The University of Virginia Collection on the Events in Charlottesville, VA, August 11-13, 2017

This collection contains offensive and harmful language and imagery including racist and violent references and imagery. The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they need or want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials. 

This collection documents the events of August 11 and 12, 2017 that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the circumstances surrounding them. It also documents the responses to those events from communities in and outside the city of Charlottesville. The contents of this collection include analog and born-digital materials. Some materials were donated, and physically collected by library staff and Charlottesville residents. A significant portion of the physical materials were created by individuals and communities outside of Charlottesville, which were then sent to Charlottesville City Hall, which donated them to the University of Virginia. Library staff also collected born digital materials by means of web crawling and harvesting Twitter data, and by means of participatory archival efforts with the Charlottesville community, and from communities outside Charlottesville.

Several community identities can be identified throughout the collection, most notably residents of Charlottesville and its surrounding areas, many of whom were creators of first-hand documentaion donated to the archive and represented in the collection records. This particular community also includes University of Virginia students, faculty, and staff. Other community identities include those of the ralliers, the counter protesters, people expressing solidarity with and support for Charlotteville residents and the victims of the August 11 and 12 rallies, and people expressing support for the "Unite the Right" ralliers. In addition to the physical materials and the photo and video documentaion, evidence of these different communities can also be found in the collections of archived webpages and tweets, which lend themselves to the participatory aspect of the collection.

The Physical (Analog) series follows a chronological organization beginning with the Materials leading up to August 11 and 12, 2017 and the "Unite the Right" rally subseries. The collection begins with materials from the July 8, 2017 KKK rally and documents regarding that rally and its aftermath, and some printed email correspondence from police and Charlottesville City Council. These materials document some of the context and backdrop of the “Unite the Right” rally.

In the Materials from August 11 and 12, 2017 and the "Unite the Right" rally subseries, there is documentation of the events that took place on those days and some of the circumstances surrounding those events. Printed email correspondence disclose some of the activities of the Charlottesville Police Department and of city council members during and after the demonstrations. Artifacts from the August 11, 2017 torch-lit rally, and from the August 12 “Unite the Right” rally provide evidence of the activities during those events. Printed ephemera, like pamphlets, zines, and flyers reveal some of the activities of Charlottesville’s residents and their expressions in anticipation of, and in response to the day’s events.

The Materials following August 11 and 12, 2017 and the "Unite the Right" rally subseries contains materials relating to the “Unite the Right” rally from after August 12, 2017. The majority of the correspondents in this subseries are condolence materials. Condolence letters and letters of support include those sent or addressed to Mayor Michael Signer, Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, members of the Charlottesville City Council, Charlottesville City Hall, the city of Charlottesville, and Heather Heyer. Condolence letters and letters of support were sent from public offices and municipalities, religious organizations, educational and professional institutions, businesses, non-profit organizations, political organizations, and from individuals and communities from around the world. Many of the condolence letters and letters of support that were sent from public offices and municipalities include motions reached at town meetings, proclamations, and resolutions in support of Charlottesville’s citizens denouncing white supremacy, white nationalism, and groups demonstrating hate and bigotry. Pledges of solidarity with the city of Charlottesville signed by the citizens were also sent to city hall. Condolence artifacts of various formats were also sent to Charlottesville City Hall and document the varied kinds of expressions of support and solidarity. The artifacts in this subseries also includes the broken nose of the "Faith" statue, which is the front of the Stonewall Jackson statute's granite pedestal in Court Square Park.

The other types of correspondence in this subseries include letters, and one restricted typed narrative that presents one person's assessment of the events of August 12, 2017. Some of the letters are addressed to members of Charlottesville City Hall and City Council that express severe criticism of the manner in which the mayor and members of city council, and the Charlottesville Police Department handled the events of August 12, 2017. Other letters also express dissatisfaction of Charlottesville City Council’s decision to remove the Lee and Jackson statues, while also attempting to convey a particular narrative of southern history. Some correspondence also express severely racist comments towards black people and people of color, in general.

Also in this subseries are materials that demonstrate Charlottesville community plans and responses for the anniversaries of the "Unite the Right" Rally. These include flyers for protests one year after the event, fliers and brochures handed out during the "Reclaim the Park" anniversary event in 2020, a press conference announcement, zines, and a listing of anti-racist events with a collection of comments from Charlottesville anti-racist activists.

The periodical issues with articles about the events of August 11 and 12 portray the mainstream local and national reactions. The physical (analog) materials and ephemera collected after August 12, the copy of a legal complaint filed against Jason Kessler and other parties, the official report released by lawyers in Charlottesville, and the audio-cassette recording of songs by local musicians all document some of the responses of Charlottesville’s communities and residents.

The Born-Digital materials series consists of digital photo and video documentation, text files, archived email files, archived websites and Twitter data, and Audio files (songs on audio-cassette). Some documentation was contributed by a number of Charlottesville community members, city residents, students, and university staff alike via the University of Virginia Collection on the Events in Charlottesville, VA, August 11-13, 2017 digital collection website created by the University of Virginia Library. While some digital photographs were taken at the July 8 KKK rally, the majority were taken during and after the August 12 “Unite the Right” rally. The photographs and videos of protesters and anti-protesters, of police, of symbols and messages, and of people and artwork away from the activities demonstrate the circumstances of the events, and of the community response to the violence and turmoil that unfolded. The written narratives provide documentation of the events and of the community response, as well, but also provide evidence of the emotional responses.

The growing collection of archived web pages provides a different kind of record of how the August 12 “Unite the Right” rally was perceived and documented. The collection of news and opinion articles from local, regional, and national sources, along with blogs, reddit threads, and a YouTube music video provides a small representation of responses to August 11 and 12, 2017 on the internet. The archived tweets and Twitter data-sets exhibit other forms of communication, like hashtags and emojis that can be included in the larger community of people responding to the events of August 12, 2017.