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Pipe found near possible slave remains at UGA

By Sophia Choi, WSB-TV
By Sophia Choi, WSB-TV

CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — Activists are outraged after seeing a picture of a pipe on top of remains found on the University of Georgia Campus.

Experts say most of the remains likely belonged to slaves.

Channel 2's Sophia Choi obtained the photo from a source.  UGA confirmed its authenticity.

“The pipe goes through the legs. They were mistreated as slaves, and now they are mistreated in death," said Fred Smith with the Athens-area Black History Committee.

UGA released a statement to Choi saying in part: “The pipe in the photo is a terra cotta pipe for storm drainage that was installed when Baldwin Hall was originally built in 1938 or expanded in the early 1940s. This discovery was reported to the state archeologist's office. The university did not publicize photos such as these from the excavation because to do so would have been macabre and disrespectful.”

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“The disrespectfulness is the non-disclosure,” said activist Marcus Coleman. “We’ve got construction laid on top of the bones of ancestors. It speaks volumes."

Coleman is now asking for a possible change at the university saying, “I honestly think we need to look at the leadership and the reason why they didn’t disclose this. There might be a need for a change in leadership.”

UGA discovered the remains of 105 people during the expansion of Baldwin Hall in November 2015.  The remains were reinterred earlier this month, during what the university calls a respectful ceremony at Oconee Hill Cemetery.

“They had no respect for the remains, and as a black person, they had no respect for me,” Smith said.

Coleman echoed that sentiment saying, “It seems kind of disingenuous. It seems kind of hypocritical to have that kind of service without disclosing the fact that you found piping that is literally running through the bones of my ancestors.”

Cox Media Group

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