About

Implementing the On These Grounds (OTG) project, this site presents information compiled by archivists at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library that relates to the history of enslavement at the University of Virginia. Our archivists delved into the collections and have documented, described, and organized information from records about enslavement on Grounds into Event records and Person records, available here in a searchable database that enables researchers to better discover and access the information.

Due to the subject matter, many records contain information that is difficult to view. While it is important to preserve and provide access to this information, users should be aware that descriptions may relate incidents of race and gender based violence, such as human trafficking, sexual assault, and physical violence.

OTG is an ongoing project at the University of Virginia and this site will be periodically updated. Please reach out to onthesegrounds@virginia.edu if you have any questions or information you'd like to contribute.

What is On These Grounds?

On These Grounds is an approach shared between universities to aggregate information relating to the history of enslavement on their campuses using a structured data model. It is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. You can learn more about OTG and view other institutions' records here.

Reparative Description

OTG at the University of Virginia is committed to implementing reparative description for its Event and Person records. The University of Virginia Library’s Statement on Harmful Language in Cataloging and Archival Description states,

The staff of the University of Virginia Library recognize that many of our materials result from, are created by, or represent marginalized groups of people, and we are committed to describing those people accurately and respectfully...We recognize that descriptive practices have been based on systems and standards ingrained with white supremacy, misogyny, and homophobia. We are making efforts to redress this problematic history.

The means by which we strive to accomplish that is by identifying and replacing harmful terms with reparative language. For example:

Additionally, we describe “owners” as “white enslavers” before using other descriptors for them:

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826) was a white enslaver who founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He was also renowned as an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, and philosopher. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and he notably served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington (1790-1793); second Vice President under John Adams (1797-1801); and the third president of the United States (1801-1809).

We also address the slave trade as human trafficking because that is the reality of what it was. Furthermore, we use the term "unidentified" versus "unknown" or "unnamed" if someone is not named in a record in effort to humanize the person rather than perpetuate their objectification.  It is our hope that we will be able to identify them, either through continued research or knowledge shared by the community. People were not unknown or unnamed in their lifetime just because we cannot find their name in our records at present.

We found that these shifts in language had a large impact on our efforts to provide reparative description and we are dedicated to continued improvements.

Staff

Rosalind Calhoun is a Processing Archivist at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. From UVA’s archival collections, she identifies, researches, and documents the people, places, and events that relate to the history of enslavement at the University of Virginia.

Brenda Gunn, CA (Co-PI) is the Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Preservation. She contributed to the development of the data model and provides leadership for the team that conducts the archival research.

Stacey Lavender was a Processing and Digital Archivist at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. She contributed to the development of the data model and participated in its testing. Stacey also conducted a case study on the implementation of On These Grounds at the University of Virginia.

Elizabeth Nosari is a Processing Archivist at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. She helps identify, research, and document the people, places and events pertaining to the history of enslavement on Grounds.