Locating Slavery's Legacies @ Virginia Military Institute

Memorial Object

Plaque/Marker

Emancipationist

Bryant, William Cullen

Stone memorializing William Cullen Bryant

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.

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was a poet, writer, and newspaper editor. He wrote a number of books of poetry, including "The Embargo," "Thanatopsis," and a book simply titled "Poems."

In 1825 he moved to New York City and became editor of the New York Review. Two years later, he started working at the New York Evening Post, which he edited for over fifty years until his death in 1878.

Bryant strongly opposed slavery and was a member of the Free Soil Party, which focused on opposing the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired Western territories of the United States. In 1854 was one of the founders of the Republican Party.

The stone used for Bryant's memorial in the Walk of Fame was taken from the wall surrounding the ruins of the house Bryant was born in and was placed in the Walk of Fame in October 1929 as one of the original 20 stones.

Holt, Hamilton

2x1 ft rectangular stone.

BRYANT
Cummington, Mass.

Holt, Hamilton

October 1929

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

Walk of Fame

Rollins College; Winter Park, Florida

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q454840

William Cullen Bryant: The Creative Context of the Poet

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant

Bryant bio