A public dedication ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday for the vessel, which will hold the hearth’s fire and be illuminated during ceremonial occasions throughout the year.
It’s unclear how many people the university enslaved, but historians have discovered the names of more than 100 people owned by the college or its employees and students.
Very little is known about some 180 enslaved persons who were owned, hired or associated with the College of William & Mary during its first 172 years. One of them was named Winkfield.