Ryan Moore '25
Law Weekly Historian
Pictured: Left, 1867 Map of Albemarle County (Credit: UVA Law). Right, Henry Martin (Credit: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/12010-f4464de63ccacdb/).
Shortly after noon last Thursday, I joined fifteen of our fellow classmates outside the Law Library. Our mission: partake in an hour-long guided walking tour through North Grounds history with Randi Flaherty and Addison Patrick of the UVA Law Library. Our trek covered portions of the Rivanna Trail behind our Law School. UVA is our home for the next few years, and it’s interesting to learn about the history of North Grounds and the people (both free and enslaved) who lived here.
Our first stop on the hike was the Park at North Grounds. When the University first excavated the land for development, workers discovered a possible stone quarry used by the Monacan Indian Nation. The Monacan Indian Nation is believed to be the first inhabitants of the land that became the Law School and were likely present on the land for thousands of years.
Our hike continued into the woods behind the Law School. From 1863 until 1963, the prominent Duke family owned this land. The Dukes were white slaveholders. The patriarch, Colonel Richard Walter Duke, Sr., was an officer in the Confederate military, a member of the US House of Representatives, and a UVA Law alumnus.[1] His son also graduated from UVA Law.[2]
During the Civil War, Confederate troops wintered in the Duke family’s woods. Parts of the University were used as a field hospital for Confederate war casualties. However, on March 3, 1865, the Union army captured Charlottesville. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within the Confederacy “are, and henceforward shall be free”[3] meant freedom for the enslaved peoples of Charlottesville, including those held in bondage by the Duke family. Many formerly enslaved people left Charlottesville with the advancing Union army. Due to poor recordkeeping, we are unable to determine what ultimately happened to many individuals enslaved by the University and prominent slaveholders in Charlottesville. We do know that the Duke family’s chef ended up working as a private chef in New Jersey.
The Duke family home still exists, intact, on the Rivanna Trail. The ironically named “Sunnyside Residence” is now used as admin housing for the University, although it is currently unoccupied. It apparently is still in good condition, and if it has a washer and dryer, it’s already better than my apartment.[4]
Our second-to-last stop was the ruins of the old Albemarle County Poorhouse, which stood from 1809 until 1870. At the time, the Poorhouse was perhaps the most diverse space anywhere in America. All those deemed by the state as unable to take care of themselves (the poor, the very young, the elderly), regardless of race, would have all lived in these housing complexes. Not much remains of this era except a few stacked brick walls and the government’s continued marginalization of the economically disadvantaged.
Our final stop was the former Charlottesville barbecue grounds. I was surprised to learn North Grounds used to host multiple high-profile barbecue clubs from the 1860s until the 1930s. The Duke family hosted the annual Cool Spring BBQ Club, an elaborate, all-day event for prominent members of the Charlottesville community. (Mostly Black) chefs would braise and cook the meat with a mixture of salt and vinegar and slow roast it over coals. If I go into any more detail while writing this article, I will cave and order Zaxby’s for dinner, and my wallet cannot afford it.
The Dukes also hosted BBQ events for fellow UVA Law alumni and those associated with the university. My favorite part of the tour was the photos Randi and Addie passed around to the group. One of these photos depicts Henry Martin, the long-time university bell ringer and head janitor of UVA. Born enslaved in 1826 at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Martin was one of more than 4,000 enslaved people who built the University of Virginia. Martin worked for UVA from around 1868 until his retirement in 1909. He became one of the most recognizable parts of UVA daily life at the time.
As a descendent of enslaved persons myself, I struggled with deciding to attend the University of Virginia. UVA is the flagship university, built with enslaved labor, of the same state that enslaved ancestors on my father’s side of the family. The University has a long way to go to address its historical connection to the institution of slavery, the “hideous blot”[5] supported by our university’s own founder, Thomas Jefferson. The UVA President’s Commission on Slavery published the University Report less than five years ago.[6] In a sense, the North Grounds tour (and my writing this article) is my own effort to process attending the University of Virginia.
I highly encourage everyone to check out these sites themselves on the Rivanna Trail, which is easily accessible from the parking lot behind the Law School. For those interested in learning more about Henry Martin, PBS Newshour recently covered an exhibit featuring his portrait on Main Grounds.[7] Randi also teaches a course on this subject called “Race and Slavery at UVA North Grounds,” cross-listed with the Department of History. The University plans to offer it again in spring of 2024.
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tqy7zz@virginia.edu
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Thomas_Walker_Duke.
[2] I guess legacy admissions were a thing even back then.
[3] https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation.
[4] Seriously, I don’t have a washer and dryer.
[5] https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/jefferson-s-attitudes-toward-slavery/.
[6] https://slavery.virginia.edu/.
[7] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/images-of-black-life-black-joy-are-immortalized-in-historic-charlottesville-portraits.