Slavery Casts Shadow Over University of Alabama

Dr. Hilary Green of the University of Alabama is making a call to properly educate on the history of slavery at the University and in the city of Tuscaloosa.

Dr. Hilary Green of the University of Alabama is making a call to properly educate on the history of slavery at the University and in the city of Tuscaloosa.

Many students walk the campus of UA not knowing the true history of the University or the structures that surround them. According to Green, some students entering her African American Studies class believed that slavery never existed on the University’s campus.

“Slavery is central to the development of the school,” said Green at a lecture on Slavery and the Gorgas House. The University owned slaves from the time of establishment to the end of the Civil War. These enslaved people performed building maintenance, repairs and construction, as well as tended to the daily needs of faculty and students.

Green referenced a study released by the Southern Poverty Law Center stating that “schools are not adequately teaching the history of American slavery, educators are not sufficiently prepared to teach it, and textbooks do not have enough material about it.” As a result, students lack a “basic knowledge” of the important role slavery played in shaping the United States and “the impact it continues to have on race relations in America.”

“Museums like the Gorgas House are great ways to introduce people to the slave history at UA,” said Green. She believes that marks and signage are not enough to tackle the history.

Green encourages all to extend their knowledge and learn more about civil rights on campus, as well as in the city of Tuscaloosa.