The Birth of a Movement
The University of Virginia President’s Commission on Slavery and the University (PCSU) in 2014, after conversations and consultation with members of our National Advisory Board who had participated in earlier institutional efforts at Brown University, Emory University, southern human rights commissions, and the College of William and Mary, sought to ensure that their work would not end with their commission nor remain siloed at a single school. They decided to create an organization that would effectively institutionalize and perpetuate that important cross-institutional learning in a more powerful way. To achieve that, the PCSU in 2015 established “Virginia’s Colleges and Universities Studying Slavery (VCUSS),” a consortium dedicated to collaborative research on the historical relationship between Virginia’s institutions of higher education and human bondage.
This informal working group initially consisted of scholars representing the University of Virginia (PCSU), The College of William & Mary (The Lemon Project), Washington & Lee University, Sweet Briar College, and Roanoke College. The initial goal was to include any schools that have active research agendas addressing their specific relationships to slavery and/or their historical reliance on enslaved laborers to build and maintain their campuses.
The group, however, quickly expanded. As UVA reached out to other Virginia schools, it became clear that there was significant statewide interest. The consortium rapidly grew to include Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, Hampton University, Virginia Union University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia University Lynchburg, Longwood University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). The scholarly enthusiasm for truth-seeking research projects, however, was not limited to Virginia.
In December 2015, after a teach-in at Georgetown University that included UVA PCSU Co-Chair Kirt von Daacke, UVA decided that there was a great opportunity to reach well beyond Virginia’s boundaries while also creating a more formal organization. The group was expanded and renamed “Universities Studying Slavery,” and since then has been open to any school contemplating launching an investigation into slavery and/or racism at the institution. The demand has been impressive.
By 2017, the University of North Carolina, the University of Mississippi, Hollins University, Clemson University, Dalhousie University, the University of the South (Sewanee), and the University of South Carolina had launched programs and joined the consortium. Dalhousie University’s joining also highlights Universities Studying Slavery’s success in expanding to include schools from across the United States, from Canada, and beyond (England, Scotland, Ireland, Colombia).
The growth of USS has continued well beyond 2016. Rutgers University and Wake Forest University joined in early 2017. They were followed by Brown University (frankly the institution that inspired all of us to begin our work–they were the pioneers back in 2003), Furman University, Wesleyan College, and Davidson College. By spring 2018, the consortium had grown to include forty schools in the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland. Increasingly after 2018, schools expanded their research, with schools examining different histories, including slavery, Native deculturation and removal, scientific racism, and segregation. By 2024, well over one hundred schools had joined and launched research and education programs. USS has now become an exciting opportunity to engage with ongoing efforts both nationwide and internationally. We welcome inquiries and participation from any interested higher education institution.