House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History
Video Courtesy of Metta Bastet
Who is Jackson? What's In A Name
It began with a question that led to the recovery of a hidden history – “Who is the Jackson in Jackson Ward?”
In October 2020, co-founder of The JXN Project, Dr. Sesha Joi Moon, visited the Library of Virginia seeking to answer this simple yet pivotal question. The inquiry intrigued Dr. Gregg D. Kimball, then Director of the Public Service and Outreach Division, who, with archivists and reference librarians, guided her in my navigation of the Library’s vast resources. Unbeknownst to either of them, in the midst of a pandemic, not only would a project and partnership be born out of this inquiry, but more importantly, so would a deep friendship that would eventually embraced others at the library. Over the course of four years, those friendships helped to uncover the origin story of Jackson Ward as one of the city's most beloved neighborhoods and uncovered its hidden histories as the nation's first historically registered Black urban neighborhood.
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Since that initial introduction, The JXN Project and Library of Virginia began its partnership with a summer lecture series to share the findings of our collaborative research and "House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History" serves as a capstone to share the untold story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith through the lens of the house he built, also known as the Skipwith–Roper Cottage, and its fate as the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike devastated the community.
The exhibition will be on display at its permanent home at the Skipwith-Roper Cottage.
AUDIO
House to Highway: Interview with Skipwith-Roper Descendant
Portrait Courtesy of S. Ross Browne, Audio Courtesy of the College of William and Mary and Christversal, LLC, and Graphic Designs Courtesy of Riggs Ward and Mindhatch Creative