resided in Arlington is available on the Arlington Historical Society website.
