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Commemorative Site for Enslaved and Exploited People PROJECT BACKGROUND  Davidson College is a liberal arts institution dedicated to cultivating humane instincts and disciplined, creative minds. Our community touchstone is the Reformed Tradition of the Presbyterian Church, a tradition rooted in the belief that all lives are valuable, equal, and deserving of dignity.  Founded in the American South in 1837, less than thirty years before the Civil War, Davidson College recognizes our participation in slavery and responsibility for the pain and mistreatment of enslaved and exploited people throughout our history.  In 2017, Davidson College embarked on a study of our institution’s...

McKendree Robbins Long (American, 1888-1976)The First Angel Sounds his Trumpet, 1968Oil on canvas14 x 49 inGift of Milton Bloch McKendree Robbins Long was born not far from Davidson in Statesville, NC in July of 1888. He completed two years of school at Davidson College before beginning his art education in 1908 at the Art Students League in New York. There, he was awarded an opportunity to study in Europe, and he spent the next few years in London studying painting. In London, Long was baptized for the second time and renewed his Christian faith, which would become a heavy influence...

Liên Trương’s artist talk on September 9th, 2021 about her exhibition Liên Trương: From the Earth Rise Radiant Beings was a whirlwind. I furiously took notes as she weaved together histories, art styles, and conceptions of war and life and loss. It was almost haunting to be surrounded by the years of collected stories of oppression, suffering, and resistance that are present in Trương’s works. There is a collective spirit within them. They transcend imperialist narratives and speak to transnational identities — especially ones of Asian and Asian-American experiences — that have been erased, suppressed, and redefined over and over...