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Research traces enslaved, incarcerated and skilled Black labor in Tennessee State Capitol construction
Summary
Jeff Sellers presented primary-source evidence—payrolls, contracts and census records—showing enslaved, free Black, and incarcerated workers performed quarrying and skilled stonemasonry on the Tennessee State Capitol. Sellers said new research and a recent House joint resolution help memorialize those laborers.
Jeff Sellers, director of education at the Tennessee State Museum and State Capitol, told the Nashville conference that primary documents—contracts, payroll sheets, and census records—show a broader, more complex workforce built Tennessees Capitol than previously acknowledged. "This contract ... agrees to furnish the committee with 15 able-bodied ... men at $18 per month and their overseer $30 per month," Sellers read from an 1845 contract that identifies the paid labor structure and records enslaved and subcontracted…
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