Roanoke College has announced the artist and concept for a memorial to the enslaved laborers that were key figures in the development of the college and the surrounding area in Salem. The design for “Authors and Architects,” by Sandy Williams the 4th, an assistant professor of art at the University of Richmond, was unveiled today at a news conference.
It will be located near the admissions building at Roanoke College. “Authors and Architects,” will be a bronze statue in the form of hundreds of books, engraved with the names of the formerly enslaved black people with ties to the campus. The school’s Center for Studying Structures of Race spearheaded research that led to the names to be engraved on “Authors and Architects.” Williams spoke about an installation that should be on campus sometime next year:
