Ending slavery in America required so much more than official declarations and battlefield victories. Freedom gets built up over time—through a billion tiny, everyday acts. It’s there in the chance to enlist and fight for a cause. It’s there in the effort to reunite families torn apart by the cruelty of slave trading. It’s there […]
Stone on Stone: Sing Sing Stories lets you experience and learn about the extraordinary history of Sing Sing. We’ve curated six digital galleries of historic images, recordings, readings and video for you to explore. Also, for the first time, you can experience the historic 1825 Cellblock as well a 19th century prison cell in 3D.
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.
Slavery is fundamental to the American story. Monticello is simultaneously a place to remember, a place to mourn, and a place to inspire change. How can Monticello’s duality – the pain and beauty of one of America’s best-studied and preserved plantations – advance a national dialogue on race? What is the role of cultural monuments […]
The conflict isn’t over after the the war in 1865. How do Americans reconcile with the weight and cost of the war while trying to reunify the nation and welcome people who have a newfound citizenship?
At the American Civil War Museum, we see the complex, messy, and multifaceted history the monuments on Monument Avenue represent. Ultimately, history is never static, but always present. Each generation asks different questions of the past, and each generation finds different answers to make sense of the world it occupies. Our generation is no different. […]
How could the author of the Declaration of Independence own slaves? How did the Founders’ failure on slavery stunt the American Dream? What are some of the key lessons from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s? Ed Ayers, Marian Wright Edelman, Annette Gordon-Reed, Deborah McDowell discuss with Peter S. Onuf.
The SCHOOL SAGAS oral history program interviews students of formerly segregated institutions. Senior citizens remember the upheaval of desegregation, and current students describe continuing divisions. Their stories trace society’s triumphs and discord by looking at the schoolhouse—where we cheer and learn together, where the gap between textbook “equality” and real world implementation is on display.
The 1701 Project is a venture led by The Yale Historical Review (YHR) that analyzes our university’s and our nation’s racist histories. Although not affiliated with The 1619 Project, we draw inspiration from Nikole Hannah-Jones and her colleagues’ examination of slavery’s legacies in the New York Times. In June 2020, we launched an ongoing program […]
How did people around the United States feel after the death of President Abraham Lincoln? What did they say? Ford’s Education examines primary sources to reveal how individuals reacted to a time of uncertainty following Lincoln’s assassination—with a lot of parallels to today. Appropriate for anyone who wants to take a tour of the U.S. […]
In this activity, you will examine the impact of westward expansion and settlement on Native American communities following the Civil War. You will explore a variety of documents to get a sense of the issues faced by Native Americans due to settlement and U.S. Government Indian policy.
Every chapter in the history of criminal justice and incarceration in the United States has a few pages written about Sing Sing Prison. The 1825 Cellblock is a rare example of the architecture of confinement. Despite many attempts to demolish this monumental landmark, the massive stone walls have survived.