> [Fort Monroe as a location for the slavery museum]
> strikes me as a truly inspired idea.  Thanks so much for bringing it to 
> our attention, Steve (and for all your dedicated work to save, preserve, 
> and celebrate Fort Monroe). How can those of us who are residents of 
> Virginia advocate this proposal?
> --Jurretta Heckscher

Thank you, Jurretta, and since you ask, there really is something people can 
do: write letters to the editors of newspapers that carry stories about the 
failing Fredericksburg vision, especially when those stories contain 
conjecture about alternative locations. Please note, by the way, that if 
we're right that Fort Monroe is a national treasure with international 
significance in the history of liberty, it needs advocacy by people outside 
Virginia too. The Feb. 28 Richmond Times-Dispatch opinion piece that Melinda 
Skinner cited appears at: 
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE28_20090227-223126/218089/ . 
The Feb. 26 piece that Brent Tarter quoted, "Shockoe Bottom considered for 
slavery museum," appears at 
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/SLAV26_20090225-222502/216111/ . 
For reference, Scott Butler's July 2008 Virginian-Pilot op-ed (the one that 
I quoted in full earlier) appears at 
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/07/fort-could-house-national-slavery-museum . 
ALSO: Anybody who wants to understand why Jurretta thinks this is important 
might want to watch the moving, 27-minute documentary created by the Norfolk 
PBS station. It's easily viewed online: 
http://wmstreaming.whro.org/whro/ftmonroe/ftmonroe.asf . In my view anybody 
who cares at all about Virginia history absolutely must invest this 27 
minutes.

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