Baylor University in Waco, Texas has broken ground on a new Memorial to Enslaved Persons on its campus.
The new memorial, located on the Baylor University Founders Mall, will serve as a testament to the enslaved people who were instrumental in building the original Baylor University campus in Independence, Texas. The project is the latest effort from the university in response to its Commission on Historic Campus Representations report, which addressed the school’s historic ties to racism, and how the university can take action to advance inclusion on campus. This additional context on Baylor University’s history will be placed around the existing statue of the university’s founder, Judge R.E.B. Baylor.
“When Baylor was founded in 1845, chattel slavery was deeply woven into the cultural and economic fabric of the state of Texas. Our three primary founders – including our namesake Judge Baylor – were both religious leaders and slaveholders,” says Baylor University president Linda A. Livingstone. “We believe the incompatibility of Baylor’s Christian mission and its roots in chattel slavery requires a collective reckoning with this legacy, and the additional context around Judge Baylor’s statue will connect his story to the enslaved persons being recognized through the Memorial.”
The Memorial to Enslaved Persons at Baylor University will begin construction following the university’s commencement ceremony in May.
