COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

Enslaved blacks came to William and Mary through several channels. Some were purchased outright to serve the president and professors, some were given to the College, and still others belonged to members of the faculty, administration and to students. Several worked on the main campus, while others lived and worked on Nottoway Quarter, the college-owned tobacco plantation.

Historian Craig Steven Wilder asserts that during the colonial period, “a small army of slaves maintained the College of William and Mary.” Join the conversation!