​Event Ponders Slavery’s Role in Colleges


by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
As dozens of colleges and universities delve into their imperfect pasts, one fact will remain—the slave economy was instrumental in the development and growth of higher education in this country.
But Craig Steven Wilder, a prominent scholar on the historical relationships between colleges and slavery, said by unblinkingly facing and embracing sins of the past, “there is a better story to be told” moving forward.
“There’s nothing in our archives that we need to be afraid of,” he said.
In a darkened Convocation Hall, lit only by large windows looking out onto gray skies and wind-whipped trees, Wilder spoke to a hearty crowd on March 26 about the impact of the slave trade on early colleges.
The Sewanee Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation sponsored the lecture, which was part of a series of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Slavery Project, similar to current historical undertakings at many other universities, is aimed at examining Sewanee’s ties to slavery, the Confederacy and the Antebellum South.
Woody Register, director of Sewanee’s project, said on March 27 that Wilder’s lecture was encouraging to the effort.
“What was especially galvanizing for us was Professor Wilder’s enthusiastic support of our project and his stated belief that we are engaged in important work, for our campus and for the larger and national project of understanding how essential slavery was to the history of higher education in this country,” Register said.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Wilder is a history professor, is also reconciling with its own past, he said. Wilder said it’s a past that includes endowments from slaveowners and capitalizing on engineering opportunities related to the slave trade, cotton production and the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.
The earliest colleges in this country relied on benefactors whose wealth was directly or indirectly due to slave trading and labor, and plantation owners and others who boasted slave labor, he said.
“In the business of education, slavery was a way out of financial ruin,” Wilder said.
In 1718, Welsh merchant Elihu Yale, an East India slave trader, donated 400 books, cash and a painting of George I to the Collegiate School in New Haven, Conn., Wilder said. School leaders renamed the school “Yale” in his honor.
Nicholas Brown, Sr., co-founder of the College of Rhode Island, which eventually became Brown University, was a slaveholder, and there were slave traders on the college’s board, Wilder noted.
The Revolutionary War devastated colleges and some such as Harvard, moved temporarily inland, away from the dangers of being in port cities. When the institutions moved, they wanted benefactors with slaves, who could help re-establish campuses and assist students and faculty.
“Colleges sought out towns with the largest concentrations of slaves,” Wilder said.
For Harvard, the oldest college in the country, that meant temporarily moving from the coast to Concord, Mass., where slavery was “ordinary,” Wilder said.
Despite the devastation, after the war, college growth exploded in this country and ties with the slave economy grew stronger, Wilder said. He noted there were 18 new colleges established between 1783 and 1800.
School trustees, presidents and leaders were clamoring for money from people who owned slaves, sold slaves and benefitted from slaves, especially those benefactors from the South.
Wilder cited an example of John “Jacky” Custis moving onto the campus of King’s College, which became Columbia University, with his personal slave in tow. Custis was the stepson of General George Washington and the college did everything it could to cater to the family, Wilder said, in an effort to gain favor with the wealthy planter class.
Princeton and other colleges also lobbied hard for southern men to come to school in the North and increased their relationships with those benefitting directly from the slave economy, he said.
William & Mary, the oldest southern college and second oldest college in the country, had trouble attracting students from its home of Virginia, in part because of aggressive recruiting by northern schools. Wilder noted that William & Mary promoted the evangelism of Native Americans to help with fundraising in Europe.
Register said Wilder’s historical insights were important in positioning Sewanee in context.
“In talking about the central importance of slavery to the development of colleges and academies after the American Revolution, Dr. Wilder placed Sewanee’s own history in the stream of higher education development in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,” Register said. “Our history is distinctive in important ways, but at the same time, as his lecture made clear, the solid foundation of the slave-based global economy of that period accounted for the dynamic growth of institutions from New England through the Mid-Atlantic to the Cumberland Plateau in 1856-1857, when the idea of a ‘Southern University’ took form and won the support of the South’s wealthiest planters and financiers—the billionaires of that day.”
For more information on the Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation, visit sewanee.edu/sewanee-slavery.
2024 March
2024 February
2024 January
2023 December
2023 November
2023 October
2023 September
2023 August
2023 July
2023 June
2023 May
2023 April
2023 March
2023 February
2023 January
2022 December
2022 November
2022 October
2022 September
2022 August
2022 July
2022 June
2022 May
2022 April
2022 March
2022 February
2022 January
2021 December
2021 November
2021 October
2021 September
2021 August
2021 July
2021 June
2021 May
2021 April
2021 March
2021 February
2021 January
2020 December
2020 November
2020 October
2020 September
2020 August
2020 July
2020 June
2020 May
2020 April
2020 March
2020 February
2020 January
2019 December
2019 November
2019 October
2019 September
2019 August
2019 July
2019 June
2019 May
2019 April
2019 March
2019 February
2019 January
2018 December
2018 November
2018 October
2018 September
2018 August
2018 July
2018 June
2018 May
2018 April
2018 March
2018 February
2018 January
2017 December
2017 November
2017 October
2017 September
2017 August
2017 July
2017 June
2017 May
2017 April
2017 March
2017 February
2017 January
2016 December
2016 November
2016 October
2016 September
2016 August
2016 July
2016 June
2016 May
2016 April
2016 March
2016 February
2016 January
2015 December
2015 November
2015 October
2015 September
2015 August
2015 July
2015 June
2015 May
2015 April
2015 March
2015 February
2015 January
2014 December
2014 November
2014 October
2014 September
2014 August
2014 July
2014 June
2014 May
2014 April
2014 March
2014 February
2014 January
2013 December
2013 November
2013 October
2013 September
2013 August
2013 July
2013 June
2013 May
2013 April
2013 March
2013 February
2013 January
2012 December
2012 November
2012 October
2012 September
2012 August
2012 July
2012 June
2012 May
2012 April
2012 March
2012 February
2012 January
2011 December
2011 November
2011 October
2011 September
2011 August
2011 July
2011 June
2011 May
2011 April
2011 March
2011 February
2011 January
2010 December
2010 November
2010 October
2010 September
2010 August
2010 July
2010 June
2010 May