Apr 7, 2025 - News

Richmond ceremonially breaks ground on Shockoe Institute

Karri Peifer

image shows people looking at 3-d map — Shockoe Institute renderings. Image: Courtesy of Shockoe Institute

Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week for the Shockoe Institute, a portion of the city's years-long broader plan to tell the full story of Richmond's role in the American slave trade.

Why it matters: The ceremony took place on Thursday, which was the 160th anniversary of Union troops took control of the city and enslaved Richmonders were freed.

Driving the news: The event on Richmond's Emancipation Day also offered an update on the Shockoe Institute, the 12,300-square-foot exhibition and educational facility about the domestic slave trade.

In 2023, the Mellon Foundation awarded the city an $11 million grant toward the Shockoe Institute.
The center is currently under construction inside Main Street Station.

What they're saying: "Today's groundbreaking emphasized a centerpiece of the Shockoe Institute's work: the story of America is the story of the struggle to expand human freedom," Shockoe Institute president and CEO Marland Buckner said in a statement.

What's next: The Shockoe Institute exhibition space should be open by this time next year.

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Richmond ceremonially breaks ground on Shockoe Institute

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