Governor Spanberger Joins State, Local Leaders to Dedicate African Landing Memorial Plaza at Fort Monroe

FORT MONROE, VA - Governor Abigail Spanberger yesterday joined state and local leaders - including Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, Congressman Bobby Scott, and Senator Mamie Locke - and community members at Fort Monroe to dedicate the African Landing Memorial Plaza, a new memorial honoring the first recorded Africans brought to English North America in 1619.

The site stands near Point Comfort, where historical accounts indicate that Africans - captured by English privateers and taken from a Portuguese slaving vessel near present-day Veracruz, Mexico - were brought ashore more than four centuries ago.

"As our nation prepares to celebrate its 250^th anniversary, we must endeavor to fully recognize and honor the full history of America," said Governor Abigail Spanberger. "Thanks to the combined efforts of leaders across Hampton Roads and Virginia, this memorial now stands as a testament to enslaved men and women brought to these shores four centuries ago. The Commonwealth of Virginia will always protect and steward this ground - and we will make sure it is here for the generations who will learn its stories."

The Governor was joined by members of her Cabinet for the dedication, including the Secretaries of the Commonwealth; Agriculture and Forestry; Commerce and Trade; Education; Natural and Historic Resources; and Veterans and Defense Affairs, as well as the Commonwealth's Chief Diversity Officer, and local and state leaders. The ceremony also included His Excellency Agostinho VanDúnem, Ambassador of Angola to the United States, underscoring the global significance of the occasion.

Designed to foreground the landscape itself, the African Landing Memorial Plaza emphasizes water, horizon, and shoreline - inviting reflection on the transatlantic journey and the generations shaped by enslavement and survival. Granite elements, including material sourced from Angola, anchor the site, while interpretive features begin to tell a broader story that will continue to unfold as additional components are completed. For descendants and community members, the dedication marked a long-sought moment of remembrance and recognition.

"This is sacred ground," said Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Hampton Roads native. "This history is not distant - it lives in our communities and continues to shape who we are today."

The dedication represents a milestone in a multi-year effort to more fully interpret the events of 1619 and their legacy at Fort Monroe, a former military installation and now a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO Site of Memory with layered histories spanning colonization, enslavement, emancipation, and freedom.

Future phases of the memorial are expected to include major sculptural works and expanded interpretation, deepening the site's role as a place of national reflection. Organizers described the dedication as an opening chapter, with additional public programs and commemorations planned as new elements are installed.

Situated at both a literal and symbolic gateway to the nation, Fort Monroe remains one of the few places in the United States where the origins of slavery, the struggle for freedom, and the ongoing work of remembrance converge in a single landscape.

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