Locating Slavery's Legacies @ University of Virginia

Memorial Object

Plaque/Marker

Enslaver

Calhoun, John C.

Stone memorializing John C. Calhoun

The “Walk of Fame” was created in 1929 by then president Hamilton Holt to honor significant historical figures. The memorial is located in the center of campus around Mills Lawn. The Walk of Fame Stone that is dedicated to John C. Calhoun, was a stone that was originally acquired by A. J. Hanna in December of 1929 and then given to Hamilton Holt and Rollins College. A. J. Hanna acquired this stone when he was visiting a friend, and descendant of John C. Calhoun, Professor H. E. Shiver in Spartanburg, South Carolina. As Hanna went to Clemson University, then called Clemson College, he visited the mother of Professor Shiver, who lived in the Calhoun mansion and allowed Hanna to take a stone from the grounds about twenty feet from the mansion itself.

After Rollins gained possession of the stone, it was dedicated to John C. Calhoun and placed in the Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame originally was intended as a way to display stones from the birthplaces of people who changed history for better or worse, though it was usually used to celebrate people who identified with the college’s values. This stone was eventually removed in late 2020 and moved into storage by Facilities Management, instead of being moved to the college’s archives. This stone was removed alongside a few other stones, including those dedicated to Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, out of an effort to remove stones that commemorated figures connected with or who supported the institution of slavery. John C. Calhoun was a part of this group as he was the leader of the pro-slavery faction of the Senate during his vice presidency, having given many speeches on his support of the institution.

Holt, Hamilton

Small stone, originally taken from Clemson, South Carolina

Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
Clemson

Rollins College

Holt, Hamilton

Hanna, A.J.

December 1, 1929

August 2020

1890-1945: Era of the Lost Cause, Jim Crow legal segregation and discrimination, and organized anti-Black racism

2000-Present: Memorialization in the Era of Universities Studying Slavery and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Rollins College

Walk of Fame

Rollins College; Winter Park, Florida

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207191

https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_Calhoun.htm

Altered - Moved