Memorial to Enslaved Persons
The Memorial to Enslaved Persons will create new areas of reflection, gathering and community on Founders Mall while also symbolizing Baylor’s ongoing commitment to racial equity and Christian compassion. It is an acknowledgment of a challenging part of our history while helping us see the need for Christian repentance while we press 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 will have three 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 four-phase 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.