2025 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 625
Commending the Honorable G. Glenn Oder.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 17, 2025
Agreed to by the Senate, February 19, 2025
WHEREAS, the Honorable G. Glenn Oder, former member of the Virgnia House of Delegates, was hired as the executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority, a regional board overseeing the preservation, conservation, protection, and maintenance of the Commonwealth's real property interests at Fort Monroe and the renewal of Fort Monroe as a vibrant and thriving community, effective as of September 1, 2011; and
WHEREAS, immediately upon his arrival at the Fort Monroe Authority (FMA), Glenn Oder took leadership of the master land planning project, led the review process that resulted in the selection of Sasaki and Associates as the master land plan contractor, and actively led the master planning process, including numerous public meetings and presentations, until the land use master plan was approved by the board at its meeting on October 24, 2013, and approved by Governor Robert McDonnell on December 11, 2013; and
WHEREAS, upon the deactivation of the United States Army installation at Fort Monroe, Glenn Oder represented the interests of the Commonwealth in negotiating with the United States Army for the Quit Claim Deed transferring approximately 312.75 acres for revisionary land at Fort Monroe to the Commonwealth, which was signed by Governor McDonnell on June 4, 2013; and
WHEREAS, in support of the Presidential Proclamation by President Barack Obama on November 1, 2011, creating the Fort Monroe National Monument (FMNM) and acting in accordance with Governor McDonnell's commitment of donated lands in support of the FMNM, Glenn Oder led the negotiations with the National Park Service that resulted in Governor Terence McAuliffe signing two Quit Claim Deeds on August 25, 2015, to transfer approximately 121.1 acres to the United States Department of the Interior, and subsequently led the negotiations for the historic preservation access easement over approximately 92.8 acres of additional Commonwealth land, which was finalized on October 25, 2016; and
WHEREAS, Glenn Oder championed Fort Monroe's role in the planning and execution of the 400-year commemoration of the first landing of enslaved Africans at Point Comfort in 1619, including designating the legacy project for the 400-year commemoration of the first landing; and
WHEREAS, after Governor Ralph Northam directed the FMA to construct a memorial to commemorate the first landing of Africans in Virginia in 1619, Glenn Oder led the effort to identify qualified artists to submit statements of interests and subsequent conceptual plans for the designation of the memorial that resulted in Brian Owens being selected to produce three bronze sculptures for the memorial; and
WHEREAS, Glenn Oder has devoted significant time in assisting the development of the conceptual artwork and site improvements that will be constructed and installed as part of the memorial, including participating in a week-long listening tour across the Commonwealth that greatly influenced the final design proposal for the artwork and site improvements; and
WHEREAS, working with the City of Hampton, Glenn Oder continued to cultivate relationships with the Republic of Angola, which culminated in a large delegation of Angolans attending the August 2024 African Landing Day Commemoration at Fort Monroe, including the Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to the United States and the Angolan Minister of Culture, which in turn further cemented Fort Monroe and the City of Hampton's relationships with representatives of Angola, deepening cultural and historic connections to the nation of origin of the first enslaved Africans who brought with them culture, traditions, and knowledge that enabled the Virginia colony to survive and prosper; and
WHEREAS, throughout his tenure at Fort Monroe, Glenn Oder worked tirelessly to promote the untold or unknown stories of the site, including those of indigenous peoples who were present from time immemorial, the Kikotan tribe and others of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom, the arrival of English colonists in 1607, the construction of Fort Algernourne in 1609 and Fort George in the 1730s, the building of the largest masonry fort in the country in 1819, and the establishment of the Artillery School of Practice in 1824 that ushered in the use of the site by the United States Army for 188 years, the arrival of thousands of self-emancipating formally enslaved people following the contraband decision of 1861, and the continuous use of Freedom's Fortress by the United States; and
WHEREAS, during his time with the FMA, Glenn Oder cultivated and nurtured relationships with community stakeholders, including Project 1619, the Contraband Historical Society, the William Tucker 1624 Society, and the Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park; and
WHEREAS, these are only a few of the many notable achievements and accomplishments that resulted from Glenn Oder's 13 years of service to the FMA; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Honorable G. Glenn Oder for his earnest, diligent, and passionate pursuit of the Fort Monroe Authority's mission to preserve the property and tell the authentic stories of Point Comfort, Old Point Comfort, and Fort Monroe from the last millennia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Honorable G. Glenn Oder as an expression of the General Assembly's appreciation and gratitude for his career of outstanding service to the Commonwealth, the Fort Monroe Authority, and the Hampton Roads community.