Black History Found and Forged: Chronicling the East Marshall Street Well Project
February 1, 2025
Health Humanities Lab
Start time: 2:00 p.m.
End time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Black History Museum and Cultural Center (122 W Leigh St, Richmond, VA)
Co-sponsors: The Office of Health Equity
Description
The East Marshall Street Well Project works to address some of the exploitative medical practices perpetrated by Virginia Commonwealth University on Richmond’s Black communities since the 1800s. Representatives from the community and VCU will contextualize this history and discuss efforts to create oral history and memorialization projects that work toward reparative justice. Please join us during Black History Month to reflect upon important local Black history in the making.
About the Speakers
Ashley Burks is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in Psychology with minors in African American Studies and Health Humanities. As a fellow involved in the East Marshall Street Well Project, she is contributing to the curation of the digital walking tour and website. Her work focuses on creating engaging and accessible platforms to preserve and share the history of those impacted by the project, ensuring their stories are remembered and honored.
Ana Edwards, assistant professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of African American Studies, was a member of the planning committee for the East Marshall Street Well Project and currently serves as lead interviewer for the Health Humanities Lab’s Oral History Project. She holds a BA in Visual Arts and an MA in History and Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Public History. As founding chair of the Defenders’ Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, she helped lead the struggle for a Memorial Park in Shockoe Bottom; co-founded the Virginia Friends of Mali to facilitate a sister city relationship between Richmond and Ségou, Mali, in West Africa, and consults on American American historic cemetery preservation efforts and research associated with the history of Gabriel's Rebellion.
Dr. Carmen F. Foster serves as a member of the Family Representative Council for the East Marshall Street Well Project and co-chairs the Memorialization and Interment Committee. As an organizational and leadership development consultant, she weaves public history, public theology, the study of leadership and organizational systems as a seasoned coach and guide for senior executives, mid-level managers, and next generation leaders. She holds over thirty-five years of professional experience in local, state, and federal sectors and in private and public universities. Dr. Foster earned her doctorate in education from the University of Virginia, master’s degrees in public administration from Harvard University and in communication from Clarion University. She holds a certificate in public theology from Union Presbyterian Seminary and is a proud undergraduate VCU alumna. Her family roots span the eras of enslavement, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and civil rights. As she continues her family’s storytelling tradition as a public historian. She considers herself an “ancestor-in-training” as a proud grandmother of a 9-year-old grandson, Xavier.
I-Kamilah Hiwott is an aspiring Africana studies professor with a passion for exploring the rich tapestry of African and diasporic cultures, histories, and social movements. Her academic journey as a double major in African American Studies and History has been full of fellowships and internships, such as her time with the East Marshall Street Well Project and the Inclusive Excellence Fellowship. She has also completed an internship with VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder school, RISE Institute to research and provide resources on the strengths and accessibility of Black Richmonders. As a 2024 recipient of the VCU Black History in the Making Award, Kamilah looks forward to a rewarding career in research and community engagement after she completes her undergraduate degree.
Rome Kamarouthu is a pre-law senior majoring in Financial Technology and minoring in Psychology. For the past two years, they have contributed to the East Marshall Street Well Project by editing and transcribing interviews for the Oral History Project, collaborating on the Policy for Human Remains, and developing a podcast series that explores the connections between students, faculty, and community members to the East Marshall Street Well. They have also collaborated with the History and Health program to create online modules investigating Mental Health and Healthcare Disparities.
Stephanie Smith is a native Richmonder, who grew up under Jim Crow and attended segregated schools until she enrolled in John Marshall High School in 1963. She was one of the earliest black students to attend John Marshall and graduated in 1967. She obtained a Sociology degree from Virginia State (College) University in 1971. Stephanie is an Insurance Market Examiner for the Virginia Bureau of Insurance. There she regulates insurance companies by researching complaints her office receives from consumers regarding their health and life insurance claims. Stephanie became a member of the East Marshall Street Well Project’s Family Representative Council (FRC) at its inception in 2015. This work is important to her, and she looks forward to the day the Ancestors found in the well are interred respectfully in their final resting place. That is her goal.
Sunday Wright is a senior dual degree student majoring in biology and bioinformatics with a concentration in biological and genomic sciences with a double minor in chemistry and psychology on a research and thesis track. She enjoys doing work to serve marginalized groups, and plans to use her scientific background to continue to help underrepresented communities.