Enslaved Spaces at the University of Virginia
Enslaved labor did not end with the construction of the University of
Virginia. Daily life at the University was maintained by the labor of
enslaved men, women, and children. The Academical Village and
surrounding grounds were the home to hundreds of enslaved individuals
who were owned or rented by professors, hotelkeepers, and the University
itself. They worked in the fields, the work yards behind the pavilions
and hotels, and the buildings themselves. They cleaned, cooked, farmed,
ran errands, and completed every other task necessary for daily life in
19th century America. Few names of enslaved individuals at the
University of Virginia survive history, and even fewer details about
individual lives. However, recent research has shed light on the lives
of two enslaved women associated with the University, Lucy Cottrell and
Isabella Gibbons.
Explore what is known about the lives of Lucy Cottrell
and Isabella Gibbons below, as well as the physical spaces they lived
and worked in at the University of Virginia.
