Digitized Records

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.