Today we went on our class field trip to Lumpkin’s slave jail and slave burial grounds.

After leaving campus we wrote a note card discussing what we were expecting to see on this trip, which functioned as our prep note. As we arrived, we noticed that the burial grounds were location of the burial grounds and slave jail was odd, that it was right next to multiple parking lots, a highway and it overall just seemed like an odd location.

Professor Dolson told us to take a picture of at least one thing that we wanted to spend more time on or think about more in the future. We split up in two groups of 6, and one went towards the burial grounds while the other observed and read information about Lumpkin’s jail.

We went under an underpass to get to the burial grounds, and we read a sign saying that general Gabriel had been executed in this location. The burial ground was beautiful, but it was disappointing to see that there had been electric poles on the burial grounds, and then Prof said that at one point this area had been a parking lot and had development on it. That was not changed until 2004.

I called and listened to all the numbers, and if you still want to go back and do the same the number is 804-277-8116 and then type in 201#, 202#, 203#, 204#. They discussed the life of general Gabriel, and how he led a protest against slavery and was later executed, as well as 25 other people who were involved. There was also general advice on how to live your life, listen to your ancestors, not give up, etc.

Prof said that one of the trees we saw today was also a tree that a mass amount of hangings were done, but we were unsure which tree. While looking at Lumpkin’s slave jail, I was impressed that the jail was converted into a school so quickly after the civil war.

By the parking lot we were in, there was a white house owned by an African-American women, and Kaylee made the comment of how disappointing it was to see how it was just placed in the middle of a parking lot, barely being held up by weak pieces of wood, and how it seemed like it was not cared for in any way.

As we left, professor Dolson gave us our note cards back and then we wrote how about what we had seen. The bus also would not turn on.