Statue of Abraham Baldwin

By artists Donald Haugen and Teena Stern

Commissioned by the Alumni Association and erected in 2011

Abraham Baldwin was an American politician, and Founding Father. He also founded and served as the first president of the University of Georgia, which he modeled after his alma mater, Yale. This statue stands at 7 feet, 6 inches tall, and sits atop a base made from a slab of Georgia marble. It stands in front of Old College in the heart of the original campus layout, which we now call North campus. The project was commissioned by the UGA Alumni association and was erected in 2011.

Abraham Baldwin was one of only two Georgians to attend the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he fought hard for states’ rights. This included his view that involvement in the slave trade should be determined by each individual state and not be abolished federally. UGA presents itself as a diverse, inclusive community where students of all ethnicities can pursue quality higher education, and to ignore the pro-slavery aspects of Abraham Baldwin’s beliefs, along with his establishment of UGA as an originally all-white institution does not support this message. This is why, despite being a topic that the University of Georgia often tries to distance itself from, it is an important one that deserves to be remembered and brought to contemporary discussion. What is one way you think UGA should address statues and buildings commemorating figures with controversial backgrounds?