                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES; IDENTIFICATION OF THE HISTORY OF
FORMERLY ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS IN VIRGINIA (§ 23.1-2219)

A. With such funds as are appropriated by the General Assembly and with the
agreement of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (the Foundation), the
Foundation shall identify the history of formerly enslaved African Americans in
Virginia and determine ways to preserve that history for educational and
cultural purposes.

B. The Foundation shall:

   1. Promote the identification, preservation, and conservation of historic
   sites significant to the history, presence, and contributions of formerly
   enslaved African Americans in Virginia;

   2. Assess the extent to which students and the public are knowledgeable
   concerning African American history, the African slave trade, slavery in
   Virginia and America, and the vestiges of slavery in the Commonwealth and the
   nation;

   3. Identify the contributions of African Americans to Virginia, the nation,
   and the world;

   4. Inventory relevant African American historical sites, memorials, exhibits,
   and resources in the Commonwealth and assess the potential economic impact of
   tourism and economic development promotion relative to such sites;

   5. Develop a register of historical sites significant to African American
   history in Virginia that should be preserved and recommend options for
   preservation and ways to increase tourism revenues; and

   6. Develop and maintain a roster of volunteer historians, educators,
   businesses, organizations, and speakers to act as resource persons for
   classroom teachers on African American history, the African slave trade,
   American slavery, the impact of slavery on modern society, and the
   contributions of African Americans to Virginia and the nation.

C. To assist the Foundation in its work, a task force is hereby created
consisting of 17 members as follows: three members of the House of Delegates to
be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the
principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of
Delegates; two members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules; seven nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor, at
least one of whom shall be a recognized historian with scholarship in American
history and slavery and at least one of whom shall be the president of a
historically black college or university located in the Commonwealth. The
Director of the Department of Historic Resources or his designee, the Director
of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia or his designee, the
executive director of the Virginia Tourism Authority or his designee, the
chairman of the board of trustees of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation or his
designee, and the President of the Foundation shall serve ex officio.
			Legislative members shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office.
Gubernatorial appointments shall be for a term of two years. Appointments to
fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired
terms. Nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed. Vacancies shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
			The task force shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its
membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.

HISTORY: 2017, c. 647; 2019, c. 230.