UM Faculty Present Research at Universities and Slavery Conference

Harvard gathering allows scholars to share findings and pursue collaborations

A rendering of the University of Mississippi campus in the 1860s, created by group member and graphic designer Deborah Freeland based on research findings. Submitted photo

OXFORD, Miss. – Members of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group shared their ongoing research at the Universities and Slavery: Bound by History conference earlier this month at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

Universities from around the world attended the conference, including representatives from Stanford University and the universities of Alabama, Cape Town, South Carolina and the West Indies.

The UM Slavery Research Group is exploring the history of slavery on the Oxford campus. Last fall, the group partnered with an archaeology course to conduct an on-site excavation on the grounds of Rowan Oak, formerly the Sheegog estate, to find evidence of slave life.

“I came away realizing that we’re ahead of a lot of people around the country as far as research,” said Chuck Ross, the group’s co-chair and UM director of African-American studies. “A lot of other universities are surprised at what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

Jeff Jackson, associate professor of sociology and the group’s other co-chair, said he and Ross were invited to an invitation-only workshop because of their ongoing research. The workshop was designed as an information-sharing session for campuses involved in slavery research.

“As representatives of the University of Mississippi, we are very fortunate to be invited to such a prestigious and historically significant event,” Jackson said. “It was this workshop that allowed us to discuss partnerships: some already existing, as we are already a member of UVa’s Universities Studying Slavery Consortium, and some that we hope to pursue further.”

Jackson and Ross are seeking possible collaborations with other scholars and universities, including Columbia University, because of the shared history of Frederick A.P. Barnard, who served as chancellor at UM and president at Columbia; and Clemson University and the University of Alabama, because of similar research exploring slavery’s relation to Deep South universities.

“We hope by collaborating, we can pull these resources together,” Ross said.

The Slavery Research Group already has discovered the names of several slaves who worked on the UM campus, identified several buildings used as living space for slaves and servants from the 1850s to 1890s, and recovered original maps of campus, Oxford and Lafayette Country during this era.

“One of the strengths of our UM Slavery Research Group is its interdisciplinary makeup,” Ross said. “Several disciplines and areas of interests are represented which allows us to have diversity in our perspectives, research interests, strategies and ideologies.”