Extracts from RG 154 University of Alabama Faculty Minutes, 1831-1841
From the inaugural meeting to the destruction of campus, University of Alabama faculty played a significant role in the institution of slavery on the campus. They established official regulations pertaining the labor and movement of enslaved "servants." Some, like Horace Pratt, rented out their enslaved laborers to the University. Others employed enslaved laborers in their research. As a body, they placed requested enslaved laborers for implementing repairs of building, constructing furniture for the faculty rooms and other buildings, and to complete any services deemed necessary. When the University apologized for slavery in 2004, the Faculty Senate also acknowledged its role with a separate apology.
Below are some selections contained in the three volumes covering roughly the first decade of the University.
At the first meeting of the Faculty, October 3-4, 1831, volume 1 (1831-1835), the By-laws of the Faculty are established. In the first and ninth resolutions, the Faculty provide the guidelines for the enslaved college servants.
University of Alabama
By-laws of the Faculty
At a meeting of the Faculty on Monday and Tuesday the 3rd and 4th of October 1831, all the members present the following Resolutions were proposed by the president and adopted.
1. Resolved that no Student shall have or use, on the premises of the University, any spirituous or vinous liquor, or weapons or arms of any kind, or gunpowder, or keep a servant, horse, or dog, or bring any stick into a public college room, or in such a room to use tobacco in any way, or to be covered without permission of the Officer present....
9. Resolved – That no female servant be permitted for any reason whatsoever, to enter any of the College buildings; and should any student be found countenancing in any way a violation of this regulation, he shall be dealt with as the nature of the offence [sic] may require.
At October 31, 1831 meeting, volume 1 (1831-1835), Faculty outline the expectations and general duties of enslaved servants.
Resolved – That the throwing out of the College windows any kind of filth or dirty water, be strictly forbidden, and that the students be expected to furnish every sleeping room with a chamber vessel which shall be emptied every morning by the college servant.
Resolved – That the following be the duties of the College servants besides ringing the bell and sweeping daily the recitation rooms and the two entries in each dormitory, they shall perform the following services in the dormitories: make fires every morning, sweep the private rooms, make beds, carry out dirty water from the bed chambers and furnish the students with clean water and on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to brush their shoes.
At February 1, 1834 meeting, volume 1 (1831-1835), Faculty discuss the students who board with the Steward and dining hall facilities have access to a servant.
Resolved, that students who wish to board with the Steward, shall form themselves into companies not exceeding ten, in each, and give in their names and companies to the Steward; and that each company shall be accommodated with a distinct and separate table; and should any damage or loss occur at any a table, it shall be charged to the author or authors, when known, otherwise to all the mess at that particular table; and finally that a servant be provided for each table, and that no student shall at any times sit at a table to which he does not belong.
Resolved, that it be particularly enjoined upon the Steward to report promptly to the Faculty every instance of improper conduct at the dining hall; and especially any instance of a student coming into the hall at meal time, who has been dismissed there from by the steward of Faculty.
W. W. Hudson, Sec. Fac.
At August 17, 1835 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty announced an advertisement regarding tuition and admission process for the 1835-1836 academic year.
…The session of 1835-36 will commence on the 3rd Monday of October. Tuition is $40 for the College year, to be paid, in all cases, in advance. This, however, includes Study room, fuel, and servant. Those who receive but tuition are charged $30. By a regulation recently adopted all students boarding with the College Steward, are required to pay their board six months in advance, and present to the Secretary of the Faculty certificate of the same before admission. On the 3rd Monday of October then the tuition for the year, and $50 for board will be required; and six months afterwards i.e. on the 3rd Monday of March, the board for the balance of the session amounting to little less than $50 will be required, in order to continuance at the University.
At December 10, 1835 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty authorize repairs in the Laboratory.
…Resolved, That the following repairs may be to wit, the eastern door of the cellar of the Laboratory, with its embankment; that payment be made to Arthur, for two drawers in the Laboratory; that the Professor of Chemistry be authorized to have one grate repaired and a new one put up in his room.
At April 3, 1837 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty chastised Henry Elmore, a student, for improperly punishing a college servant. His apology and signed pledge is noted in the volume.
Resolved the Henry M. Elmore be admonished for the impropriety of his conduct in undertaking to chastise a college servant employed under the direction of the Faculty, and that he be required to sign the following acknowledgement.
I hereby acknowledge the impropriety of my conduct in assuming and exercising the right to chastise a college servant for his manner of performing a duty for the performance of which his was accountable only to the Faculty, and may I hope the Faculty will overlook this impropriety on my assuring that the for the future, I will avoid all violation of the rules of the University as well as the rules of general propriety and demeanor.
At December 31, 1838 meeting, volume 3 (1838-1841), Professor Horace Pratt requested that William complete carpentry work at the university. Regulations for college servants are reiterated.
Repairs of Garden Fences: Prof. Pratt was requested to desire his carpenter to make an estimate of the probable costs of repairing the garden fences.
Duties of the College Servants: The following were prescribed as the duties of the college servants attending, on the dormitories.
To carry fuel to the rooms, to make fires, to make the beds, to sweep the rooms daily, twice in a year to scour the floors, once in April and once in the summer vacation; and to carry water to each of the rooms once a day between the first October and the first of May, and twice a day between the first of May and the first of October.
Additional services to be perquisites: Any services beside those herein enumerated performed by the college servants, shall be their own proper perquisites.
Students to not send servant away: No student shall be at liberty to send a college servant on any errand from the University during the day.
At January 1, 1841 meeting, volume 3 (1838-1841), Faculty authorize the continued employment of former Prof. Horace Pratt’s enslaved carpenters William and Peter.
The President was authorized to draw from the Treasury all moneys subject to the order of the Faculty.
The Faculty agreed to take for the present year, the two following named man servants, to attend to the colleges: William, belonging to Miss Mary Drysdale; and Peter, belonging to the estate of the late Professor Pratt the [1 word illegible] of him to be determined, after the ordinary rates of him for the year, shall have established.
Source: RG 154 - Faculty Minutes, 1831-1841, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
Below are some selections contained in the three volumes covering roughly the first decade of the University.
At the first meeting of the Faculty, October 3-4, 1831, volume 1 (1831-1835), the By-laws of the Faculty are established. In the first and ninth resolutions, the Faculty provide the guidelines for the enslaved college servants.
University of Alabama
By-laws of the Faculty
At a meeting of the Faculty on Monday and Tuesday the 3rd and 4th of October 1831, all the members present the following Resolutions were proposed by the president and adopted.
1. Resolved that no Student shall have or use, on the premises of the University, any spirituous or vinous liquor, or weapons or arms of any kind, or gunpowder, or keep a servant, horse, or dog, or bring any stick into a public college room, or in such a room to use tobacco in any way, or to be covered without permission of the Officer present....
9. Resolved – That no female servant be permitted for any reason whatsoever, to enter any of the College buildings; and should any student be found countenancing in any way a violation of this regulation, he shall be dealt with as the nature of the offence [sic] may require.
At October 31, 1831 meeting, volume 1 (1831-1835), Faculty outline the expectations and general duties of enslaved servants.
Resolved – That the throwing out of the College windows any kind of filth or dirty water, be strictly forbidden, and that the students be expected to furnish every sleeping room with a chamber vessel which shall be emptied every morning by the college servant.
Resolved – That the following be the duties of the College servants besides ringing the bell and sweeping daily the recitation rooms and the two entries in each dormitory, they shall perform the following services in the dormitories: make fires every morning, sweep the private rooms, make beds, carry out dirty water from the bed chambers and furnish the students with clean water and on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to brush their shoes.
At February 1, 1834 meeting, volume 1 (1831-1835), Faculty discuss the students who board with the Steward and dining hall facilities have access to a servant.
Resolved, that students who wish to board with the Steward, shall form themselves into companies not exceeding ten, in each, and give in their names and companies to the Steward; and that each company shall be accommodated with a distinct and separate table; and should any damage or loss occur at any a table, it shall be charged to the author or authors, when known, otherwise to all the mess at that particular table; and finally that a servant be provided for each table, and that no student shall at any times sit at a table to which he does not belong.
Resolved, that it be particularly enjoined upon the Steward to report promptly to the Faculty every instance of improper conduct at the dining hall; and especially any instance of a student coming into the hall at meal time, who has been dismissed there from by the steward of Faculty.
W. W. Hudson, Sec. Fac.
At August 17, 1835 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty announced an advertisement regarding tuition and admission process for the 1835-1836 academic year.
…The session of 1835-36 will commence on the 3rd Monday of October. Tuition is $40 for the College year, to be paid, in all cases, in advance. This, however, includes Study room, fuel, and servant. Those who receive but tuition are charged $30. By a regulation recently adopted all students boarding with the College Steward, are required to pay their board six months in advance, and present to the Secretary of the Faculty certificate of the same before admission. On the 3rd Monday of October then the tuition for the year, and $50 for board will be required; and six months afterwards i.e. on the 3rd Monday of March, the board for the balance of the session amounting to little less than $50 will be required, in order to continuance at the University.
At December 10, 1835 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty authorize repairs in the Laboratory.
…Resolved, That the following repairs may be to wit, the eastern door of the cellar of the Laboratory, with its embankment; that payment be made to Arthur, for two drawers in the Laboratory; that the Professor of Chemistry be authorized to have one grate repaired and a new one put up in his room.
At April 3, 1837 meeting, volume 2 (1835-1837), Faculty chastised Henry Elmore, a student, for improperly punishing a college servant. His apology and signed pledge is noted in the volume.
Resolved the Henry M. Elmore be admonished for the impropriety of his conduct in undertaking to chastise a college servant employed under the direction of the Faculty, and that he be required to sign the following acknowledgement.
I hereby acknowledge the impropriety of my conduct in assuming and exercising the right to chastise a college servant for his manner of performing a duty for the performance of which his was accountable only to the Faculty, and may I hope the Faculty will overlook this impropriety on my assuring that the for the future, I will avoid all violation of the rules of the University as well as the rules of general propriety and demeanor.
At December 31, 1838 meeting, volume 3 (1838-1841), Professor Horace Pratt requested that William complete carpentry work at the university. Regulations for college servants are reiterated.
Repairs of Garden Fences: Prof. Pratt was requested to desire his carpenter to make an estimate of the probable costs of repairing the garden fences.
Duties of the College Servants: The following were prescribed as the duties of the college servants attending, on the dormitories.
To carry fuel to the rooms, to make fires, to make the beds, to sweep the rooms daily, twice in a year to scour the floors, once in April and once in the summer vacation; and to carry water to each of the rooms once a day between the first October and the first of May, and twice a day between the first of May and the first of October.
Additional services to be perquisites: Any services beside those herein enumerated performed by the college servants, shall be their own proper perquisites.
Students to not send servant away: No student shall be at liberty to send a college servant on any errand from the University during the day.
At January 1, 1841 meeting, volume 3 (1838-1841), Faculty authorize the continued employment of former Prof. Horace Pratt’s enslaved carpenters William and Peter.
The President was authorized to draw from the Treasury all moneys subject to the order of the Faculty.
The Faculty agreed to take for the present year, the two following named man servants, to attend to the colleges: William, belonging to Miss Mary Drysdale; and Peter, belonging to the estate of the late Professor Pratt the [1 word illegible] of him to be determined, after the ordinary rates of him for the year, shall have established.
Source: RG 154 - Faculty Minutes, 1831-1841, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.