Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved is a memorial on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was dedicated in 2022 to those enslaved by the university over a period of 172 years.
Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved is a memorial on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was dedicated in 2022 to those enslaved by the university over a period of 172 years.
The College of William and Mary was founded in 1693, and benefited from slave labor in various capacities. Historians discovered the names of over 100 people owned by college employees, students, and the college itself; the actual number of slaves was likely much higher. [1]
The three primary buildings on the college's Ancient Campus (also called "Historic Campus")—the Brafferton, Wren Building, and President's House—were constructed and maintained in part using using enslaved labor. [2] [3] Slaves both made the bricks used in construction of the Wren Building and erected the building itself. [1]
In 2009, the college began the Lemon Project, an effort to research how enslaved people lived and worked at the college throughout its history. [4] In 2014, the Lemon Project's director, Jody Allen, along with instructor Ed Pease, asked students to submit proposals for a possible memorial to the enslaved. [5]
On August 28, 2018, the college launched an international competition to solicit ideas for the memorial. [5] Over 80 entries were received. [6]
On April 26, 2019, school president Katherine Rowe announced the winning design. Titled "Hearth" and designed by William Sendor, a William & Mary alumnus who graduated in 2011, the memorial would be made of brick and serve as a gathering spot. Some bricks would be inscribed with names of enslaved people. [6]
To build the concept into a physical memorial, the college tapped Richmond-based architects Baskervill and construction firm Kjellstrom & Lee. [7] Groundbreaking took place in May 2021. [7]
The completed memorial is 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 16 feet (4.9 m) wide. It cost $2.9 million to build; the money came from private donations along with contributions from the university's board of visitors. [8]
The dedication took place on May 7, 2022. More than 800 people attended. [8]
On March 18, 2023, a handcrafted vessel holding fire was installed. It was formally dedicated on May 4, 2023. The vessel will be illuminated during community events on ceremonial occasions throughout the year. [9] [10]
Williamsburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County on the west and south and York County on the east.
The College of William & Mary is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity". In his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, Richard Moll included William & Mary as one of the original eight "Public Ivies". The university is among the original nine colonial colleges.
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction.
The Wren Building is the oldest building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, which is the "nation’s second oldest seat of higher learning" in the United States. Situated in Old College Yard—of William & Mary's "Ancient Campus", near the more contemporary Merchants Square east of campus—the frequently visited Wren Building anchors that Campus, with its forecourt defined by two further old structures, Brafferton and the President's House. It's architecture is considered Georgian, and as a building in use by The College, and with a cornerstone laid in 1695, it is the oldest of academic buildings still standing and in use in the United States, and among the oldest buildings in Virginia. The Wren Building was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960, and has appeared in the Virginia Landmarks Register since September 9, 1969.
The Wren Society is an American collegiate secret society at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was established in 1832.
Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall is a multi-use building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It contains the largest auditorium on the campus, containing two floors of seating. The building is home to art shows, musical acts, theatre, assemblies and guest speakers.
The Alumni House, formerly known as the Bright House, is a 19th-century building located on the College of William & Mary's campus in the middle of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. The home was originally situated on a farm called "New Hope" owned by Samuel Bright and his family and at that time on the outskirts of the town.
The history of the College of William & Mary can be traced back to a 1693 royal charter establishing "a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and the good arts and sciences" in the British Colony of Virginia. It fulfilled an early colonial vision dating back to 1618 to construct a university level program modeled after Cambridge and Oxford at Henricus. A plaque on the Wren Building, the college's first structure, ascribes the institution's origin to "the college proposed at Henrico." It was named for the reigning joint monarchs of Great Britain, King William III and Queen Mary II. The selection of the new college's location on high ground at the center ridge of the Virginia Peninsula at the tiny community of Middle Plantation is credited to its first President, Reverend Dr. James Blair, who was also the Commissary of the Bishop of London in Virginia. A few years later, the favorable location and resources of the new school helped Dr. Blair and a committee of 5 students influence the House of Burgesses and Governor Francis Nicholson to move the capital there from Jamestown. The following year, 1699, the town was renamed Williamsburg.
A number of secret societies operate at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, dating back to the founding of the nation's first known collegiate secret society, The F. H. C. Society, founded on November 11, 1750. Today several secret societies are known to exist at the college, including Bishop James Madison Society, the Flat Hat Club, the Ladies of Alpha, the Live Oak Society, the Phi Society, the Seven Society, the Society, the 13 Club, the W Society, the Wren Society, and the Zodiac Society.
Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler, usually cited as J. A. C. Chandler, was an American historian, author and educator. He is best known as the 18th president of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he served as the successor to retiring fellow educator and author Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Dr. Chandler is credited with transforming the institution from a small, struggling liberal arts college for men into a modern coeducational institution of higher learning.
The Gentlemen of the College is a Tenor/Bass singing group, and the oldest Tenor/Bass a cappella group at the College of William & Mary. Founded in 1990 the Gentlemen started out as a men's choir that concentrated in barbershop and traditional pieces—a repertoire that has since evolved to encompass a large selection of contemporary music. Known for their navy blazers, khaki pants, and novelty ties, the Gentlemen perform at the collegiate, local, and national level. The Gentlemen usually field four 'fixed' concerts per year—a Homecoming concert in the Sadler Center, Two "Wren 10"s on the portico of the Wren Building, and a final concert in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall Additionally, the Gentlemen have performed on national television, at The White House, The Capitol the Waldorf Astoria, and for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The Gentlemen have 21 studio CDs in their discography, having just released their most recent album, YuleTied, in 2023.
The role of slavery at American colleges and universities has been a recent focus of historical investigation and controversy. Enslaved Africans labored to build institutions of higher learning in the United States, and the slave economy was involved in funding many universities. Enslaved persons were used to build academic buildings and residential halls. Though slavery has often been seen as a uniquely Southern institution, colleges and universities in Northern states benefited from the labor of slaves. The economics of slavery brought some slave owners great wealth, enabling them to become major donors to fledgling colleges. Until the Civil War (1861–1865), slavery as an institution was legal and many colleges and universities utilized enslaved people and benefited from the slavocracy. In some cases, enslaved persons were sold by university administrators to generate capital, notably Georgetown University, a Catholic institution. In some parts of the nation it was also not uncommon for wealthy students to bring an enslaved person with them to college. Ending almost 250 years of slavocracy did not end white supremacy, structural racism, or other forms of oppression at American colleges and the legacy of slavery still persists in many establishments.
Saint Bede Catholic Church in James City County and Williamsburg, Virginia, is a Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, located adjacent to the campus of the College of William & Mary, is a part of the parish. It was the first Catholic church in Williamsburg.
The Williamsburg Bray School was a school for free and enslaved Black children founded in 1760 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Opened at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion in 1760, the school educated potentially hundreds of students until its closure in 1774. The house it first occupied is believed to be the "oldest extant building in the United States dedicated to the education of Black children".
The President's House is the residence of the President of the College of William and Mary in Virginia in Williamsburg, Virginia. Constructed in 1732, the building still serves its original purpose and is among the oldest buildings in Virginia. Since its construction only one of the college's presidents, Robert Saunders Jr., has not moved into the building, which is let for free to the president. The President's House is William & Mary's third-oldest building and the oldest official college presidential residence in the United States.
The Bodleian Plate is a copperplate depicting several colonial buildings of 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as several types of native flora, fauna, and American Indians. Following its 1929 rediscovery in the archives of the Bodleian Library, it was used extensively in John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg. The plate has been tied to Williamsburg resident William Byrd II and may have been produced by English illustrator Eleazar Albin and engraver John Carwitham. It is dated to the 1730s.
Lake Matoaka is a mill pond on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, located in the College Woods. Originally known both as Rich Neck Pond for the surrounding Rich Neck Plantation and Ludwell's Mill Pond for Philip Ludwell who owned it, Lake Matoaka was constructed around 1700 to power a gristmill. The pond was renamed after acquisition by the college to bear the Powhatan name for Pocahontas. The lake was acquired by William & Mary in the 1920s. Construction projects by the Civilian Conservation Corps, college, and others have contributed to the lake becoming a site for outdoor entertainment and recreation.
The College of William & Mary has maintained a campus in what is now Williamsburg, Virginia, since 1693. The cornerstone of the Wren Building, then known as the College Building and the oldest surviving academic building in the United States, was laid in 1695. The college's 18th-century campus includes the College Building, the President's House, and Brafferton–all of which were constructed using slave labor. These buildings were altered and damaged during the succeeding centuries before receiving significant restorations by the Colonial Williamsburg program during the 1920s and 1930s.
St. George Tucker Hall is an academic building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Built in 1908–1909 from a design by Cady & See, it was William & Mary's first freestanding library and sits on what is now known as Old Campus. It is an early example of Colonial Revival architecture in Williamsburg that predated the Colonial Williamsburg restoration and reconstruction efforts. A 1928 expansion of Tucker Hall was designed by Charles M. Robinson, with a further renovation performed in 2009. The building is now named for St. George Tucker, who taught at the college. A statue of James Monroe, a U.S. president and alumnus of the college, was installed in front the hall in 2015.
Ewell Hall is an academic building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The building was constructed in 1925–1926 on what is now Old Campus, across from Tucker Hall on the Sunken Garden. It was originally named Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall for Phi Beta Kappa, an honor society founded at the College of William & Mary and the oldest such society in the United States. John D. Rockefeller Jr. attended the hall's 1926 dedication; during this visit, W. A. R. Goodwin convinced Rockefeller to participate in a restoration program that became Colonial Williamsburg.
