Memorial to Enslaved Persons
The Memorial to Enslaved Persons creates new areas of reflection, gathering and community on Founders Mall as it honors those “who were instrumental in constructing the original campus where Baylor University began its journey” in Independence, Texas. The Memorial stands as a tangible acknowledgment of a challenging part of Baylor’s history while pointing the University toward renewal, reconciliation and restoration.
Inspired by the limestone used on the original Baylor campus in Independence, which research indicates was built at least in part by enslaved people, the Memorial has four distinct but connected ways to learn, understand and process Baylor’s history.
The final report from Baylor University’s Commission on Historic Campus Representations included a recommendation to establish physical presences on campus that commemorate the contributions of Black individuals to the University. The Board of Regents approved a framework to operationalize the recommendation.
When Baylor University was founded in 1845, chattel slavery was deeply woven into the cultural and economic fabric of Texas. Baylor’s founders – including namesake Judge R.E.B. Baylor, its first Board of Trustees and the University’s first four presidents – were both religious leaders and slaveholders.
The Memorial to Enslaved Persons creates new areas of reflection, gathering and community on Founders Mall as it honors those “who were instrumental in constructing the original campus where Baylor University began its journey” in Independence, Texas.