VCU, East Marshall Street Well Project Planning Committee host open house and ceremony

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University and the East Marshall Street Well Project Planning Committee will hold an open house and ceremony to introduce the community to the committee’s work.

The event, which is open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. in the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building Courtyard, 1217 E. Marshall St., Richmond. Valet parking will be provided.

VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D.; Sheldon Retchin, M.D., senior vice president for health sciences and CEO of the VCU Health System; Quincy Byrdsong, associate vice president for health sciences at VCU; and Rev. Eli Burke, co-chair of the planning committee, will deliver remarks.

There will also be a libation pouring ceremony and related exhibits will be on display.

The planning committee, consisting of community and university members, was established last year to select an appropriate decision-making body to help determine the best way to study, memorialize and rebury human remains found in an abandoned 19th century well uncovered during the 1994 construction of the Kontos Building. The remains, mainly of African descent, and artifacts are believed to have been discarded in the 1800s by medical staff.

More information about the East Marshall Street Well Project is available at emsw.vcu.edu.