Move slavery museum to Fort Monroe

As America commemorates the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, a frustrating battle of wills continues over plans for a national museum that would tell the story behind the war's cause - slavery.

In 2002, a developer in Fredericksburg donated land for the creation of the U.S. National Slavery Museum to a group headed by former Gov. Doug Wilder. The museum was to become part of a sprawling commercial and tourism project known as Celebrate Virginia; plans were later announced to build an "authentic African-themed resort" and water park next to the museum.

Although the museum was scheduled to open in 2007, construction has yet to start. Wilder's group owes the city $147,000 in back taxes and has let its state permit to solicit donations lapse, according to recent reports by The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg.

The delays have prompted complaints by people who donated artifacts to the museum. Among the donors were Therbia and Marva Parker of Suffolk, whose collection included slave shackles and items from the Jim Crow era.

In response to the concerns of the Parkers and others, Wilder finally broke a long silence and addressed the status of the museum on his website, WilderVisions.com, last month. According to Wilder, the museum's board of directors intends to proceed. "No one should make any mistake about that," he wrote. "It is too important to stop now."

Wilder is right about that. But the project is also too important to let languish on a horrible site - Celebrate Virginia? next to a water park? - or with a fundraising effort that was failing long before the recession started.

A more dignified, historically significant and viable location awaits at Fort Monroe in Hampton, where plans are being drafted for a national park likely to include a mix of public, private and nonprofit uses.

Wilder and other museum supporters are undoubtedly familiar with the rich history of Fort Monroe, which is known as the place where slavery began - and as the place where slavery began to end.

The first ship of enslaved Africans to arrive in the British colonies landed in 1619 at what was then known as Old Point Comfort. The story came full circle more than two centuries later at the start of the Civil War when three slaves - Frank Baker, Shepherd Mallory and James Townsend - sought refuge there.

The Union general in charge of the fort refused to return the men to their owners, prompting an exodus of more than 10,000 slaves to "Freedom's Fortress." The events were "a major starting point on the pathway to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation," according to National Park Service historians.

Wilder first spoke of creating a national slavery museum after a trip to Africa as governor of Virginia. It's a mission that should be fulfilled, though it is increasingly clear that Wilder cannot do it alone.

After so many delays, the best option now would be to include the museum in plans for Fort Monroe. There's a vivid story there, and it can be told in the context of nearby Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.

Moving the site from Celebrate Virginia to Fort Monroe won't be easy because of restrictions placed on donations of the land and artifacts. But if it's a vision Wilder wants to see fulfilled, it's a move he needs to begin pursuing. As he says, it's too important to stop now.