Introduction
I vividly remember my first trip on which I spent any significant time in Richmond. I was just a freshman in high school and my brother was a freshman at the University of Richmond. My mom, my dad, my other brother and I drove to Richmond for Family Weekend. We drove seven hours from the northernmost tip of New Jersey to Richmond. I remember taking my brother out to dinner at the Tobacco Company in Shockoe Bottom. In order to get there, the hotel recommended that we drive down Monument Avenue because it was so pretty and historic. As we drove down the wide street with a large grassy median, and old Southern homes lining each side we eagerly watched for the next gigantic monument of a Confederate general. It seemed so cool at the time since I was learning about the Civil War in school, and also because I was not familiar with Richmond or its history. As we continued driving, the car started rumbling as we hit the cobblestone part of Monument Avenue, which led us to the iconic restaurant set in an old tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. While waiting to be seated, I remember watching the "cigarette girls" weaving in and out of the crowded bar area selling cigarettes to the patrons. I remember riding the original, old, wrought-iron elevator to our floor. You could see out through the black twisted iron. There were plants hanging on every floor as we made our ascent to the third floor. The door opened and we arrived at our table. That is my first memory of the city that would later become my home, and whose history I now teach.
The next morning, my inaugural trip to Richmond included a visit to the Confederate Museum of Virginia. I recall marveling at all of the artifacts including old weapons and uniforms from the Civil War. During my visit to the gift shop I remember purchasing a souvenir: replica bullets.
After spending less than a week in the Invisible Cities seminar with Joe Roach, I can't help but notice the "visible" history that the City of Richmond showcases – Civil War generals, military uniforms, and weapons – so focused on the martial aspects of the war. I also can't help but reflect back on my first encounter with this unfamiliar place. As an adolescent, the grandeur of the monuments, the houses, and the breadth of the abundantly wide street mesmerized me. My impressionable brain willfully accepted the heroic nature of the over-sized figures before me. They were to be revered since I had learned about them in history class. After much research, I now understand that the history Richmond displays accurately reflects the collective memory of our nation, a one-sided view that leaves out the parts that are too shameful to share.
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