Washington University in St. Louis Becomes Latest School to Join Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Team!

The first week of May in 2021 has us abuzz here at Universities Studying Slavery (USS) headquarters. We welcomed the University of Delaware this week and today, we shift to the Trans-Mississippi west as Washington University in St. Louis joins the consortium, becoming the second school in St. Louis, Missouri, to sign on.

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is excited to join the consortium of Universities Studying Slavery. Its project initially titled WashU & Slavery grows out of a broader university commitment to deepening contributions to the study of race, ethnicity and equity, and thereby helping to forge an equitable and just future for our city, our nation, and our world.

 WashU & Slavery is based in the newly established Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity(CRE²), and is led by an organizing committee and working groups of faculty, administrators, alumnae, and other stakeholders. Building WashU & Slavery through CRE² will support integration across the institution, interdisciplinary project design, and links to the strategic efforts of the center and other campus and community partners.

The initial phase of WashU & Slavery emphasizes foundational research into the entanglements of its institutional history and the history and legacy of slavery, beginning with the school’s founding in 1853. Student research in project-aligned course, an open research and collections workshop, and close partnership with the university libraries, archives and museum will generate an informed, sustainable, and impactful initiative.

Over the next two years the project will build foundational research, further organize and contextualize relevant collections in the university archives, libraries, and museum, create a digital project infrastructure, and host an array of campus and public engagements. For more information and project updates please visit WashU & Slavery.

Please welcome Washington University in St. Louis to the Universities Studying Slavery (USS) movement!