The University of Georgia will dedicate a new memorial at Baldwin Hall in tribute to those who were buried there.
“I am grateful for the work of the members of the advisory task force and for their holistic approach in designing this memorial,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “This memorial will provide the university and local community with an opportunity for meaningful reflection and will permanently honor the men, women and children who were buried on this site more than a century ago.”
President Morehead, Honorable Steve Jones, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, and Michelle Cook, UGA’s Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Strategic University Initiatives will speak at the ceremony.
The memorial, located on the south end of the front lawn of Baldwin Hall, near Old Athens Cemetery, will serve as a place of remembrance for the individuals who were originally buried on this site in the 1800s, most of whom likely were slaves or former slaves.
The dedication will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 16.
The remains of the individuals were first discovered during construction of an addition to Baldwin Hall in November 2015. They were reinterred at Oconee Hill Cemetery in March 2017, in accordance with guidance from the State Archaeologist’s Office.
The university held a memorial service to commemorate their lives, and a granite marker was placed at the gravesite. Acknowledgment in the form of a plaque also was placed inside the new entrance of the Baldwin Hall addition.
