Memorial to Enslaved Persons dedicated by university

Baylor University acknowledged a long-unrecognized part of its history on Nov. 7 by dedicating a Memorial to Enslaved Persons on Founders Mall.
As part of the larger Memorial to Enslaved Persons on Founders Mall, Baylor University added inscriptions to the existing statue of R.E.B. Baylor acknowledging his role as a slaveholder and providing historical context.
(Photo courtesy of Baptist Standard)

Memorial to Enslaved Persons dedicated by university

Baylor University acknowledged a long-unrecognized part of its history on Nov. 7 by dedicating a Memorial to Enslaved Persons on Founders Mall.

The memorial grew out of a report and series of recommendations by Baylor’s Commission on Historic Campus Representations in 2020-2021.

It recognizes the role enslaved laborers played in the university’s construction and confesses race-based chattel slavery built the wealth of many of Baylor’s early benefactors and founders.

It specifically acknowledges Judge R.E.B. Baylor — whose statue long has anchored Founders Mall and for whom the university is named — owned enslaved people.

The memorial includes Scripture references, a cascading water feature constructed of the same limestone used to build Baylor’s original campus in Independence, a population density map depicting the number of enslaved people in Central Texas in 1860 and a resonance garden for reflection.

Full story.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard. 

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