UVa commission to dig into school's slave history

A commission established by University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan will investigate the school’s slave history.

Sullivan has recruited 27 faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members to be part of the Commission on Slavery and the University. The group will coordinate research on slavery and find ways to present their research to the community.

Slavery is an inescapable part of UVa’s history. Many students and staff already know about Henry Martin, a slave on Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate who worked as a bell ringer at UVa after being freed in 1847.

Last fall, archaeologists found 67 unmarked grave shafts just north of the University Cemetery; principal investigator Benjamin Ford said the people buried there were probably slaves.

The commission — co-chaired by Dr. Marcus Martin, chief officer for diversity and equity, and Kirt Von Daacke, an associate professor of history at the university — will find ways to commemorate these connections.

The most ambitious project is a proposal for a new exhibit on slavery that would be housed inside the Rotunda.

“This work will take several years to complete,” Martin said in a statement. “But I believe we have the right mix of members on the commission to advance the charge presented by President Sullivan.”

— The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress

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