Interview with Shawn Utsey Part 1
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Interviewees
Utsey, Shawn
Accessibility Note
Content is digitally accessible 2026.
Interviewer
Edwards, Ana
Producer
Sunshine, Daniel
Description
In this interview, Ana Edwards interviews Dr. Utsey about his involvement with the East Marshall Street Well Project and his documentary film Until the Well Runs Dry. Part one of a two-part interview begins with a brief introduction and moves into a discussion about the psychology of filmmaking. Dr. Utsey elaborates on his experiences making the film, in particular, the challenges as a VCU faculty member unearthing the institution’s exploitative history. The interview moves on to a discussion about possible locations for reinterment of the East Marshall Street Well remains. Utsey reflects on community reactions to the film and on related student protests. This leads to a discussion about the early stages of the EMSWP and development of the Planning Committee. The interview concludes with a conversation about how to ethically honor the Well remains.
Biographical Note
Ana Edwards is a public historian and community activist. Currently, she is a teaching professor in VCU's Department of African American Studies. Most of her work centers on preserving the history and public spaces associated with Gabriel and the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom.
Dr. Shawn Utsey is professor of Psychology, and chair of the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Utsey received his Ph.D. from Fordham University in 1997 and has written numerous journal articles and books highlighting the effects of racial violence with a focus on African American experiences. Among his numerous accomplishments, he is known for the documentary, Until the Well Runs Dry: Medicine and the Exploitation of Black Bodies, which examines grave robbing for medical science in the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Note
This interview description and biographical information was written by Nichole Harper.
Corporate Name Subject
Hampden-Sydney College. Medical Department--Corrupt practices; Virginia Commonwealth University--Corrupt practices
Topical Subject
Reparations for historical injustices; Human remains (Archaeology)--Repatriation; African American cemeteries--Desecration; Body snatching; History--Virginia--Richmond; Medical colleges--Corrupt practices; Universities and colleges--Corrupt practices; Racism in medicine; Racism against Black people; Public history; Community organization; Psychology; Psychologists; African Americans--Study and teaching; Documentary films
Place of Interview
Virginia Commonwealth University, The Workshop
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
oral histories (literary genre)
Local Genre
oral history; sound recording; text
Type
Sound; Text
Digital Format
audio/mp3
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is protected by copyright, and copyright is held by Shawn Utsey. You are permitted to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright. In addition, this material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.
Collection
East Marshall Street Well Oral History Project
Contributors
Virginia Commonwealth University
Source
"Interview with Shawn Utsey Part 1," East Marshall Street Well Oral History Project, M 573, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
File Name
emswoh_utseyshawn_interview.mp3
Disciplines
African American Studies | Digital Humanities | History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oral History | Social History | United States History