It’s been some time since I joined the Yale and Slavery Research Project team back in 2021. I worked as the lead researcher of the 17th and 18th century (1600-1800) team. We found much of the information regarding Yale’s connection to slavery, including how the University benefitted from the labor and profits of the sales of enslaved Africans and enslaved New England Native Americans.

Below are a few updates on what Yale University is beginning to do in response to the research finding. I say “beginning” because Yale is, and has been, one of the most powerful institutions in the state of Connecticut. And, Yale graduates have been some of the most powerful politicians and leaders in the United States of America. Historically, the University’s faculty, students, and donors have supported slavery during the colonial period, slavery in the antebellum South, and slavery in the British Caribbean. Additionally, some men connected to the University also supported the American Colonization Society, an organization which pushed free African Americans to go back to Africa because they were “unfit” for life in the United States. Lastly, it is also worth noting that Yale University supported the “Lost Cause” myth/narrative, which contributes to people in the present day continuing to believe that the Civil War was not about slavery. A few “initiatives” in 2024 are not going to cut it.

Yale has far more to do to redress its harms against the African American and Native American communities they have hurt for over several centuries. In a time when DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) efforts are being gutted across the country, Yale University needs to lead and maintain opposition to continuing attacks on Black and Brown students and communities.

A brief quote from the University’s statement on their acknowledgment of how Yale benefitted from the enslavement of Africans and the enslavement of New England Native Americans.

“…we recognize our university’s historical role in and associations with slavery, as well as the labor, the experiences, and the contributions of enslaved people to our university’s history, and we apologize for the ways that Yale’s leaders, over the course of our early history, participated in slavery. Acknowledging and apologizing for this history are only part of the path forward. These findings have propelled us toward meaningful action to address the continued effects of slavery in society today.”

– https://yaleandslavery.yale.edu/university-statement

How does this translate to Yale’s efforts in real life and not just on paper?

A few of Yale University’s Actions and Commitments in response to the Yale and Slavery Research Project‘s findings:

1. Expanded collaboration with and contributions to HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).
2. Creation of the Pennington Fellowship – a new scholarship that supports New Haven high school graduates who attend one of Yale’s partner HBCU institutions.
3. Funding and support for K-12 teachers in Connecticut.
4. Conferred M.A. Privatim degrees, or honorary master’s degrees, to Reverend James W. C. Pennington (c. 1807-1870) and the Reverend Alexander Crummell (1819-1898). Two African American men who attended Yale in the 19th century, but the University did not allow them to register formally for classes or matriculate for a degree.
5. Creation of a walking tour of people and places connected to Yale and slavery available in the form of an app for both iPhone and Android devices.

The full website for the Yale & Slavery Research Project is available here.

The digital edition of Yale and Slavery: A History, a book about the findings of the Yale and Slavery Research Project‘s, authored by award winning historian David W. Blight, is available to read online or to download for free.

Links To More Information On:

• How Yale University benefitted from slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• The American Colonization Society, as well as corresponding efforts by the British Empire to remove people of African descent primarily from Great Britain, Jamaica, and Canada.
• The “Lost Cause Narrative”, also known as the “Lost Cause Myth.”
• How Anti-DEI Efforts Hurt: “students of color, LGBTQ+ students, military veterans, people with disabilities, those from rural areas or from low-income families, and older adults who work and might have their own children.”
• “Confronting Controversies about America’s Past.”