WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Welcome to The JXN Project—a historic preservation non-profit organization dedicated to recontextualizing the origin story of Jackson Ward. The JXN Project, also known as JXN, was founded in 2021 and is committed to capturing the pivotal role of Jackson Ward in the Black American experience – an often under-told story about the nation’s first historically registered Black urban neighborhood, given that 1 in 4 Black Americans can retrace their roots to the region around Richmond, Virginia.

THE JXN PROJECT

JXN was co-founded in 2021 by sisters Enjoli Moon and Sesha Joi Moon, PhD. It all began with a simple question -"Who is the Jackson in Jackson Ward?" - and little did they know, but those seven words would help to unearth some of the hidden histories of the city's sixth ward. The project's work is focused on recontextualizing the origin story of Jackson Ward - with a research focus spanning from 1768 when the first parcels of land were sold through a lottery by the descendant of William Byrd, who is credited with founding the City of Richmond, for private use on the northern edge of the city to 1871 when that same edge was gerrymandered as a political district commonly known as "Jackson Ward." The project is guided by eight key pillars to include pedagogy, philanthropy, preservation, and proprietorship, as well as public art, public engagement, public programming, and public policy.

At the core of JXN is a fundamental belief that the preservation of Black American history is worthy of more than mere markers as of our respective "monuments" have been disproportionately dilapidated, dismantled, destroyed, and|or displaced, such as the home of Abraham Peyton Skipwith, also known as the Skipwith-Roper Cottage, which was built in the wake of the American Revolution in 1793. With hindsight in hand, the "monumental" year of 2020 helped to illuminate the stark historic injustices that still plague our country, and indeed, our beloved city, which at one point laid the blueprint for hate - but is equally as positioned to provide a restorative path forward for hope for the city, commonwealth, and country. The cottage presents a unique opportunity not only because of the rarity with being able to leverage one of the city's oldest documented dwellings to interpret the life, liberty, lineage, and legacy of a Black American from the eighteenth century, but its also rooted in leveraging research to uncover monuments that have been overlooked while lying in plain sight for centuries.

JXN began its work with a year-long sesquicentennial celebration for Jackson Ward titled "Illuminating Legacies: Giles B. Jackson Day" - followed by a six-part "JXN Project Summer Lecture Series" with the Library of Virginia and Richmond Public Library. The project concluded its sesquicentennial celebration with the city's largest mass honorary street installation for "Unveiling The Vanguard", which included Abraham Skipwith Alley. The alley was named in tribute to Abraham Peyton Skipwith whom the project considers as "The Founding Father of Jackson Ward" - which inspired the project's most notable initiative known as "The Skipwith-Roper Homecoming" as part of the U.S. Semiquincentennial. As part of the homecoming initiative, the project curated an exhibition with the Library of Virginia titled "House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History" and partnered with PBS, NPR and VPM to produce a documentary titled "Declarations of Independence."

Since its inception, JXN has donated approximately $250,000 in gifts and|or grants across the city, to include the establishment of endowed scholarship funds with Virginia Union University, Virginia State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Richmond Public Schools - as well as an honorary street designation to the late father of the co-founders, August Moon. These gifts include over $50,000 to support ward-based organizations, such as a $10,000 donation to "The Adele Johnson Fund: Supporting Untold Stories" at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

JXN has received 2025 ChangeMaker Ward from Initiatives of Change USA, 2022 RVA Community Makers Award from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, 2022 Richmond History Makers Award for "Advancing Our Quality of Life" from The Valentine, 2022 Leadership in History Awards from the American Association of State and Local History, and 2021 Golden Hammer Award for "Best Placemaking" from Historic Richmond. As co-founders, the Moon Sisters were also ranked second as the "Most Powerful Richmonders of 2022" by Axios and were both recognized as "Top 40 Under 40" by Style Weekly.

JOIN THE JXN JOURNEY

In 2023, JXN launched “The Skipwith-Roper Homecoming” as an initiative to reconstruct the Skipwith-Roper Cottage – opening the historic site during the ward’s founding week as part of the U.S. Semiquincentennial given that 1 in 4 Black Americas are said to be able to retrace their roots to the Richmond, VA region. As part of the homecoming initiative, JXN launched a campaign to reconstruct the cottage in two phases as an environmentally sustainable structure with a research lab and library and operational offices, also known as The JXN Haus – alongside a coworking space and outdoor greenspace for community programming and placemaking. The historic site and headquarters will sit on 11 parcels of donated land by the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in April 2026 and JXN welcomes support of the second part of its capital campaign to fund the second and final phase of construction with a goal of raising $3.5M in gifts and|or grants by the end of 2026 – and invites institutions and|or institutions to support the campaign through in-kind support and sponsorship packages that range from $5K to $1M. Thank you for your support and follow @TheJXNProject for the latest updates!