On slavery question, no definite answers

The preliminary findings of a class created to research the university's involvement in slavery reveal no conclusive proof that slave labor was used to construct the campus, but the students involved hope they can offer a greater understanding of slavery in the region and time period the campus was built in.

The research, which the students of HIST 429I and HIST 429L, presented yesterday at a Black Student Union meeting, lacked a "smoking gun," or definitive evidence that the university's founders used slave labor to construct the campus. But their findings did show that at least 16 out of the university's original 24 trustees owned slaves, totaling to about 400 between them. Most university shareholders owned slaves as well, they said in their presentation.

Course leader and history professor Ira Berlin said his students have struggled to find the extent slavery was used on the campus in the absence of construction records. However, repeating a statement he has before stated in The Diamondback, Berlin said there is no question the university's origins are linked to slavery.

"If slaves didn't lay the brick, they made the bricks," Berlin said. "If they didn't make the bricks, they drove the wagon that brought the bricks. If they didn't drive the wagon, they built the wagon wheels."

Student Government Association President Jonathan Sachs, who is in the class, said it could recommend the university issue an apology for using slave labor depending on the information in their final report. University president Dan Mote declined to issue such an apology in 2007, citing existing records were too unclear to draw any conclusions.

The class was created in hopes of shedding more light on the issue, but they haven't made a definitive breakthrough. But that doesn't mean the time was wasted, students said.

BSU President Connie Iloh said she hoped their presentation would allow black students to both appreciate their opportunities and challenge the university to uncover more.

"Programs like this teach us history is important to learn," she said. "I wanted them to come so more people can have exposure to this information and appreciate what they can accomplish today when just 150 years ago, people at this university owned slaves.

"I also see people have a demand for more answers," Iloh added. "We want to know how we can learn more and how we can get involved."

One of the biggest questions the research has so far failed to answer is the reason the university's first president, Benjamin Hallowell, resigned only a month into his term. Hallowell was a Quaker and a radical abolitionist, and although the group cannot prove he resigned because the university was built by slaves, researchers think there is likely a connection.

A problem in resolving the issue is the lack of records from the time period. A 1912 fire destroyed the original construction records that could have shown slavery was used to construct the university, which forced the class to focus on determining the use and breadth of slavery in the surrounding area rather than the campus itself.

For example, 1850 census records of nearby Bladensburg and Vansville showed many white citizens owned at least one slave, and at least one citizen owned as many as 150. Slaves composed nearly half of Bladensburg's population in that time.

Other evidence uncovered includes records showing parts of the current campus were once owned by slaveowners. Slaveowner Israel Jackson lived in the area where the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center was later built and is buried near Stadium Drive.

Researchers also delved into the human aspects of slavery. The diary of Adam Plummer, who served as a personal servant to Charles Calvert, revealed how Calvert allowed Plummer special privileges for slaves at the time. Also, the team explained George Calvert, Charles' father, had children with one of his slaves, Eleanor Beckett, and took care of his "other" family.

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