169 Charlotteville

Return to Charlottesville

In 1968, my husband and I moved to the Shenandoah Valley and began our teaching careers. We were soon introduced to graduate school at the University of Virginia and began our pursuit of advanced work during the summer on the lovely campus in Charlottesville.

After graduate school, we added to our family and got very busy, but we never forgot our early days at UVA. We often did return for basketball and football games.

Last summer, Charlottesville made the national news when a white nationalist group held a march and counter-protests were organized. We could not believe this was happening. The news revealed the events as tempers flared and a peaceful resolution was not in the cards. One young lady lost her life as well as two state troopers during the tumultuous events.

The removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee was the impetus of the protest. We had no idea the statue even existed. What terrible times had fallen on Charlottesville.

This summer, since we hadn’t visited the campus in years, we wanted to see friends who still live there. We needed to find out for ourselves how things had changed and what effect this terrible event had on the community.

We set a date in July and met on the Corner across from the campus. We could see the Rotunda from the street. Nothing appeared to have changed as far as the campus and the hustle and bustle of the street. When talking to our friends about last year’s events, they related how they had attended gatherings that addressed what had happened and felt the meetings were helping.

After lunch, we headed to the downtown walking mall near where the violent events of the march had taken place. We had visited there many times in past years.

One block off the mall, we came face to face with the statue of Robert E. Lee on a horse. It was far bigger than we thought and was perched on a very small plot of land. We had no idea it had been there all these years. We had lived, studied, and visited in Charlottesville for decades without any idea this relic from the past existed.

The silence of the small park was overwhelming. I could not bring myself to take a photo, and if you talked to my family that is most uncharacteristic of me. I never miss a chance for a photo so I am not sure why I did not have the urge to do so.

What a contrast this small area was from the vibrancy and vitality of the walking mall, filled with a variety of ethnicities embracing the sights, sounds, and tastes of a diverse population of visitors and residents.

Nothing seemed to have changed visibly in Charlottesville, but there have to be scars underneath the surface for those who attended the protest and survived. 

This August did not bring a repeat of last year’s disastrous event, thank goodness, so we can hope that it will not happen again. This definitely proves we must resolve

 differences in ways that do not result in violence, whether this close to our home or across the country or world. Please join me in keeping peaceful dialogue circulating through blogs, letters, social media, or any other way you communicate. It can only help to talk about our differences!

Savvy Frances