On October 23rd, 2025, over 700 hundred people gathered on the Davidson College campus between buildings built from bricks bearing the thumbprints of enslaved laborers for an October ceremony dedicating a new memorial in their honor. With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited serves as a place to remember and reflect upon those whose labor helped build the college and serve its students and faculty.
With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited was created by artist Hank Willis Thomas in conjunction with global architecture firm Perkins&Will. Thomas (b. 1976 Plainfield, NJ) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. He has permanent public artworks around the country, including The Embrace (2023) on the Boston Common in Boston, MA; REACH, (2023) made in collaboration with Coby Kennedy, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, IL; Duality (2023) at The Underline in Miami, FL; and The Truth is I Love You, at The Austin Public Library, Austin, TX. Additional permanent public artworks include Unity, in Downtown Brooklyn, NY; Love Over Rules in San Francisco, CA and All Power to All People in Opa Locka, FL.
Thomas designed the large bronze sculpture of two work-worn hands, while Perkins&Will developed the site design. The memorial sits prominently near Oak and Elm Row buildings, original college dorms built in 1836, just off Main Street.
The day of the dedication was a beautiful fall afternoon. Visitors from all over came together for an occasion that was both solemn and celebratory. They hugged family members, friends and former coworkers as well as students, faculty and staff. They paused for photographs, reminisced, and remembered. College President Doug Hicks opened the ceremony, followed by many speakers including Board President, the Honorable Anthony Foxx ’93, Malcolm Davis or Perkins&Will, Hank Willis Thomas, and Virgil Fludd ’80, who chaired the Special Committee on Commemoration.
If you were not able to to the attend the dedication, a video of the ceremony is below.
Honoring Black laborers at Davidson College, who were enslaved, exploited, and unacknowledged is a critical aspect of the memorial and the ongoing work by the college. If you would like to learn more about this work, read this article written by Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis.
There is an extensive photo album of the dedication thanks to News of Davidson here.
In conjunction with the dedication, the Galleries organized a solo exhibition of Thomas’s artwork entitled We The People. This exhibition presents a selection of diverse works in various media, offering a deeper look into the artist’s explorations of identity, history, and collective memory. It was on display until February 1, 2026. See the virtual tour and learn more about the exhibition here.
Here’s a round up of various stories about With These Hands : A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited are below. We will continue to add to this section
Davidson College unveils sculpture honoring enslaved people who built school from Charlotte Observer
With ‘Hands,’ Davidson College honors a painful past and embraces its future from WFAE
With These Hands from The Wilson Times
With These Hands: Memory, Art, and the Labor That Built a Campus from The Taborian
Memorial Brings the Unacknowledged into Davidson College’s Story from News of Davidson
With These Hands: In Conversation with Lia Newman from the Taborian
‘With Their Hands, This Place Was Made’: Davidson College Dedicates Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited by Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis, Davidson College