Resources

Salem Academy and College Resources

Hidden Town Project

Old Salem Museums & Gardens has begun a groundbreaking initiative called the Hidden Town Project to research and reveal the history of a community of enslaved and free Africans and African Americans who once lived in Salem, North Carolina. These histories involve the complicated use of slavery and enslaved people to build the town and their contribution to the mercantile prosperity of Salem. The Hidden Town Project will track the effects and legacy of enslaved people from the inception of Salem itself in 1766 through the Jim Crow Era and into the 21st Century. Since 2018, the Hidden Town Project has benefitted from the research support of volunteers and interns, including Salem College undergraduates and a Salem Academy student.

Read more about Hidden Town (link under construction)

Universities Studying Slavery

The Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium, created and led by the University of Virginia, represents a multi-institutional collaboration focused in sharing best practices and guiding principles about truth-telling projects addressing human bondage and racism in institutional histories. Member schools are all committed to research, acknowledgment, and atonement regarding institutional ties to the slave trade, to enslavement on campus or abroad, and to enduring racism in school history and practice. USS hosts semi-annual meetings to discuss strategies, collaborate on research, and learn from one another. Membership now includes more than seventy academic institutions, including Elon University, Meredith College, Hollins University, University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, Harvard University, and Georgetown University.

Read more about Universities Studying Slavery

Similar Work at Other Institutions

Wake Forest University - The Slavery, Race, and Memory Project

Hollins University - Working Group on Slavery and its Contemporary Legacies

  • The Working Group on Slavery and its Contemporary Legacies is charged by the university’s President with continuing to research and educate the public about Hollins University’s historical connections to enslavement and the contemporary legacies of slavery on campus, within the neighboring historic Hollins community, and throughout the Greater Roanoke Valley.

The College of William & Mary - The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation

  • The Lemon Project is named for Lemon, a man who was once enslaved by William & Mary. The Lemon Project is a multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary through action or inaction. This project focuses on contributing to and encouraging scholarship on the 300-year relationship between African Americans and W&M, and building bridges between the university and Williamsburg and Greater Tidewater area.

Georgetown University - Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation

  • Georgetown University is engaged in a long-term and ongoing process to more deeply understand and respond to the University’s role in the injustice of slavery and the legacies of enslavement and segregation in our nation. The Working Group submitted its report and recommendations to the University President in the summer of 2016.