UGA to try to make amends after slave remains controversy

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia is trying to make amends after some people got upset about how they handled slave remains.

Crews found the remains of 105 people during a construction project on the UGA campus in 2015.

The remains, individually boxed, were reinterred in nearby Oconee Hill Cemetery - where many of Athens' most prominent citizens of the 19th and 20th centuries are buried - under a "stately granite marker" at a March 20 ceremony.

The announcement from the university didn't include the words slave or slavery.

UGA's plans angered many in Athens' black community, outraged at what they considered disrespectful treatment of people who had died as slaves. There has also been concern that no one had bothered to ask people who might be the descendants of those slaves what they thought should happen.

"They're being placed close to their white masters again," said an angry Fred Smith, co-chairman of the Athens Black History Council.

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A second stage of university-sponsored research will be coordinated by UGA’s Vice President for Research David Lee. The continuing research will build upon what they know now to understand better how the people lived and what their connections were to the Athens community, including any ties to slavery, a university spokesman announced.

President Jere W. Morehead said, “We hope this next step in the research process will lead to a more complete story of who these individuals were, how they lived, and how they came to rest on the Baldwin Hall site.”

There is a public discussion set for 2 p.m. Saturday on the campus.

Cox Media Group