Invisible Founders: How Two Centuries of African American Families Transformed a Plantation into a College

Sweet Briar College's transformation from a plantation to a private women's college in 1906 was enabled by African American labor, despite the college not integrating its student body for sixty years. Invisible Founders challenges our ideas of what a college founder is and restores African American narratives to their central place in the story of the institution.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 14 June 2019
Publisher: Berghahn Books

Literary and metaphorical excavations at Sweet Briar College reveal how African American labor enabled the transformation of Sweet Briar Plantation into a private women's college in 1906. This volume tells the story of the invisible founders of a college founded by and for white women. Despite being built and maintained by African American families, the college did not integrate its student body for sixty years after it opened. In the process, Invisible Founders challenges our ideas of what a college "founder" is, restoring African American narratives to their deserved and central place in the story of a single institution — one that serves as a microcosm of the American South.

The college's founders were African American families who built and maintained the institution, yet it did not integrate its student body for sixty years after it opened. This book challenges our understanding of what a college founder is and restores African American narratives to their rightful and central place in the story of a single institution, which serves as a microcosm of the American South.

Through literary and metaphorical excavations, Sweet Briar College's history reveals how African American labor played a pivotal role in transforming the Sweet Briar Plantation into a private women's college in 1906. This volume explores the untold story of the invisible founders who laid the foundation of a college initially established for and by white women. Despite being built and sustained by African American families, the college remained segregated for sixty years after its inception. Invisible Founders challenges our conventional notions of college founders and restores the narratives of African Americans to their rightful place in the narrative of a singular institution, serving as a microcosm of the American South.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789202311