The Columbia University and Slavery project explores a previously little-known aspect of the university’s history–its connections with slavery and with antislavery movements from the founding of King’s College to the end of the Civil War.
Pulitzer Prize-winning History Professor Eric Foner led a research course in spring 2015 on the role of slavery in Columbia’s early history. At the end of that semester, Foner’s class of undergraduates presented their findings to both their professor and Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger. From those discussions, the Columbia University & Slavery project was initiated to draw on further research to be conducted by faculty and students. Student work was continued in the spring 2016 course under Thai Jones, lecturer in the Department of History, with the resulting student and faculty research added to this website.
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