Locating Slavery's Legacies @ Virginia Military Institute

Memorial Object

Plaque/Marker

Emancipationist

Anti-Lost Cause

Hamlin, Hannibal

Stone Memorializing Hannibal Hamlin

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.

Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891) was a lawyer and politician who served as President Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President from 1861-65. His stone, which is from his home in Maine, was added to the memorial between 1929 and 1939. Hamlin began his career as a Democrat but switched to the Republican party after he received backlash from Democrats about his stance on slavery. In response, Hamlin stated, “Some damned rascals who may be desirous of disposing of myself, will mutter & growl about abolitionism but I do not care the snap of my fingers for them all.”

Hannibal Hamlin worked to preserve the Missouri Compromise, which designated Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, to maintain balance so that slave states would not outweigh free states in the Senate. He responded to opposition, "Shall we repeal freedom and make slavery?"

As an anti-slavery man, Hamlin worked alongside his peers to introduce the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 which intended to prohibit slavery in the territory that was acquired from Mexico in the Mexican American War. After the bill failed in the Senate, Hamlin became an outspoken advocate for anti-slavery legislation. Hamlin was an early emancipationist and urged President Lincoln to arm freedmen early in the Civil War, which he later did. He was an avid supporter of Reconstruction, and he served as chairman of Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate.

Holt, Hamilton

Large stone from Hamlin's home in Maine

Hannibal Hamlin
Born 1809
Paris, Maine

Hamilton Holt

1939

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

Rollins College

Rollins College; Winter Park, Florida

Hannibal Hamlin Wikidata

Rollins Walk of Fame

Hannibal Hamlin

Hamlin Bio