Ex-Va. Governor Eyes University Site for Slavery Museum

Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder proposed Thursday that a historic Richmond building owned by Virginia Commonwealth University be used to house his long-planned national slavery museum, according to The Washington Post.

The downtown structure once housed First African Baptist Church, long a focal point for Richmond’s black community. A Virginia Commonwealth spokeswoman said Mr. Wilder mentioned the idea in a casual conversation with the school’s president last week but that “no commitment was made” and that no negotiations over the site are under way.

The former governor announced plans for a U.S. National Slavery Museum in the early 1990s and secured a site in Fredericksburg, Va., but the project foundered financially and went through bankruptcy in 2011-12. The donated Fredericksburg parcel is expected to be sold in June.

Mr. Wilder said he envisions a resuscitated museum as state-operated, rather than being run by his organization, and funded by government and philanthropic dollars.