[{"id":1377,"date":"2026-06-24T09:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/provost\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T20:05:22","slug":"vcu-community-connected-reacquiring-the-soul-of-jackson-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/provost\/2026\/06\/24\/vcu-community-connected-reacquiring-the-soul-of-jackson-ward\/","title":{"rendered":"VCU community connected: Reacquiring the soul of Jackson Ward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Across Richmond, community organizations, neighborhood leaders and residents converge to partner with VCU. Through the voices of our neighbors closest to this work, we explore how collaboration with an urban campus supports community goals and enriches real-world impacts. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longtime community organizer Jim Vigeant<\/strong> founded The Ealey Project<\/strong><\/a> after unexpectedly discovering a collection of 230,000 historic documents in the basement of a home he was renovating. The archive, hidden for decades, belonged to attorney and Virginia State Delegate Roland J. \u201cDuke\u201d Ealey<\/strong>, a leading civil rights advocate. The discovery and its preservation is creating opportunities for students and researchers to uncover the past. We sat down with Jim to learn more about what drives his passion to collaborate with VCU.
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What does VCU, as an urban campus, specifically bring to community engagement?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It brings respect and genuine neighborly relationships. We now have a very, very solid relationship with the VCU Division of Community Engagement<\/strong><\/a>. They are clearly a cut above. And it was what VCU President Michael Rao<\/strong> had as a vision. We now share that vision, and we are grateful for him stepping forward and allowing it to evolve. It made a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re working very closely with Dean Gary Cuddeback<\/strong><\/a> and the School of Social Work Evaluation Lab<\/strong><\/a> on grant writing, which is extremely relevant to the growth of our efforts with The Ealey Project. We\u2019re working with Dr. Brian Daugherity<\/strong><\/a>, a professor and director of internships in the Department of History, and we just completed an internship with one of his graduate students, Emily Keppel<\/strong>. You’ll be able to see her work within The Ealey Project pop-up exhibit at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia<\/strong> from June 17 through Aug. 29. We\u2019re hosting a collection of Ealey\u2019s documents on the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Jim Vigeant (left) examines a handful of the 230,000 documents from Roland J. \u201cDuke\u201d Ealey\u2019s collection. Credit: Sandra Sellers\/Richmond Free Press<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How do you hope researchers, students and future generations will use The Ealey Collection once it is fully preserved and accessible?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the Ealey Collection is fully archived and partially digitized by the Library of Virginia, The Ealey Project has expressed its desire for a three-year extension before releasing the collection to the general public so that we can have our research teams and anybody who’s at the table \u2014 like VCU researchers \u2014 get a first look at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lot yet to reveal about the Ealey Collection now that it’s being archived, and according to the Library of Virginia, it is the largest discovery in over seven decades of American civil rights history. Wow. That’s why I can’t stop talking, I get goosebumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve spoken about how the heart of The Ealey Project is to \u201creacquire the soul of our community.\u201d What does that look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quote about the soul of the community came from a neighbor who was in a committee meeting with me when we were making land management decisions for the Historic Jackson Ward Association. She said, you know, they can do all the things they want in our city, but all we want back is the soul of our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was speaking of the bisection of the Jackson Ward by what became Interstate 95, which divided and displaced a vibrant community. And I use her expression regularly now because we’re working closely with the Richmond city planners, and we’re hoping that they are listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we want to do is to restore the real connection of what Jackson Ward means. Right now, Jackson Ward is a divided community. Putting the landmass back would allow the community to feel the space once more, rather than a highway that divides the neighborhood. The original plans were the Jackson Ward Community Plan<\/strong><\/a> and the Reconnect Jackson Ward<\/strong><\/a> plan. The original concept for Reconnect Jackson Ward was for a bridge across one of the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you’ve ever done community engagement work, it is not a quick process. It requires decades of relationships, negotiations and respect.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Jim Vigeant, president and co-chair, The Ealey Project<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the VCU Division of Community Engagement video <\/strong>\u201cUnearthing a Hidden Civil Rights Legend: The Ealey Project\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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