The Lost Souls Public Memorial Project
An artistic memorial that informs and remembers the Lost Souls back home – that’s our vision. We’re going to build it. Join us!
The memorial will center the 137 Lost Souls whose freedom was stolen by the corrupt Van Wickle Slave Ring, ensuring that whatever names we are able to recover are not lost to history again, but are memorialized here.
The memorial will be informative, respectful, and engaging. We intend for it to convey an artful sense of remembrance and function as a source of community-building. We intend for it to include information about the history of the slave ring and how it was shut down.
We are deeply thankful to the Township of East Brunswick for partnering with the LSP, supporting our efforts to build this memorial. The Township and LSP have agreed to site the memorial at the entrance of the East Brunswick Community Arts Center main building.
Ongoing aspects of the LSP include
- community education through events and the upcoming publication of educational materials for different ages;
- developing a juried design competition to solicit design proposals, engage in community feedback around the design, and ultimately choose a final design;
- raising sufficient funds to build the actual memorial through individual generosity, grant applications, and fundraising; and
- construct a lasting and inspiring memorial.