A university dug for a building and found its own grave.
On November 17, 2015, construction on Baldwin Hall on the University of Georgia campus came to a halt when workers uncovered human remains on the site. DNA tests revealed what many local residents already knew to be true: these were the remains of formerly enslaved people. This uncovering and the events that followed have forced the often-omitted histories of slavery and segregation to rise to the surface, both at the University of Georgia and in Athens. “Below Baldwin”, featuring Fred Smith, Linda Davis, Alvin Sheats, Linda Lloyd, Mariah Parker, Broderick Flanigan, and others, chronicles the series of events between November 2015 and December 2019. But more than that - this documentary showcases a community’s persistent efforts to connect to its past and to win recognition and redress – for both past and present injustices.
Direction
Lavine lets community voices lead, never exploitative.
Editing
Four years compressed into urgent, present-tense storytelling.
Director
Joe Lavine
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Baldwin Hall sits on the former site of Athens' Old Athens Cemetery, where segregated Black burial grounds were routinely built over—a pattern repeated across American universities.
Director Joe Lavine was a UGA student when construction began; the film grew from his journalism thesis, making this essentially student investigative work that shamed institutional silence.
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