DHS panel and tour explore 'Race & Slavery at Davidson College'
- David Boraks
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
A panel discussion hosted by Davidson Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 26, explored Davidson College's efforts to uncover and acknowledge its history with slavery and exploitation.
More than 40 people attended "Race & Slavery at Davidson," which included a private tour of the newly dedicated public art memorial "With These Hands" by Hank Willis Thomas and the new Oak Row Museum that commemorates the work of African American people at Davidson over generations.
Historian Hilary Green, Davidson's James B. Duke professor of Africana Studies, and Martha Gimson, the college's historic sites program manager, joined DHS president David Boraks in conversation about the college's ongoing efforts. The discussion was at Davidson College Visual Arts Center.
Green said that before the Civil War, Davidson College leased enslaved people from local slave owners to labor on campus. Early college buildings used 250,000 bricks made by enslaved people on a plantation nearby. Before the Civil War, all of the college's presidents owned slaves.
After emancipation, the college continued to rely on African Americans for manual labor and household chores for students and faculty - all under the conditions of Jim Crow. Well into the 20th century, Black people were prohibited from attending the college.
Those were among the findings in a 2020 report from the Davidson Commission on Race & Slavery, chaired by Anthony Foxx. That same year, then-President Carol Quillen issued an apology, saying the college was obligated by its statement of purpose "to shed light on and speak the truth about our own actions, past and present." The college pledged not to stop with the report, but to continue research and to bring in experts to help.
Green and Gimson, along with other faculty and staff hired since then, have been instrumental in carrying out the college's promise of ongoing study and commemoration.
The ongoing research has highlighted the anonymity of those enslaved people and other workers. "One of the things that comes out of this work is the lack of naming of individuals," Green said. "We had a few names here and there: Negro girl, baby girl, boy things like that. We had the names of the enslavers and how they got money because the school rented people (from others)."
So a big part of recent research has been uncovering their identities. "When we started this, we had about 10 names. There's now over 500 names," Green said.
Many other schools that have done similar work have not stuck with it, she said. But Davidson is committed to continuing the work - and sharing it.
That new information is reflected in the exhibit now on display at Oak Row, which is off North Main Street near the Cunningham theatre building.
The one-story brick structure is one of Davidson's original buildings. During the renovation, Green, Gimson and others uncovered old scrawlings and graffiti, some pottery, and other objects. And the bricks - which have the actual marks of the enslaved people who made them, said Gimson.
"So we have a lot of the 'fabric' history. So a building can be significant because of what it looks like, where it is. But this gives us some cultural significance," Gimson said.
She said research into the minutes of faculty meetings from the college's early years also sheds light on the work of enslaved people, who helped college officials, faculty and students. Their tasks included building fires each morning in residences (including Oak Row, which was an early dormitory).
The Oak Row renovation has preserved all but one of those fireplaces, and many bricks - some with the handprints of the enslaved brickmakers.
"So the building really is an artifact in itself," Gimson said. "When you go in, it's not just a sanitized building with brand new walls and ceiling and what not. That's not the case. You're going to see history throughout the entire building, and the whole purpose of it is to give you context about the sculpture."
As mentioned, that sculpture is "With These Hands," by Hank Willis Thomas, which was dedicated on Oct. 23. The piece in a newly landscaped courtyard next to Oak Row depicts two massive bronze hands facing upward. They represent the generations of enslaved and exploited people who have worked at Davidson.
At least 1,000 people attended the dedication, including dozens of descendants of enslaved people and African American college workers.
Gimson said the memorial and the museum are meant not just to acknowledge Davidson's past, but to make the campus more welcoming to people who have always felt excluded.
"For many, many years, the African American community did not feel welcome on campus," she said. "In fact, they were barred from campus for many years unless they had official business. They were not to be on campus. And Thursday was a welcoming back to say, 'You are welcome. You are supposed to be here. We want you to be here.'"
Davidson's reconciliation and commemoration efforts began in 2017 and have primarily been aimed at the college community. It's hard not to see it in a national context, since it comes at a time when national leaders are trying to downplay or even erase the nation's history of slavery and exploitation.
But to Marty Gimson and Hilary Green, it's all about the people - Davidson people.
The museum includes large photographs of African American workers on the job, receiving awards, posing for photos. Those 500 names are on an interactive video table. There are audio recordings, including a poem that author Clint Smith wrote for last week's dedication.
It's already having an impact. Gimson told a story about meeting a man in the museum who was crying as walked through the exhibits.
"This is so important to people, the individuals and the people who live here, the people who've experienced this, who live it every single day and look at the future and wonder what is going to happen to their kids and grandkids," she said. "And it's taking a stand, and it's being brave and unapologetic in the face of adversity and hatred and saying we were wrong. We have done this for generations. We were wrong, and here's how we did it, and this is where we're going to go, and it's going to take many, many years. … We're not going to change it, and we're not going to pull back."
Added Green: "We are honoring the dignity of work that we didn't do in the past. … We're still holding true to where we are as an institution and doing that work."
Besides more research into the identities and biographies of Davidson's African American workers, the college is changing the role of Beaver Dam, the 1829 Davidson family plantation just east of town. Led by Beaver Dam Director of Archeology Brittany Brown, the college is studying the former plantation and eventually plans to open it as an educational site.
How to Visit
The Oak Row museum is at 306 North Main St., Davidson. It's open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, and the first Saturday of the month, 10am to 2pm. Opening hours are expected to expand as the college adds staff. The sculpture "With These Hands" by Hank Willis Thomas is next to Oak Row and open to the public.
Listen
Listen to a recording of the full panel discussion: