East Marshall Street Well Project

The East Marshall Street Well Project at Virginia Commonwealth University addresses the discovery of human remains and artifacts from the 19th century found in an abandoned well on the MCV Campus in 1994. The project aims to ensure the remains, primarily of African descent, receive appropriate study, memorialization, and reburial, reflecting the dignity they were denied in life and death.

Learn more about the EMSW Project

Memorialization and interment

See the latest steps taken to memorialize and inter the individuals whose remains were discovered in the East Marshall Street Well.

The Elegba Folklore Society led a processional, pouring of libations and prayer upon the return of the ancestral remains to Richmond.

Research

Follow the progress of researchers as they study the human remains and artifacts discovered in the East Marshall Street Well. 

The 19th century human remains discovered in 1994 in an abandoned well on the MCV Campus were transferred Thursday from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to VCU's Department of Forensic Science.
community consultation participants sitting at tables

Community Engagement

The EMSW Project seeks to reinvigorate community and VCU faculty involvement in public education, community research and ongoing public communication around the history of structural and medical racism.