Pavilion X Exhibition
Enslavers - Davis, Tucker, and Minor
At Pavilion X, the landscapes of slavery and legal education converged. The three-level pavilion and its adjoining outdoor enclosure included teaching space and a residence for the professor, his family, and those he enslaved. To accommodate University faculty who were predominantly slaveholders, as well as enslaved laborers whose bondage was owned by the University, the buildings on the Lawn shared Pavilion X’s architectural division between free and enslaved spaces.
Timeline:
1833 John A. G. Davis
He moved across the Lawn from Pavilion III into the larger Pavilion X. Davis’s household included both his family and a large group of seventeen enslaved workers— 8 adults over the age of twenty-four and 9 children. Even with the changes made to the pavilion by Dunglison, his predecessor, Davis sought permission from the Board of Visitors to further expand his space. In his remaining years in Pavilion X, Davis began to rent the three dormitories adjacent to the pavilion.
1841 Henry St. George Tucker
He relied heavily on enslaved labor to maintain his wealth and household. In 1840, shortly before moving to Charlottesville, Tucker enslaved 46 individuals. Like Davis, Tucker maintained separate dwellings off-Grounds to accommodate their large households. The division of labor between each space remains unknown.
1845 John Barbee Minor
He resided at Pavilion X for over fifty years. Records from Minor’s years at UVA show that he enslaved—
6 Black individuals | 1850 U.S. Slave Schedules
9 to 11 individuals | 1860 U.S. Slave Schedules
21 individuals listed by name and age | May 11, 1863 tax list
Furthermore, while residing at Pavilion X, Minor regularly hired out enslaved workers in Charlottesville and continued to oversee similar agreements at his family home.
| Enslaved people of Minor’s estate whose names survive: | |
|
|
 |
 |
