College of Charleston coming to terms with its role in slavery. A documentary is one step.
Four enslaved laborers — Tom, Mudrey, Cuffy and Peggy — almost certainly helped build the College of Charleston’s majestic Randolph Hall, which sits at the heart of the campus.
We know this because research shows that a barrel-maker and ice house manufacturer bought them from builder William Bell in 1829 just before Randolph Hall (at the time called College Hall) was completed. Bell likely had little use for them at that stage of the project, and their carpentry skills were deemed valuable to the barrel and ice house makers.
Back then, the college campus was limited to the Cistern Yard and surrounding structures. Other enslaved people participated in the construction of the school, as scholar Barry Stiefel is now discovering. At least one college president, Jasper Adams, was a slave owner. Records show he purchased a woman named Nancy and her daughter Sara Ann in 1829.
