The history of African Americans at the University is often presented in two phases: slavery and Civil Rights. Last semester, I penned a column in which I commended the University Guide Service (UGS) for its efforts to confront our history of slavery. And while it is important for members of our community to take a critical look at the institution that hangs so heavily over our history, we must be careful not to forget the hundred years between slavery and Civil Rights in addition to the decades that followed integration. I think part of the problem is the nature of condensing all of the University’s black history into an hour-long historical tour. Inevitably, the most momentous events will be selected, so it is easy to see why slavery and integration receive the most attention. But another problem has to do with research and education: many students and tour guides simply don’t know as much about recent black history or the years between slavery and integration as they do about the antebellum and Civil Rights eras.
A cursory look at the UGS Historical Information Sheet given to students interested in joining Guides reveals the facts regarding African Americans at the University pertain almost exclusively to slavery and integration. The probationary packet I received upon joining similarly emphasized slavery and integration, with less attention given to African American history outside of those periods. When I began giving historical tours, I found I would tell the story of students approaching the Rotunda to raise the Confederate flag prior to the Civil War and then the story of students walking in the other direction towards Old Cabell Hall to see Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak in 1963. In jumping from slavery to the Civil Rights era, I would skip over a hundred years of black history.
Consider the story of Alice Jackson, the first African-American to apply to the University. Jackson sought admission in 1935 for a master’s degree program in French and was denied. The rector of the Board of Visitors wrote after her rejection that “the education of white and colored persons in the same schools is contrary to the long established and fixed policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Public controversy followed the decision, and several Virginia newspapers attacked Jackson for “unnecessarily rocking the boat.” Jackson’s story provides insight into the history of African Americans in the decades that ultimately led to integration.
Also consider the story of the Kitty Foster homestead adjacent to the University. It existed as community for free blacks until the 1920s when it was purchased by white speculators. To the University, it became known as Canada, a term that refers to the free black community’s cultural differences in spite of its close proximity to the Academical Village. These hundred years between slavery and Civil Rights were an era in which blacks were neither slaves nor students, an era that deserves greater attention. I would like to see more research and education aimed at this time period.
The years that followed integration saw the establishment of the Office of African American Affairs (OAA), black Greek organizations, the Black Student Alliance and African American Studies programs. These recent years are often left out of historical tours. Last semester, Professor Claudrena Harold spoke to my UGS probationary class about recent African-American history at the University and its importance in understanding our current racial climate. Harold teaches a course titled Black Fire that examines the history and contemporary experiences of African-Americans at the University since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Alice Burgess, UGS Historian and a student of Harold’s course, writes: “I think [the Guide Service’s] biggest weakness is the history of African Americans at the University, since so often we speak about the University’s late integration in the 60s and 70s and skip straight to the present. These are decades of history we all-too-often leave out, yet these years are absolutely critical to painting an accurate picture of the student experience at the University today.”
We must remember the stories of enslaved laborers and the first black students at the University. Henry Martin, the University’s enslaved bell ringer for 50 years, and Robert Bland, the first black graduate of the College, are two such figures who have shaped our school and whose names will enter any black history conversation. But we must also remember the black men and women who belonged to the period between slavery and Civil Rights, as well as the individuals in the following years whose progressive spirit brought us to where we are today.
Nazar Aljassar is an Opinion Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at n.aljassar@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
EDITORIAL: Celebrating and reflecting on The Cavalier Daily’s independence
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoOur independence grants us the ability to ask the hard questions and to say what University representatives cannot.
ARRAS: U.Va. must revise the Sexual Assault Prevention Training module
By Aoife Arras | 6 days agoIn addition to its failures in interactivity, the module lacks details specific to the University and discusses key concepts in universal terms.
EDITORIAL: Pedestrian safety is an institutional imperative
By Editorial Board | April 15, 2024Amid a national crisis of pedestrian safety, Charlottesville and the University are also struggling to properly maintain pedestrian safety.
