May 2022 Historic Resources Committee Packet
                           May 13, 2022, 11:00 AM – 12:50 PM

  This packet contains various materials to guide meeting discussions. The materials are listed
                 below, linked and with reference to their page in the PDF file.

1. April 8, 2022 HRC Meeting Notes                                 Page 2 of PDF

2. Example of proposed signage for Pen Park Cemetery               Page 4 of PDF
                                     Meeting Notes
                     Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee
                     Friday, April 8, 2022; 11:00 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.
                               Remote meeting via Zoom
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....
 HRC Members present         HRC Members not present         Staff present
 Phil Varner, Chair          Jessica Livingston              Jeff Werner
 Margaret O’Bryant           Sally Duncan, Vice-chair        Robert Watkins
 Dede Smith                  Richard Wilson
 Kay Slaughter
 Tom Chapman
 Richard Wilson
 Jalane Schmidt
 Genevieve Keller

   1. Call to order:
      Historic Resources Committee (HRC) chair Phil Varner calls meeting to order and
      introduces new HRC member Dr. John Mason.

      Robert Watkins calls committee attendance.

   2. Approval of the agenda:
      Dede Smith moves to approve the agenda. Kay Slaughter seconds motion. Motion passes
      unanimously.

   3. Approval of Meeting Notes:
         a. March 2022 Meeting Notes
      Slaughter moves to approve the meeting notes. Smith seconds motion. Motion passes
      unanimously with Mason and Genevieve Keller abstaining.

   4. Public Comment*
      The HRC receives no public comment.

   5. Engagement of the Descendant Community for Court Square/Slave Auction Block site:
      Jalane Schmidt reminds HRC that Dr. Anne Bailey will be delivering lecture at public
      library on following Tuesday (04/10). Dr. Bailey is author of The Weeping Time:
      Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History. Dr. Bailey will meet with
      descendants at Court Square prior to her talk.

      Schmidt updates committee on courthouse records research being conducted by graduate
      student researchers at UVA. The two researchers, Jake Calhoun and MaDeja Leverett,
      anticipate continuing work through the summer.

      Varner suggests that HRC coordinate with Calhoun and Leverett to plan when to present
      next progress report to City Council.




HRC April 8, 2022 Meeting Notes
   6. Downtown Walking Tour Map Work Session:
      Smith and Slaughter offer update on walking tour map progress. In last month, they had
      met with map designer. New map will be more site-specific, and text will only discuss
      sites that are on map.

      New map will have two panels for Court Square, two panels for Market Street, three
      panels for Downtown Mall. Slaughter and Smith are still deciding how to filter what sites
      should fit on map.

      Slaughter and Smith welcome feedback and suggestions for what sites are included.

      Tom Chapman acknowledges that new group, Friends of Cville Downtown, is looking to
      develop app-based tour of Downtown Charlottesville.

   7. Meeting Procedure Discussion:
      Varner proposes more informal rules of procedure “Martha’s Rules,” also used by City’s
      Human Rights Commission.

      Some members note that formal recommendations for Council or money allocations
      should use formal vote.

   8. Staff Updates:
      Staff updates committee on new Albemarle and Charlottesville General District
      Courthouse project. New building will be constructed on lot behind Levy Opera House,
      on a piece of land once used as the town battery.

      City’s Board of Architectural Review previously made recommendation that Albemarle
      County conduct preliminary archaeological survey at site, but County has expressed that
      such a project is not within their schedule. Staff and committee members agree that such
      survey would be an important project. Staff is looking into strategies for making survey
      happen.

   9. Coordinate Agenda for May HRC Meeting:
      In addition to regular meeting items (Court Square commemoration and Downtown
      Walking Tour), HRC members request that discussion about marking Pen Park Cemetery
      be added to May agenda.

   10. Announcements:
       Slaughter announces upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration.

      Mason announces upcoming Holsinger Studio Portrait Projects exhibitions, to be held at
      UVA and to travel to community gathering spots.




HRC April 8, 2022 Meeting Notes
Staff would like to more substantially demarcate and identify the burials found outside the cemetery walls at Pen Park. The Albemarle
Charlottesville Historical Society and other groups are doing work to identify and connect descendants of those who may be buried here. In the
meantime however, staff finds it important to provide some basic identification of the site.

Please see an example of a sign that might be suitable: