Roanoke College
Essentials:
- Memorial honoring enslaved people connected to Roanoke College, dedicated in 2025
- Located at 226 Maxey Way, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia - a short walk away from the Confederate Monument at the old Salem courthouse
Bronze sculpture cast in the form of archival record books that commemorates 829 people enslaved men, women, and children identified through archival research
Research conducted in 2019 through student-led archival work
Roanoke College
Roanoke College has a memorial installed and dedicated in 2025, “Authors and Architects,” which honors the lives of enslaved people who shaped the college’s history.
The memorial is the result of years of research and collaboration undertaken to gain a fuller understanding of the college's past. From the moment Roanoke College was founded as the Virginia Collegiate Institute in 1842 through the end of the Civil War, the college benefitted greatly from the practice of enslavement. Enslaved artisans and laborers built the college’s original buildings, the remnants of their labor visible now as fingerprints in the faded brick. Founders of the college owned and enslaved human beings, and the legal and economic records describe all the ways in which they benefitted from this enslavement. David F. Bittle, the College’s first president, often spoke in lectures defending and justifying slavery. Four other college buildings– Trout, Miller, Wells, and Yonce– carry the names of individuals who also enslaved human beings.
Although the Confederacy’s defeat brought a formal end to enslavement, the legacies and impacts of slavery continued. When college founders could no longer legally own human beings, they sought to enforce the erasure of rights of the formerly enslaved and free Black individuals.
Since 2019, student researchers have examined regional archives to create an extensive, first-of-its-kind record of enslaved people who lived and labored across the region, and to design a database that makes this research accessible. The identities of the 829 men, women, and children with ties to the college’s earliest years and benefactors are now permanently recognized on the contours of “Authors and Architects,” a bronze sculpture cast in the image of record books used in the research initiative.
Designed by Richmond-based artist Sandy Williams IV, the memorial stands on public display at 226 Maxey Way. Only a few minutes’ walk from the Confederate Monument outside the courthouse building, “Authors and Architects” stands as a powerful counterpoint, and a testament to the strength and legacy of the people that it honors.
Finding Roanoke College
226 Maxey Way
Salem, VA 24153
United States
From I-81, take exit 140 onto SR-311 toward Salem. Turn right onto Thompson Memorial Drive toward Salem. Turn right onto Peery Drive where a Roanoke College sign will welcome you onto campus. There is either a parking lot on your left, or you may continue driving up Peery Drive, then make a left on High Street. Drive a couple feet until you see the admissions office or “Roselawn Building.” The memorial is directly across the street.