William & Mary’s memorial to the enslaved set to get its flame; ceremony to be held Saturday

William & Mary’s Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved is set to get its flame.

Earlier this month, a handcrafted vessel was installed in the memorial, which commemorates those who were enslaved by William & Mary, bringing their stories and role in the school’s history to the forefront.

The vessel, which was created by Richmond artist Charlie Ponticello, will hold the hearth’s fire and be illuminated during ceremonial occasions throughout the year, according to the university. A public dedication ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We have always imagined the Hearth with a cleansing and renewing fire, and with the installation of the vessel, that fire can be realized for special occasions,” Jody Allen, assistant professor of history and director of the Lemon Project, said on William & Mary’s website. The Lemon Project is a long-term research project that explores the school’s history with slavery and discrimination and its ongoing relationship with the Black community.

The design for the vessel was based on a proposal submitted by William & Mary professor of anthropology Neil Norman and his family.

Norman based his submission on a type of West African vessel called adajalazin in the Gbe language and known as the unity vessel in Benin, according to William & Mary.

“I try to think through how people who were forcibly removed from West Africa would recreate life for themselves over here,” Norman said in a news release. “What African styles, rhythms, aesthetics might be employed in the New World and how those connections work themselves out. The background for my entry was my 20 years of work in, particularly Benin, West Africa.”

The memorial, located at the entrance of the university’s Historic Campus near Jamestown Road, is 20 feet tall, 45 feet long and 16 feet wide. Construction on it began in June 2021, and it was dedicated at a ceremony last year.

The idea for the memorial came about in 2007 when the Student Assembly called on the William & Mary Board of Visitors to establish a commission to research the school’s role in slavery, make the findings public and create a memorial to the enslaved.

Sian Wilkerson, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com, 757-342-6616