On August 20, 2020, historian Kyla Sommers, author of the dissertation “‘I Believe in the City:’ The Black Freedom Struggle and the 1968 Civil Disturbances in Washington, D.C.,” and Tony Gittens, director of the Washington, DC International Film Festival, who was a student at Howard University in 1968, discussed the similarities and differences between the […]
From the 17th century to the 21st, enslavement—even when it took place outside of Massachusetts—shaped the province and the state in significant ways. It was and has been central to creating wealth: family fortunes, institutional endowments, and public budgets in Massachusetts have benefited from its spoils. This panel explores the Commonweath's connections to slavery and […]
This annual event is inspired by the original 1969 Freedom Seder, where hundreds of people of all backgrounds gathered to explore and celebrate freedom in the context of the Civil Rights Movement on the third night of Passover and the one-year anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. Typically an in-person event at the Museum on Independence […]
A short history of how the Confederate battle flag acquired its many meanings: pride of the Confederate fighting man and symbol of his memory, emblem of white supremacy and racial terror, an icon of regional identity, and a vessel for culture war politics today.
There has been much debate since the release of the 1619 Project - this learning resource sets aside partisan politics and asks students to explore both sides of the issue and draw their own conclusions.
Did the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution give all people the same rights? This might be a children’s story, but there are a lot of interesting questions to consider here - and ways for you to add your voice.
On April 13, 2015, Rep. John Lewis, congressman and civil rights activist, gave the keynote address at Monticello's Founder's Day ceremony. After the ceremony, Lewis discussed his visit and what it meant to be awarded the 2015 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Citizen Leadership.
Interested in the debate about Confederate monuments in the United States? Check out this guide designed by the Atlanta History Center which offers resources about researching different monuments. You'll learn how to better understand who erected the monument, when, and why, in order to inform thoughtful discussions.
Join us on Tuesday, June 15th at 1 pm for a livestream celebrating Juneteenth, the national holiday commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States, with Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. Dr. Gordon-Reed will discuss her new book, On Juneteenth, a story that blends personal essays and historiography to speak to the significance of […]
Monticello's Director of African American History Niya Bates discusses the descendants of Monticello's enslaved community and their struggle over generations to make real the promises of the Declaration of Independence.
Monticello Guide Sam Saunders looks at the life of enslaved personal servant Israel Gillette Jefferson and shares the momentous events in his life, such as the passing of Thomas Jefferson, his subsequent sale and separation from his first wife and children, and his move as a free man to Ohio where he became a deacon […]
In June 2020, members of The Yale Historical Review (YHR) founded The 1701 Project, an initiative on racial injustice and social change. Although unrelated, we draw inspiration from Nikole Hannah-Jones and her colleagues’ examination of slavery’s legacies in The 1619 Project. The 1701 Project (a nod to the year of Yale’s founding) analyzes our university’s […]