Beginning in 1995, Yonni Chapman began to compile the histories of numerous spaces around the campus to explore “the celebration of slavery, the Confederacy, and white supremacy that is embodied in the names of university buildings and its most prominent public monument, ‘Silent Sam.'” One of these spaces, Ruffin Residence Hall, is named for Thomas Ruffin and Thomas Ruffin Jr., both “wealthy slave owners in Orange County, state Supreme Court Justices, and university trustees.”
Beginning in 1995, Yonni Chapman began to compile the histories of numerous spaces around the campus to explore “the celebration of slavery, the Confederacy, and white supremacy that is embodied in the names of university buildings and its most prominent public monument, ‘Silent Sam.'” One of these spaces, Ruffin Residence Hall, is named for Thomas Ruffin and Thomas Ruffin Jr., both “wealthy slave owners in Orange County, state Supreme Court Justices, and university trustees.”
Organization: Freedom Legacy Project
Space Use: Dormitory and Housing
Spatial Organizing Approach: Contestation
Date Created: 1921
Campus Space: Saunders Hall
Citation: Fess Up Silent Sam Fact Sheet in the John Kenyon Chapman Papers #5441, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.