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Roanoke College to unveil design for memorial to enslaved laborers Friday

Courtesy of Roanoke College (Roanoke College 2024)

SALEM, Va. – Roanoke College will hold a press conference at noon Friday with artist Sandy Williams IV, who will unveil the design for a major work of art on campus that will memorialize enslaved laborers connected to the college and Roanoke County, the college said.

The press conference will take place in Smoyer Gallery located inside Roanoke College’s Olin Hall Galleries on Maxey Way in Salem.

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According to the school, Williams will be on hand to answer questions and renderings of the memorial will be available, an exhibition of their works will also be on display.

The project will be a permanent sculpture that will stand on the college grounds near Maxey Way and across from the college’s admissions house.

Roanoke College says the project was initiated by the school’s Center for Studying Structure of Race, which has been working since 2019 to commemorate the role of enslaved people both in the history of the college and the wider region.


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Duncan Weigand joined WSLS 10’s digital team in June 2024, weeks after graduating from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s in communication studying multimedia journalism and a cognate in marketing.

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