City Council to consider Court Square sign marking sales of enslaved people
Staff lay out four options, from approving the marker to folding a memorial into park planning.
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Charlottesville City Council will consider Monday, Oct. 19, whether to allow a sign in Court Square recognizing the sale of enslaved people, according to a staff briefing in the Council agenda packet. A group called the Court Square Enslavement Memorial asked the City to place a marker on a lightpost near the building known as 0 Court Square.
The proposed marker would read "Auction Block of Enslaved Persons; Early 1800s - 1865; Removed 1920s," the packet says. In a statement in the packet, the City's Historic Resources Committee said it supports remembering those sales but called the proposal historically inaccurate, saying research shows enslaved people were sold at several Court Square locations and no credible evidence of a dedicated auction block has been found.
Staff outlined four options: approve the request as submitted, ask the group to bring back a revised proposal, have staff and the new Public Art Commission consider a memorial during Court Square Park planning, or deny it. The current Parks Master Plan schedules that park work for 2035 unless Council changes priorities.
Council's business session starts at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Source: City Council Agenda Packet, Oct. 19, 2026 https://charlottesvilleva.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=6652,plainText=false)
- When
- Monday, Oct. 19, 2026; opening session 4 p.m., business session 6:30 p.m.
- Where
- City Hall Council Chamber, 605 E. Main St., and via Zoom
- Cost
- Free
- How to take part
- Preregister to speak at charlottesville.gov/692/Request-to-Speak; Zoom registration at charlottesville.gov/zoom