John Winn
Lt. Colonel
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2014
- Location
- State of Jefferson
Not exactly Civil War but close:
The Richmond University (in Richmond, Virginia) has re-named the T.C. Williams School of Law because T.C. owned some slaves. The school was named for him because, in 1870, he gave the university $25,000 to keep the school afloat (that's half a million in today's dollars). The Williams family were big-time philanthropists and funded a number of large civic projects (they having made millions in tobacco).
T.C. was my paternal great grandfather's brother. And no, I wasn't a trust fund baby because my great grandfather decided to become a Baptist minister and not go into the family business with his brothers. Great grandpa did inherit valuable property from his father but sold it all and used the money to buy a Baptist newspaper in Saint Louis which, I think, ended up mostly a labor of love as he was far from wealthy when he died. Oh, and great grandpa was a Confederate chaplain in several hospitals in Richmond so there's a CW link.
While I consider such re-namings to be a form of presentism I'm not angry about it but am disappointed T.C. has been erased from memory by the school he saved.
The Richmond University (in Richmond, Virginia) has re-named the T.C. Williams School of Law because T.C. owned some slaves. The school was named for him because, in 1870, he gave the university $25,000 to keep the school afloat (that's half a million in today's dollars). The Williams family were big-time philanthropists and funded a number of large civic projects (they having made millions in tobacco).
T.C. was my paternal great grandfather's brother. And no, I wasn't a trust fund baby because my great grandfather decided to become a Baptist minister and not go into the family business with his brothers. Great grandpa did inherit valuable property from his father but sold it all and used the money to buy a Baptist newspaper in Saint Louis which, I think, ended up mostly a labor of love as he was far from wealthy when he died. Oh, and great grandpa was a Confederate chaplain in several hospitals in Richmond so there's a CW link.
While I consider such re-namings to be a form of presentism I'm not angry about it but am disappointed T.C. has been erased from memory by the school he saved.
Bringing the