2014 Symposium

The President’s Commission on Slavery and the University also hosted the symposium Universities Confronting the Legacy of Slavery on October 16th–17th, 2014, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

All events (excluding the keynote address) were livestreamed on our home page. The livestream was additionally broadcast at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

Schedule

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Notes

View a map for event locations.

The terrain by the University Cemetery is uneven in some areas and, in the event of recent rainfall, may be muddy. It is recommended that you wear comfortable walking shoes.

Time Description
4:00–5:15 p.m. Welcome Reception & Film Screening
Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (233 4th St NW, 2nd floor, Charlottesville, VA)
Includes premier of Unearthed and Understood: Slavery at the University of Virginia.
5:30–6:30 p.m. Memorial Service
First Baptist Church (632 West Main St, Charlottesville, VA)
Presiding: Reverend Lloyd Cosby, Reverend Alvin Edwards, Reverend Hodari Hamilton
Remarks: Teresa A. Sullivan (President, University of Virginia) and Delores L. McQuinn (Virginia House of Delegates)
6:30–7:30 p.m. Transportation to University Cemetery
Charter bus transportation will be provided from First Baptist Church to the University Cemetery.
7:30–8:30 p.m. Gravesite Commemoration at African-American Cemetery
North side of the University Cemetery.
Return bus transportation will be provided following the ceremony.

Friday, October 17, 2014

All events to take place at Harrison-Small Special Collections Library Auditorium unless otherwise noted.

Notes

Hourly parking is available in the Central Grounds Parking Garage. Harrison-Small Special Collections Library is also easily accessible on the Free Trolley Line (Stop: UVA Chapel).

Free parking for the Closing Reception to be held at the Fralin Art Museum on Friday, Oct. 17th from 4:30-6:30pm is available at the Culbreth Garage. Accessible parking is available by request. If you have accessibility or mobility needs, please call the Office for Diversity and Equity at 434-243-2079 to have a space reserved for you.

Registration is full. Please plan to arrive early in order to be guaranteed a seat in the auditorium.

Time Description
8:00–8:45 a.m. Welcome & Film Screening
Continental breakfast provided. Screening of Unearthed and Understood: Slavery at the University of Virginia.Marcus L. Martin, Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity, University of Virginia
8:45–10:15 a.m. Universities Confronting the Legacy of Slavery: What Was Learned
James T. Campbell, Edgar E. Robinson Professor in United States History, Stanford University; Former Chair, Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
Leslie M. Harris, Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities and Associate Professor of History, Emory University
Terry L. Meyers, Chancellor Professor of English and Co-Director of the Lemon Project, The College of William and Mary
Joshua D. Rothman, Professor of History and Director of the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, University of Alabama
Kirt von Daacke (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Assistant Dean, University of Virginia
Craig S. Wilder, Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute for Technology
10:30–11:30 a.m. Slavery and the Enslaved at U.Va.: What We Know
Benjamin P. Ford, Principal Investigator, Rivanna Archaeological Services
Scot A. French, Associate Professor of History, University of Central Florida
Ervin L. Jordan, Jr., Research Archivist, University of Virginia Library
Gayle Schulman, Independent Researcher
Kirt von Daacke (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Assistant Dean, University of Virginia
11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Walking Tour of the Academic Village
University Guide Service
12:30–2:00 p.m. Keynote Address & Lunch on The Lawn
“Proslavery Political Theory and Jurisprudence before the Civil War at the University”
Location: The Lawn in front of Old Cabell Hall
Alfred L. Brophy, Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Professor of Law, UNC School of Law
2:15–3:45 p.m. Memorializing Slavery and the Enslaved
Autumn Barrett, Co-Director, Remembering Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom Project; Associate Director of the Institute for Historical Biology and Adjunct Faculty, The College of William and Mary
Kelley Deetz, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, University of Virginia (resigned August 2016)
Gertrude Fraser (Moderator), Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Virginia
Lynn Rainville, Research Professor in the Humanities, Sweet Briar College
Chelsea Stokes, Chair of Memorial for Enslaved Laborers (MEL) and Undergraduate Student, University of Virginia
3:45–4:15 p.m. Facilitated Reflection

Susan H. Allen, Associate Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Director of the Center for Peacemaking Practice, George Mason University

4:30–6:30 p.m. Closing Reception
Location: Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia (155 Rugby Rd, Charlottesville, VA)
Comments about exhibit Gordon Parks: The Making of an Argument
John E. Mason, Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of History, University of Virginia