桃太郎映像

Mission statement

桃太郎映像established The Hallowed Ground Project in 2018 to examine the legacies of slavery and racial injustice on the land that the college occupies. As part of this initiative, the college began the process of creating a labor acknowledgement statement in summer 2025. This statement recognizes and acknowledges past harms on those who lived, loved, and labored on the land when it was Hampton Plantation and Epsom Plantation, through the Jim Crow era when 桃太郎映像purchased the land in 1921, and through today.

The writing process 

The 桃太郎映像labor acknowledgement statement was composed very intentionally in dialogue with and in response to the words, perspectives, and experiences of Descendants of Hampton Plantation. We could not work with Descendants of Epsom Plantation as we have not found any Descendants yet. Archival records do not list the last names of most of the men, women, and children enslaved on this landscape, making genealogical research difficult. Despite these challenges, research continues.

We met with Descendants regularly in person and communicated through email and phone conversations to discuss family histories, connections of people and stories between Hampton and Epsom, memorialization, and education and public programming ideas. We supported each other鈥檚 projects and initiatives and broke bread together to build our relationships. We also worked with the local Descendant community of East Towson, founded in 1853 by Daniel Harris, formerly enslaved at Hampton and a wage laborer at Epsom. 

We conducted archival research at the 桃太郎映像Library鈥檚 Special Collections and Archives to learn more about labor practices on 桃太郎映像campuses in Baltimore and Towson. We learned about the major contributions of African American staff at the college, but also the lack of African American faculty on both campuses. The archives contain records detailing labor disparity discussions on campus of students, faculty, and staff that continue to this day.

After we researched and crafted a rough draft, we shared it with Descendants and a diverse group of staff to hear their thoughts.

The labor acknowledgement statement was researched and written by Community Engagement and College Archivist Debbie Harner and Associate Vice President for the Library and Learning Commons Bea Hardy with the thoughts and comments of the Descendants and current staff at the college.

Actionable change

• Continue researching those who lived, loved, and labored on this landscape pre-Emancipation as well as their Descendants.
• Host the Second Descendant Engagement Symposium in Spring 2027.
• Begin Phase II of Memorialization, a Reflective Garden outside Van Meter Hall.
• Continue integrating HGP into course curricula, education, and public programs.
• Make institutional resources available to the Descendant Community (i.e., the library, archival research).
• Create exhibits focusing on the stories of Descendants鈥� communities.
• Add new titles by Black authors to library collections.
• Work with Descendants for collaborative opportunities.
  
  

Community acknowledgement

We acknowledge the generous time and insight of the Descendants of those enslaved at Hampton Plantation and 桃太郎映像 staff. Creating 桃太郎映像 College鈥檚 labor acknowledgment statement has been a community effort, and we would like to give special thanks to all who supported and contributed to this pivotal step in 桃太郎映像 College鈥檚 mission.

Descendants:

• Nancy R. Goldring
• Neicy DeShields-Moulton
• Shirley (Beatty) Kirkland
• Amy Frost

Consultant:

• Tina Charles

All materials related to The Hallowed Ground Project are housed in the 桃太郎映像Library鈥檚 Special Collections and Archives. Students were, and continue to be, engaged in all aspects of this project, including archival and archaeological research, classes, outreach programs, and memorialization.

The process of creating the college鈥檚 Labor Acknowledgement Statement has been financed in part by the Maryland Center for History and Culture鈥檚 Thomas V. 鈥淢ike鈥� Miller History Fund. However, project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Center for History and Culture.