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When the Civil War ended slavery, some served as paid employees. Their lives remained intertwined with 51���� as its leaders supported Jim Crow laws that prevented them from voting, owning property and getting an education.

51���� can never fully atone for that past. However, the college believes these public efforts will help take another step toward reconciling with it. Today, President Doug Hicks announced plans for a memorial to honor the enslaved and exploited people whose labor helped build the college.

51���� has selected artist Hank Willis Thomas to create the sculpture “With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited.” The concept was developed in collaboration with the North Carolina practice of global architectural firm Perkins&Will, who conceived an intentional place of refuge that responds to and surrounds the artwork. The bronze sculpture—two large, work-worn hands—will stand prominently on the lawn near the original Oak and Elm buildings and be visible from Main Street.

“This is a very kind of important time in American history where we are actually learning how to reconcile with the past, especially not the prettiest and most honorable parts of the past,” Thomas said. “And the way we do that in education, the way we do that in storytelling in the media, but also in physical space, is really unprecedented, right? Where we are looking unflinchingly back in the mirror of American history. And to have a college…to be taking a step like this, so unflinchingly, and I think it’s almost a call to action for cities and colleges and universities and libraries across the country to really acknowledge the lives that were sacrificed and exploited so that we get to have the luxuries that we do today.”

“It’s a place of refuge, a place of honor, to commemorate, to grieve, to celebrate and to be accountable,” college Trustee and Commemoration Committee Chair Virgil Fludd ’80 said. “The hands transcend 51����, from its beginnings to today to the future. They could be the hands used to construct Oak and Elm. They could be the hands that took care of the first students at 51����. They could be the hands that took care of me in 1976 or could be the hands used to take care of students today and in the future.”

The memorial comes as the college examines a history of slavery and discrimination shared by many institutions across the United States. In 2020, then-President Carol Quillen publicly apologized for the college’s past actions. 51����’s Commission on Race and Slavery, whose research preceded the apology, issued recommendations that include a memorial. 

“What’s important is to pay homage and to give credit to them,” Fludd said. “There are buildings named for people who did less, not only at 51���� but around the country. Honoring the people who created the institution we endear—that we care so much about—is the very least we could do.”

Importance of Commemoration

At the University of Alabama, Hilary Green created the “Hallowed Grounds” project, which includes a walking tour of slavery’s history on that campus. She first came to 51���� as a visiting professor in 2020 and worked closely with the race and slavery commission.

She’s now the James B. Duke Professor of Africana Studies specializing in African American history, the Civil War and Reconstruction. She and her students have researched the Black people first enslaved and later employed by the college. They’ve explored their humanity, filling out details of their lives through public records, cemetery visits, letters and diaries.

“When I first walked across this campus, I could tell where slavery existed, it’s like the air changed in that space,” Green said. “By putting the memorial where enslaved people labored, we are also recognizing the grounds that they helped shape, and the landscapes they maintained.

“We must acknowledge that honestly and truthfully, to hear the voices of people who came before us and who were far too long excluded. Commemoration is an apology; it’s about acknowledging that this was wrong so that we can build a better present and future.”

51���� has been especially thoughtful in its actions, said Perkins&Will architect Malcolm Davis.

“Other institutions are embarking on similar endeavors, but I give 51���� a lot of credit for the way they’ve gone about this as a process,” Davis said. “There is something to be learned by the way 51���� has proceeded. Engaging alumni and others to be part of the planning is a fantastic way to come at this work. We have felt that sincerity from the alumni organizations and from the artistic community. They’ve been very intentional about wanting to make sure that the teams are diverse, and that everyone sitting at the table is authentic.

“There’s so much support for getting this right.”

The College of William & Mary took on a similar accounting process more than a decade ago and last year unveiled its memorial to the enslaved workers who once toiled there. History Professor Jody Allen is the Robert Francis Engs Director of the Lemon Project, which “builds bridges between William & Mary and African American communities through research, programming, and supporting students, faculty and staff.”

Artist Tyler Yvette Wilson ’14, describes her 51���� experience as positive, and the college community as supportive. She now teaches at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. Her art often focuses on the exploitation of Black and Brown communities and has appeared in multiple public venues, including on highway billboards in Baltimore’s art district.

Wilson, a college Art Collection Advisory Committee member, served on the commemoration jury. She said the college has come a long way in diversifying its exhibits and striving for equitable representation. Choosing from the five finalists was difficult.

“These are artists I’m a huge fan of,” Wilson said. “It was so cool to be in a room and meet my artistic heroes.”

The biggest influence, she said, was the profound impact that Thomas’s work had on several others in the group.

“That was enough for me,” she said, adding, “I adore his work and I’m excited to have an artist of his stature creating the monument at 51����.”

Tackling important issues through public art can invite controversy, and many institutions shy away from it, Wilson said.

“What 51���� is doing is very courageous. You see a lot of colleges put something on a website and that’s the end of it. To make a declaration of this magnitude—of this permanence—and invest in it financially is huge,” Wilson said. “This is not performative, it’s taking real steps to rectify what happened in the past, and that takes a lot of guts.”

Lifelong 51���� resident Bernetta Graham also served on the jury that recommended Thomas’s sculpture. She hopes it will prompt discussions about what transpired and inspire new efforts to help Black residents who still struggle from the legacy of slavery and discrimination.

“This is a start,” Graham said. “I liked the idea of the Black hands, because Black hands built the college. It’s important that it’s open to the community. So many of our children don’t know about slavery and don’t understand what was done to our people. Hopefully this will be educational, to let them know where they came from, and where they can go in the future.”

Fludd said he wants the memorial to be a lasting symbol to remember the college’s past, and its promise going forward.

“I want it to be a boomerang, not just a one-time experience, but where people feel compelled to learn more,” Fludd said. “The college should feel like it’s made a tremendous statement, that it has brought to light things that were not exposed or revealed in the past and that there’s more work to be done.

“This is not the end.”