Photo by Jay Paul
The JXN Project on April 17 opened a yearlong celebration commemorating the 150th anniversary of Jackson Ward, the nation’s first officially registered historic Black urban neighborhood. The event, “Illuminating Legacies: Giles B. Jackson Day,” featured 12 projections across the historical footprint of Jackson Ward at sites including the Hippodrome, the Bill “Bojangles” Robinson statue, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Winfree Cottage and Main Street Station, pictured above.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney declared the day Giles B. Jackson Day to honor Jackson, who was born enslaved, learned to read and write, and became the first Black attorney certified to practice law before the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The JXN Project, led by sisters Enjoli Moon and Sesha Joi Moon, is working “to honestly and accurately capture the pivotal role of Richmond, Virginia, in the evolution of the Black American experience.”
Centering Jackson as the neighborhood’s rightful namesake — rather than President Andrew Jackson or Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, both of whom have been cited as the name’s origin — is part of an effort to recontextualize the neighborhood’s history.
See more photos taken around Richmond at instagram.com/richmondmag.
