Here at the University of Maryland, we have a problem. It is a problem familiar to all Americans, and indeed to all people: our forebears are not everything we want them to be. To be sure, Charles Calvert, the founder of the Maryland Agricultural College, had extraordinary vision, and the energy and resources to lay the foundation for a great institution. But Charles Calvert was a slaveholder, and portions of the land he conveyed to the state for the agricultural college - which became the University of Maryland, College Park - was his plantation.
The uncertain relationship between the university and slavery became evident during the celebration of our 150th anniversary, and that uncertainty emerges periodically as a campus issue. For some it has become a source of indignation and bitterness, for others embarrassment and shame - not so much because of the relationship itself, but because of the perception (I would call it a misperception) by some that we have been unwilling to explore the issue or answer the questions.
For others, the question is: How much can we really know? Such concerns have been magnified by the contemporary debate over slavery in American society, as represented in our popular culture, in our politics (legislative apologies - including the Maryland General Assembly's "statement of profound regret" - and congressional hearings), and in the vexed question of reparations.
Like other Americans who have been reminded that the Founding Fathers owned slaves and supported the institution of slavery, there is nothing we can do to rewrite the past. It is part of the mixed inheritance that encumbers every people. We can, however, understand our past, and its implications for us and our university. That is what we intend to do in a two-semester course to be offered in the academic year 2008-2009.
In some respects, the connection between the university's founding and slavery is obvious. In 1856, Maryland was a slave state, and slavery was suffused throughout its economy, politics and culture. The state's greatest source of wealth was slave-grown crops; its political and social leaders were slave-owners; and its ideals were shaped by the very existence of slavery. No aspect of Maryland life was untouched by slavery, so if slaves did not build the buildings on our campus, they made the bricks, and if they did not make the bricks, they drove the wagons that carried the bricks, and if they did not drive the wagons, they fed the horses.
Nonetheless, there is much still to be learned and, at Maryland, expanding knowledge is our strong suit. The research carried out by students here will form part of a report that will be submitted to the university community, with the firm belief that a knowledgeable and informed campus community strengthens the university's commitment to a more diverse and inclusive campus and promotes better relations between the university and the people of the state.