University · est. 1819

University of Virginia

Roughly 100 to 150 enslaved people built and operated Thomas Jefferson's university until 1865.

From construction in 1817 through the Civil War, enslaved laborers built and ran the University of Virginia — cooking, cleaning, and serving faculty and students. The President's Commission on Slavery led to the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, dedicated in 2020.

Documentation

Research·1

Research· Primary

UVA — President's Commission on Slavery and the University

University of Virginia

The enslaved laborers who built and ran UVA.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

built by·Thread
Chattel Slavery
Enslaved laborers built and ran UVA for decades.