Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, has recently dedicated a memorial sculpture on campus in recognition of the role of enslaved people in the college’s history.
The “Authors and Architects” installation is a large bronze sculpture of hundreds of stacked books with the names of enslaved people who constructed some of the college’s original campus buildings. Supported by a new partnership with the public arts nonprofit Creative Time and designed by Sandy Williams IV, assistant professor of art at the University of Richmond, the memorial sculpture features 3D scanned replicas of the college’s original library and record books.
“The ‘Authors and Architects’ memorial on our campus is a meaningful tribute and a powerful reminder of the 829 enslaved individuals who, at great sacrifice, helped create what Roanoke College is today,” said Roanoke College President Frank Shushok, Jr. “We take time to acknowledge that all community members, past, present, and future, will have benefited from their lives.”
The new sculpture installation coincides with a recently released report documenting 10 years worth of research into the college’s historic ties to slavery. In addition to “Authors and Architects,” Roanoke has taken several steps to recognize its formerly enslaved laborers, including becoming a member of the Universities Studying Slavery organization, establishing the Center for Studying Structures of Race, dedicating placards on the administration building, creating a campus walking tour, and conducting in-depth research projects with students and faculty. As much of the college’s history on enslaved laborers had been erased from history or lost in archives, researchers at Roanoke documented the named of every enslaved person they encountered in the Genealogy of Slavery Database.
Additionally, the partnership with Creative Time resulted in a new capstone course to connect students with leading artists and architects regarding the intersection of memorials, monument, and memory. Roanoke has also developed a lecture series centered around its new Center for Studying Structures of Race.
“Roanoke College remains dedicated to exploring our history with care and integrity as we move forward,” said board chair Malon Courts. “This work strengthens our community and ensures that the contributions of all those who shaped our institution — named and unnamed — are remembered and respected.”
