Authors and Architects Memorial
"Authors & Architects" by Sandy Williams IV honors the legacies of the men, women and children who were enslaved by Roanoke College founders between 1842 and 1865. During its founding period, Roanoke College directly benefited and grew from a regional economic and political system built around slavery. Enslaved Black people contributed in immeasurable ways to the formation of Roanoke College. These contributions shaped the campus and the wider region.
The 1860 Federal Census accounted for 2,643 enslaved people in Roanoke County. Slaveholders in this region enslaved more than a third of the overall population. Each of the names or identifications on this memorial belonged to an enslaved person with specific ties to Roanoke College. Known family members appear together. The blank book covers and outturned pages remind us that innumerable names and stories have been omitted from official archival records. Many histories remain unknown.
The title, "Authors and Architects," recognizes the roles of enslaved people as creators and founders in the history of the college. Their roles and identities extend beyond the conditions of subjugation typically used to bind and minimize the legacies of Black and Brown people in the telling of American history. This memorial honors the memory of people enslaved at and around Roanoke College, acknowledges the freedom and education denied to them in their own time, and underscores the significant roles that Black people played in the establishment and success of the broader community.
Visit & Learn
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“Authors and Architects” is on public display at 226 Maxey Way (across from Roselawn). Visitors are also welcome to take our self-guided walking tour for a deeper look at the role that slavery played in our college's earliest years.
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In total, 829 men, women, and children are honored in the names and identities etched into the contours of "Authors & Architects." More information about them is available in a public database made possible by the work of student researchers and CSSR.
RELATED
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The remarkable, bronze sculpture will be permanently displayed on campus. Its installation is a significant milestone in the college's extensive inquiry into the history of slavery at Roanoke and the surrounding area.
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Roanoke College unveils design for memorial to enslaved laborers
September 13, 2024
The sculpture will create a physical presence meant to honor the memory of people who were enslaved at the college, acknowledging the freedom and education denied to them in their own time and underscoring the immense importance they played in the establishment and success of the Roanoke community.
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Memorial artist Sandy Williams IV opens exhibition at Roanoke
September 06, 2024
“Freedom is Not a Metaphor” is a collection of works by Williams that spans photography, sculpture, research and installations. The exhibition will invite viewers to reconsider the construction and contestation of memory through personal narratives and historical contexts.
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Artist and educator to deliver Emancipation Week keynote
April 15, 2024
In 2023, Sandy Williams IV was selected to design a major permanent work on campus that will memorialize the enslaved laborers who worked at the college before the Civil War. “I want to bring humanity to those people who have not been included in the record, but who were so vital to the growth of the college,” Williams said.
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A memorial to recognize and honor the role of enslaved people in the history of Roanoke College and greater Southwest Virginia is now one step closer to becoming a reality.
