This exhibit is part of "From Fights to Rights: The Long Road to a More Perfect Union," Swem Library's project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement.

The history of slavery at William & Mary is almost as old as the university itself. It is documented through university records, debates in the Virginia General Assembly, essays, letters of faculty and students, and even the university's oldest student newspaper, The Owl. William & Mary owned slaves on its plantation at Nottoway Quarter, leased land to farmers, had slaves cut wood and run errands into Williamsburg, and even let students bring their own slaves to campus (provided they paid a fee). During the Civil War, the university closed because faculty and students joined the Confederate Army. But William & Mary was not unique; as judge and professor of Law St. George Tucker wrote, slavery was a "prejudice so prevalent in the present generation." Additional information about William & Mary and slavery is available from the SCRC Wiki.

Curator: Ben Bromley, Public Services Archives Specialist; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant, Ben Bromley, Public Services Archives Specialist; Justin Ferrell '11, SCRC Student Assistant; Hannah Craddock, Graduate Assistant; Priscilla Wood, SCRC Volunteer.

Images of the installed exhibit are available at the SCRC's Flickr page.