Davidson College Committee Tasked With Creating A Public Commemoration Honoring Slaves

The unacknowledged contributions of enslaved Black people are everywhere on the Davidson College campus. But now, a special committee tasked with creating a public commemoration to those whose labor was stolen will help to fulfill the promises the college has made to itself and to the world.

The project is an idea that grew from the college’s Commission on Race and Slavery. Davidson alumna Cintra Pollack, a member of Davidson’s Board of Trustees and serving as a member of the Commemoration Committee, said, ““It is a hopeful thing to think about—a space or ideas that spark feelings and bring people together the way this commemoration project will,” she said. “In Judaism, memory and acknowledgment, including sculptures and abstractions that prompt people to think, feel and discuss, are very important. To the best of our ability, we can acknowledge all the people who contributed to Davidson in the past—who were exploited, unnamed—and we give back as much as we can. If we can’t directly reclaim the stories and teach them, at least we can acknowledge and imagine them.” 

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