Spring Break Round-Up
Critical University Studies at Boston University; reckoning at the McDonogh School; live talk about Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Afro-American.
Colleges played a role in deciding who was educable and who wasn’t, and in maintaining the justifications and arguments for slavery and the dispossession of native peoples — Craig Steven Wilder
We’re on spring break this week so it’s a good time to catch you up on various goings-on at Hard Histories.
Critical University Studies at Boston University
The Lab at Hard Histories team just returned from Boston University’s conference “Critical University Studies: Legacies of Slavery and Settler Colonialism.” Highlights included a keynote from MIT’s Dr. Craig Steven Wilder (author of Ebony & Ivy) which demonstrated how slavery and settler colonialism remained intertwined in the long past of US universities. Proceeding were not recorded, but you can get a great sense of the discussions by browsing the hashtag #BUCUS2022 over at Twitter.
Reckoning Begins at the McDonogh School
Since December 2020 when Johns Hopkins announced its founder’s connections to slaveholding, we’ve watched as local institutions have faced their own pasts. Most recently, in nearby Owings Mills, Maryland, the McDonogh School community gathered to consider the slaveholding of its namesake during a March 2nd event, “New Understandings of American Slavery and John McDonogh.”
From their website: “Rob Young ‘86, President of McDonogh’s Board of Trustees, set the stage for the program stating, “Here’s the truth — John McDonogh made his money buying and selling slaves. That money, in accordance with his will, was used by the City of Baltimore to create McDonogh School in 1873, nearly 23 years after his death.” He continued, “While John McDonogh never set foot on campus, his legacy is inextricably part of ours, just as slavery is inextricably part of America’s story, both then and yes— today.””
We’re Live Monday, March 28 - on line - Talking Historical Perspectives from the Baltimore Afro-American
Register here for a Hard Histories at Hopkins for a virtual discussion with Dr. Kim Gallon and Savannah Wood about the important work of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper (the AFRO), and its coverage of Black culture, politics, and commentary in the city. Who tells the news? What stories and voices are reported on and amplified, and from which lenses? This panel discussion will address these questions and more, mindful of The Baltimore Sun’s recent apology for its historical coverage of Black people in the area. Dr. Kim Gallon studies the literary culture that developed on the pages of the AFRO. Savannah Wood, an artist and Executive Director of Afro Charities, works with the AFRO to maintain and expand access to its archive. Wood and Gallon will be in conversation with Dr. Martha S. Jones, Hard Histories’ project director. Their conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A.
— MSJ