Two weeks after Richmond, Va., removed a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the city on Wednesday unveiled a monument honoring the freeing of slaves that stands just two miles away.
The Emancipation and Freedom Monument was nine years in the making, and plans moved forward after the Virginia General Assembly set aside $500,000 for it in 2012 to recognize the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
The monument features two towering bronze figures, one of a newly freed man, wrist chains broken, the other of a woman holding an infant in one arm and in the other arm, a page with the date Jan. 1, 1863, the date of emancipation.
The base features portraits of five Virginians who fought against slavery, including Dred Scott and Nat Turner, and five Virginians who fought for equality, including Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker and John Mercer Langston.
The monument was created by Oregon-based artist Thomas Jay Warren.
At the ceremony, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said Richmond and Virginia have work to do but, “ … we are moving in the right direction … moving forward to a more inclusive and more equitable future.”
