Universities Studying Slavery at SIUE
The Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Consortium is a group of over 100 universities focused on “sharing best practices and guiding principles as they engage in truth-telling educational projects focused on human bondage and the legacies of racism in their histories.” Member institutions “are all committed to research, acknowledgment, education, and atonement regarding institutional ties to the slave trade, to enslavement on campus or abroad, and to enduring racism in school history and practice.” Collaboration among consortium members includes:
- Educate generations of university students in innovative ways about the legacies of slavery and racism
- Promote collaboration among institutions examining histories of slavery and racism.
- Promote reconciliation practices as institutions seek to move beyond acknowledgment and atonement to working towards equity in the present.
- Create and sustain multi-university collaborations addressing systemic reconciliation and repair.
Because of its founding in 1957, unlike many member institutions, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville does not have direct institutional ties to slavery and the slave trade. However, this does not mean that SIUE does not have racism in its history or no connection to slavery. The St. Louis/Southern Illinois region has a long history of enslavement and racial inequality; as a regional leader, SIUE feels compelled to investigate, educate, and advocate for truth-telling on the legacies of racism in the region and beyond.
USS Initiatives at SIUE
- Participation with local organizations and institutions in a St. Louis Black Heritage Trail group who are working to document and mark sites of African American history in the St. Louis region
- Participation with The Reparative Justice Coalition of St. Louis and the Equal Justice Initiative to mark sites of lynching in the St. Louis region, as part of this initiative, USS SIUE will lead research on the site of the David Wyatt lynching in Belleville, IL
- Supporting student research projects examining the racial history of SIUE, the land where SIUE sits, and the Edwardsville, IL area
- Student trips connecting African American history with current conditions
Long-Term Goal
Establish a lab for student digital humanities projects produced by student research cohorts/pods
Community Remembrance Project: Belleville, Illinois
USS SIUE will lead research on the site of the David Wyatt Lynching in Belleville, Illinois. As a member of The Reparative Justice Coalition of St. Louis and through collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative, USS SIUE seeks to mark the site of David Wyatt’s lynching, as a part of a broader regional initiative to mark sites of lynching in the St. Louis region.
