The following digitized records come from holdings in UMD's University Archives, which serves to collect and preserve evidence of the functioning of the university in all its many facets, including administration, academics, athletics, the arts, facilities and grounds, and student life. Although a number of records were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1912, we can still find evidence of Black life on campus in the school's early years despite Black students being denied the right to study at UMD College Park until 1951. Through these existing traces, we can work toward a greater understanding of how the legacy of slavery reverberated through the experiences of Black people at the university. The images below mainly feature Black laborers working in a variety of roles—such as maintaining the grounds, constructing the buildings, and feeding and tending the campus community—and illustrate how the University of Maryland would not exist as we know it without Black life and labor.
If you would like to obtain copies of these materials from UA, please contact ua-ref@umd.edu.
Groundskeeping
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Buildings, Rossborough Inn - [hay fields]
University of Maryland Print File photographs, Item 6052
Sprayed Ben Davis apples, October 20, 1909
Department of Entomology Records, Box 1, Item 6
Two Men and an Ox Cart on Route 1, 1900
Leland Scott collection, Box 3
Two men removing a fumigating sheet tent from a tree, November 6, 1897
Department of Entomology Records, Item 292
Agricultural Experiment Station - Stacking wheat in slocks to be thrisked later
University of Maryland Print File photographs, Item 6292
Man spraying field with a horse-drawn sprayer, c. 1925
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 221
Men with horses dusting a field of crops, undated
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 94
Men with horses dusting a field of crops, undated
Department of Entomology records, Item 86
Two men spraying a field, undated
Department of Entomology records, Item 98
Three men using a Niagara gas sprayer, Spring 1905
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 270
Crowd with Dr. David Walls, Spraying demonstration, Barclay, Maryland, March, 1907
Department of Entomology records, Item 162
Fumigation, Capt. R. S. Emory's Orchard, November 4, 1898
Department of Entomology Records, Box 1, Item 239
Group of men hand mixing spray, 1905
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 167
Man standing with barrels and watering cans, undated
Department of Entomology Records, Item 295
Man with shovel next to tree surrounded by a wire breeding cage, undated
Department of Entomology records, Accession 866A, Box 1, Item 266
Sheet tent in position over tree, undated
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 243
Men with horses dusting for melon blight, undated
Department of Entomology records, Box 1, Item 95
[Yearbook Photo Collage, c. 1920]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1921 Reveille, p. 47
Construction
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Calvert Hall under construction, University of Maryland, c. 1916
University of Maryland Print Files Photograph Collection, Series 4, Box 3, Folder 9
Calvert Hall under construction, University of Maryland, c. 1916
University of Maryland Print Files Photograph Collection, Series 4, Box 3, Folder 9
Construction of Calvert Hall foundation, University of Maryland, c. 1914
University of Maryland Print Files Photograph Collection, Series 4, Box 3, Folder 9
Construction of Byrd Stadium, 1 September 1950
Harry Clifton Byrd at the Byrd Stadium construction site, January 16, 1950
Baltimore Contractors, Inc. photographs, Accession 2007-204, Box 1, Item 2611
Construction of Student Union, 1953
Cole Field House construction, University of Maryland, June 3, 1954
University of Maryland Architecture, Engineering, and Construction records, Box 1
Cole Student Activities Building, masonry work, University of Maryland, College Park, June 16, 1954
Baltimore Contractors, Inc. photographs, Accession 2007-204, Box 7, Item 6023
Dormitory group B construction, University of Maryland, October 1, 1954
Baltimore Contractors, Inc. photographs, Accession 2007-204, Box 4, Item 6277
Dormitory group 7 construction looking west, University of Maryland, June 3, 1954
Baltimore Contractors, Inc. photographs, Accession 2007-204, Box 3, Item 5991
Dormitory group 7 construction looking North, University of Maryland, June 3, 1954
Baltimore Contractors, Inc. photographs, Accession 2007-204, Box 3, Item 5990
UMD, Buildings, McKeldin Library, Construction, photo number 1175
Aerial View of McKeldin Library Construction, 1957
University of Maryland Print File photographs, Accession 72-297 Series 4, Box 7, McKeldin Library Construction (Folder 1 of 2), Item 1
[Yearbook photo of Black men doing construction work on campus, c. 1941]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1941 Terrapin, p. 112
Tending the Campus Community
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6
Home Economics Laboratory, c. 1921
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1921 Terra Mariae, p. 265
Charlie Dory and kitchen staff, Maryland Agricultural College, c. 1912
Maryland Agricultural College collection, Accession #72-219, Box 3
[Yearbook photo featuring Black women serving meals at a campus event, c. 1947]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1947 Terrapin, p. 198
[Yearbook photo featuring a Black woman making sandwiches, c. 1958]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1958 Terrapin, p. 5
[Yearbook photo featuring a Black woman sweeping a classroom floor, c. 1967]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1967 Terrapin, p. 190
[Yearbook photo featuring Black members of the kitchen staff, c. 1968]
University of Maryland Yearbooks, 1968 Terrapin, p. 156
Header Image: Agricultural Experiment Station - Stacking wheat in slocks to be thrisked later, University of Maryland Print File photographs, Item 6292