Return to Virginia Business - January 2002

by Robert Burke

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L.Douglas Wilder has reached his promised land. It is just a patch of woods on a bluff over Interstate 95 in Fredericksburg, and maybe not much to look at. But to Wilder, it means the end of the quest he's been on since 1993, when he announced his ambitions to build a national slavery museum in Virginia.

For eight years Wilder, the first elected African-American governor in Virginia and the U.S., has been wandering in search of a proper site. Initially, to Jamestown, where African slaves first landed in the New World in 1619. It's hard to imagine any spot more historically appropriate, but no deal could be made with the church that owned the land. Then this year to sites in Hampton, Petersburg and Richmond. Finally, to the hill in Fredericksburg. Doing the deal there was a breeze; a developer simply offered the land for free.

Wilder has climbed many hills in his political life and always shown a knack for finding a place for himself above, and apart from, the crowd. Passionate about his latest endeavor, sometimes combative, Wilder proclaims himself delighted with what he has accomplished so far, despite the delays. "I have land, I have promise, I have potential here with this," he says.

The real climb, though, is just beginning. He needs to raise a massive amount of money - as much as $200 million, by his own estimate. And he has to fend off stinging criticism that he may be too cozy with a developer who donated the museum land just to boost the prospects of his own ambitious project, a 2,100-acre tourism/entertainment complex called Celebrate Virginia. Wags scowl that by being so closely linked to this other boosterish project, Wilder's admirable effort will be cheapened and profaned.

What's more, some national groups say that slaves would be better honored at a more centrally located and better-known location, such as Washington, D.C. Wilder's dream is hardly original, either. There are at least three major projects underway around the U.S. that in some way plan to memorialize slavery. All are competing for funding among governmental groups, corporations and private individuals, and it's possible all may not get the support they need.

If that weren't enough, the entire topic is profoundly difficult historically and emotionally. Slavery slices right to the heart of how Americans think of themselves, stabbing at what many would rather forget, namely guilt, shame and racism. Not too long ago, it was a topic too loaded to be addressed in a Southern state such as Virginia, which officially preached a highly sanitized version of its history that was long on romance and short on reality.

"It's not that anybody makes apologies for slavery anymore, it's just that they want to see it in the best possible light, which is how Americans want to see their past," says Edward L. Ayers, history professor and dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. "I think it's a worthwhile endeavor. Whoever does it will have to be brave."

For Wilder, the effort began soon after he became the nation's first elected black governor in 1990. During his term, Wilder took two trips to Africa that sparked his desire to see the museum built. During a trade mission in 1992 he visited Goiree Isle, just off the coast of Senegal, where captured Africans were held before being shipped off as slaves. The stories, of families being torn apart and of captives trying to survive ocean voyages in the dank holds of slave ships, made a deep impression. "It struck me that this is a story that really hasn't been told," he says.

Wilder's quest is also intensely personal. His father, Robert, the youngest of 13 children, was born in Richmond around 1880 to then-former slaves named James and Agnes. Wilder says his father didn't like to talk about the family's slave history. "My siblings didn't press him as much as I did," he says. "So my mother had to force my father to tell us about slavery. She would say, 'Robert, tell the boy what it's about.' And he would bite down on his pipe and he would tell it a little." Stories trickled out; when Wilder's grandmother was sold to a farm 18 miles away, his grandfather endured beatings for leaving to go see her. "It instilled in me the need for people to know, because very few people know about slavery," he says.

What the museum will look like and how it will tell the story of slavery isn't yet known. Wilder has said he wants permanent and rotating exhibits with the focus on "the world of the slave rather than the role of the slave holder." He wants to examine slavery's history in the U.S. and abroad, as well as modern-day slavery in places like the Sudan in Africa. Exhibits for children are also planned, along with classroom space for teachers to use during museum visits. Wilder also envisions a library with room for 250,000 books, a collection of oral slave narratives and music, lecture halls and a 1,000-seat auditorium, as well as a reproduction of a slave ship. Of course all these details are like vaporware. There are no real designs, no concrete plans. A nationwide competition to design the museum building isn't scheduled to begin until February or March. The committee of experts that will create the museum's programs has so far not been created.

Today there is barely more than a piece of land and Wilder's determination to see it through. There is no paid staff and the museum board includes just two other people besides Wilder. Wilder says he's recruiting a board that could have more than 20 members. Such boards have a sprinkling of celebrity names and Wilder's undoubtedly will too. The committee he formed in 1993 for the aborted Jamestown project included Bill Cosby, former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young and actress Cicely Tyson.

One person formally attached to the project is Michael Neiditch, a former director of endowment for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He's been Wilder's volunteer advisor for about a year, and in September endorsed the Fredericksburg site over one in downtown Richmond. His involvement is a reason many early descriptions of the slavery museum mirror the holocaust museum. Both are extraordinarily difficult subjects. Neiditch, who holds a Ph.D. in history from Cambridge University and has studied the American South, says the story of slavery can be told "with dignity and integrity. I think the time is right for this. We're mature enough as a nation that we can look at something dark without fear," he says.

How history is handled can be a sensitive subject in Virginia. Remember Disney's America? When Walt Disney Corp. unveiled its plans for a 3,000-acre history-and-entertainment park near Haymarket in Prince William County in 1993 it expected cheers but got jeers. Critics predicted Disney would craft a Pollyannish America and chased the Mouse out of town. Even Colonial Williamsburg has stumbled - in 1994, costumed performers there staged an 18th-century slave auction that drew criticism from the state NAACP chapter.

Others agree that slavery's story should be told, they just don't like where Wilder wants to tell it. The donor of the museum site is developer Larry Silver, who is building a massive tourism and entertainment complex of golf courses, hotels and restaurants nearby. Silver's company is responsible for Central Park, the 310-acre, mega-retail complex of big box stores. Amid its acres of asphalt are about 130 stores such as Lowe's, Target, Best Buy and Kohl's. Coming soon is a Sam's Club and a Wal-Mart superstore.

"The thing I keep coming back to is in a generation, how are we going to feel when we walk around the national mall and see the holocaust museum and the museum of Native Americans and other cultures, and here the single most difficult issue in American history gets put 50 miles down the road in a commercial complex? I think that's a very difficult situation," says Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck.

Silver says his development will be a home base for tourists visiting the history-rich Old Dominion and Washington, D.C. From there they can visit Washington or Williamsburg or other Virginia sites. Having the slavery museum next door just makes his project more attractive. "I don't want it to sound like the museum's right next to a Wal-Mart superstore," he says. "It's not part of the complex." The museum site will have its own entranceway and a wooded buffer, Silver says.

Neiditch, too, says having Celebrate Virginia as a neighbor isn't a problem. "There isn't a museum in America that doesn't have a neighbor." The museum's design and the site landscaping will make clear the two are separate, he says. "We're not going to market this museum in conjunction with a commercial site." There is a certain marketing overlap between the projects, though. Like Silver, Neiditch sees the benefits of being within driving distance of places like Mount Vernon, Monticello and others. Visitors can "get a deeper understanding of 18th and 19th century America."

Wilder's timing is good for Virginia's tourism efforts. The state is spending $500,000 over two years to promote African-American tourism and last month began distributing free copies of a 36-page guide listing more than 100 African-American attractions in the state. Virginia is sixth in the country in attracting African-American visitors.

To say the least, Wilder is making ambitious plans for attracting tourists. The museum, he says, could attract as many 2 million visitors a year. That would be remarkable, considering only a few museums in Washington - the Smithsonian's air and space museum, for example - either reach or exceed that number. And Washington obviously has the critical mass of visitors - 19 million a year, according to the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.

In choosing the Fredericksburg site Wilder has waded into small-town politics. Anti-Silver Cos. sentiment runs high here, despite the extra tax money - about $7 million a year, Beck says - that the city collects annually from the big retail projects. Many grumble that the company gets whatever it wants from the City Council, which is mostly true. And now, some suspect that Silver will use Wilder and the museum to grab an even bigger prize - a new interchange off I-95 straight into his Celebrate Virginia project. Fredericksburg Councilman Scott Howson says Silver is trying to do an end-run on the local road budget, which currently doesn't include any money for an interchange there. "What better sort of national emotional issue could you have in your back pocket than a national slavery museum?" he asks.

Silver says he wants a new interchange and that the city needs it. Fredericksburg has just one interchange inside the city limits; by comparison, Petersburg has six. With or without an interchange, Silver says he's going to build the project.
Opposition to the Fredericksburg site comes from others as well. "Our ancestors, and this is felt by millions of African Americans, deserve to be honored in the monumental core of the country," says Paul M. Du Bois, executive director of the American Slavery Memorial Museum Project. His group is negotiating for an undisclosed site in Washington for its museum, projected to be 262,000 square feet and to cost $210 million. "If you want to honor Lincoln, King or anybody else this is where you do it," he says.

While Du Bois insists the museums wouldn't be competing, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't be pursing the same donors, artifacts and visitors. In fact, in August Du Bois faxed Fredericksburg officials a letter opposing that site and says he's asked Wilder to serve on their honorary board. Wilder responded with his own fax, saying he didn't know Du Bois and wouldn't join the board. "I'm here to tell you there will be a museum [in Fredericksburg] and there will be sponsors," Wilder says.

In fact there are several slavery-related museums being developed around the country. Charleston, S.C., leaders are planning a $37 million museum on the state's slave history. In Washington, Congress passed a measure last month calling on the White House to create a commission to develop plans for a National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Lawmakers have said they would like to use the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. In Cincinnati, public and private sponsors supporting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center have raised about two-thirds of their $110 million goal. The museum plans to open in early 2004.

The Cincinnati project underscores the kind of money challenge Wilder is facing. Fundraising for that project began in 1994 and donors include corporate giants Procter & Gamble, Toyota and the Boeing Company. And 44 percent of its money raised so far has come from federal or state sources. Wilder is just developing the machinery for a fundraising campaign. So far he has a commitment for $1 million from the city of Fredericksburg, and a still untouched $1.1 million appropriation from the state. The chances for further state funding are dismal, though, given the state's budget problems. Wilder also wants the museum to have no admission fee.

Just to get started Wilder will need a lot of money. Du Bois, who spent three years working on fundraising for a planned memorial in Washington to Martin Luther King Jr., calls Wilder's fundraising goal of $100 million to $200 million "unrealistic." Raising $100 million for the King project was estimated to cost about $20 million "if we did it fast," Du Bois says. At its peak the King program had 55 employees. "It is amazing thing. You can't start fundraising for $1 million."

To hear Wilder tell it, support is already building for the project, though he won't yet say exactly who or where it is coming from. "You'd be surprised at the numbers of people nationally who know about this. People are [saying], 'What can we do? How can we help? Where do I write my checks?'" He says he wouldn't accept money until he had a site. With that in hand, he says he can prepare a more formal pitch, telling potential corporate or public-sector donors, "This is what I want you to invest in. Not a dream someplace in someone's head."

There's an art to fundraising, Neiditch says. "You need to well articulate what you're asking the funds for" and be ready to tell donors how their money was spent. "Most donors today would like more than writing a check. They would like to have involvement. If you're serious, you have to have all that in place before you go and ask." And it takes time. "There are no set answers. I know museums that have taken 10 years to raise their capital funds. I know museums that have done it in two or three."

After waiting eight years to get this far, Wilder doesn't want to wait much longer. He hoped to have made more progress by now and says he'd like to see something on the site by 2004. Wilder, who turns 71 this month, calls his drive to build the museum "part of what I may have been required to do. To be governor of Virginia was a tremendous thing, and there will be very few things that will ever surpass that, but tangibly, this will rank very high."

Return to Virginia Business - January 2002