The University has planted a tree every year since 1970 on Founder’s Day to honor an individual who has made a significant contribution to the University. This year, a white ash tree was planted on the Lawn in honor of the enslaved laborers who worked at the University from 1817 to 1865.
The Arboretum and Landscape Committee recommends individuals to the Office of the President to be honored by the tree planting ceremony each year. The committee, led by Computer Science Assoc. Prof. Worthy Martin, contacted the President’s Commission on Slavery and the University earlier this semester about honoring slave laborers.
“We would like to look at people who have had an impact on the landscape,” Martin said. “[Enslaved laborers] clearly have had a profound impact on the topography of grounds, as well as building the buildings.”
Martin also explained the significance of the tree, which was planted on the Lawn in front of Pavilion IV.
“It stands as a presence,” Martin said. “It’s a focal point, something that people can refer to. It’s in a prominent place on the Lawn. It constitutes something like a statue.”
Kelley Deetz, Research Associate with the PCSU, said the decision to honor slave laborers was supported by many members of the University community.
“It was Worthy Martin’s idea, and we supported it completely,” Deetz said. “It was a joint effort.”
Stacy Smith, a staff member at the President’s Office, said the ceremony fulfills the goals of the PCSU.
“Back in 2013, President Sullivan established the Commission to look at what’s been happening at UVA and the historic buildings around Grounds, and think of ways to honor, memorialize and celebrate the individuals involved in it,” Smith said. “We thought it would be a great way to do it, because they built the University, so it’s time to recognize their hard work and labor.”
Deetz said this ceremony is only one of many efforts to commemorate enslaved laborers at the University.
“It’s one in a long line of memorialization efforts that we’ll be doing in the next few years,” Deetz said. “We want to reinscribe the history of laborers back into the landscape and on Grounds.”
This year’s tree planting ceremony was unique in that PCSU chose to honor all the enslaved laborers who worked to construct and maintain Grounds instead of an individual.
“A lot of the names are unknown, so we wanted it to be a broad dedication,” Deetz said. “We’re just starting the research, so we’ll have more names soon, but we wanted to have something more open-ended.”
While there are currently no physical signs to mark the significance of the trees planted on Founder’s Day this year and in the past, the Arboretum and Landscape Committee’s website lists all memorial trees along with their locations.
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