VUU hosts planning session for Civil War sesquicentennial

Elvatrice Belsches found the evidence on microfilm and Tuesday night presented an enlarged copy to the president of Virginia Union University.

What she found, on Roll 15 Frame 0366 from National Archives records, was further documentation "to substantiate the incredible story" of how the university grew from "the nefarious slave trade to become a beacon of hope."

Belsches presented her latest find at the second meeting of "The Future of Richmond's Past," a prelude to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War that will commemorate not just the battles, but the end of slavery.

A pharmacist and research historian, Belsches gave VUU President Claude G. Perkins a copy of the Teacher's Monthly School Report documenting that 44 students attended classes in March 1869 in a building known as Lumpkin's jail that had been used to hold slaves.

Such documents help "bring forth the voices and the narratives" to translate scholarly work into "public history," said Belsches, who recently found documentation on the age of Maggie L. Walker, the first black female bank president in the United States.

Belsches was part of a panel at the meeting at VUU that discussed how to incorporate "the silent voices" of slaves and women into events that will mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

It's an effort to "tell the inclusive story of Richmond," said S. Waite Rawls III, president and CEO of the Museum of the Confederacy.

"The world's eyes are going to be turning to Richmond," he said of the sesquicentennial.

A second panel, called the External Audiences Development Group, is trying to devise a cohesive tourism plan for visitors drawn to the capital of the Confederacy for the 2011-15 sesquicentennial. Using residents as "River City ambassadors," better interpretative signage and developing a unified city walk were among the ideas discussed.

"The whole city a museum. What a great concept," said David Ruth, superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park and Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site.

The two working groups grew out of the first meeting in September at the University of Richmond. A third session is planned for the spring at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or .