Memorial for the Enslaved at the Forrest Slave Mart
JIMA Studio and UPenn Professor Azzurra Cox partnered around a conceptual design investigation to interpret the history of the Forrest Slave Mart, a holding facility for enslaved Africans and African Americans owned and operated by Nathan Bedford Forrest in the midst of Downtown Memphis. Working with community leaders, known descendants, and other interested parties, the team developed a robust community engagement approach that sought to ground this history within the thread of other events, people, and places relevant to Black History in Memphis.
Inspired by the geographic context of the Mississippi River (and its role in the domestic slave trade), narratives of resistance amongst enslaved peoples through the use of nature, and the evidences of craftsmanship by enslaved people around the historic site, JIMA Studio and Azzurra Cox designed a commemorative space that inspires historic accuracy and acknowledgment of an important, yet traumatic, history and site.
To achieve this conceptual approach, JIMA Studio and Azzurra Cox travelled to Memphis to study local history, site materials, recent projects and other components to support a full interpretation of the experience of enslavement at the Forrest Slave Mart.
Client
N/A
Location
Memphis, Tennessee
Year
2024-2025
As part of the conceptual design exploration, the team developed clay models to understand scale, movement and proportion. This exercise was also important as the design research exposed that fingerprints could be seen within the brickwork of the neighboring church that stood since the time of the Slave Mart operation. It is understood that enslaved people formed the bricks of the church by hand, their finger imprints being one of the only tangible elements of their essence in existence today.
In downtown Memphis, at least 8 known slave markets were operating at the same time. Before the Civil War, domestic slave trade became re-legalized, catalyzing another lucrative profession. Nathan Bedford Forrest, commonly revered at the leader of the Confederacy, made much of his wealth through the slave trade.
The engagement strategy included two (2) large public workshops, several stakeholder meetings with committed participants, and three (3) historic tours throughout the city to understand the context and the pervasive legacy of the Forrest Slave Mart and the relationship Memphis residents have with the site and its history. This engagement approach allowed the JIMA team to explore personal definitions around healing, ancestral practices, and defining reconciliation as both a spatial and spiritual opportunity.
The design team developed over 8 conceptual ideas for the commemorative site. The available land is where the Forrest Slave Mart stood, however today, it is sandwiched between a historic church, an active alley and surface parking. The concepts were inspired by the geographic context of the Mississippi River (and its role in the domestic slave trade), narratives of resistance amongst enslaved peoples through the use of nature, and the evidences of craftsmanship by enslaved people around the historic site. Each option explored a balance of intimacy and openness within nature, the curvilinear nature of the river, opportunities of contemplation with water, and sense of enclosure with topography.
The final design direction includes winding walks that mimic the movement of the Mississippi lined by walls that ebb and flow into the ground. The walls hold the site interpretation, including the history of the Slave Mart, the names and characteristics of the enslaved people documented from historic ledgers, and the context of this Slave Mart within the overall history of Black Memphis. The central feature resembles a 14 foot tall hand-formed brick with large indentations that mimic the finger imprints of the enslaved peoples in traditional masonry. The monument is encircled by special paving and the words of Horatio Eden, a prisoner of the Slave Mart who described his experience as a child in a newspaper during the 1860s. Finally, a water feature cuts through the flow of the site, symbolizing the pain and the stark requirement to reconcile with the history of the site. Site materials and plant selection reflect native materials and historic vegetation of Western Tennessee at the Mississippi.
Team
Ujijji Williams | Michelle Urano
Location
Memphis, Tennessee
Credits
Design Partner: Azzurra Cox