DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson College unveiled plans to recognize the enslaved and exploited workers who built the college’s campus, university leaders announced.
The memorial, "With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited," will comprise of a memorial, sculpture and plaza designed by conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas and architecture firm Perkins&Will.
It will feature a sculpture of two work-worn hands in an intentional place of refuge that responds to and surrounds the artwork and will sit among four historic campus buildings built from bricks made by enslaved persons in the mid-1800s.
Upon the project's announcement, Davidson College completed an unprecedented amount of research in an effort to build a memorial that reflects the unique events that transpired on its campus.
The memorial is the latest step in Davidson College’s examination of its history of slavery and discrimination. The college joins other institutions throughout that are memorializing marginalized and exploited members of the community.
The effort is led by a team that includes Thomas, architects Kenneth Luker, Allen Pratt and Malcolm Davis and Virgil Fludd ‘80, chair of Davidson College’s Special Committee on Commemoration.
Davidson College President Doug Hicks will moderate a conversation with the artist, architect and members of the commemoration committee from 11:05 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Thursday in the Duke Family Performance Hall.