University of Georgia President Jere Morehead is authorizing up to $100,000 in funding for research regarding the role of slavery in the school’s past.
UGA issued a call for faculty research proposals to learn more about the role of slavery in the institution’s early development.
The initiative is supported by private funds and is intended to culminate in at least one, but possibly more, definitive, publishable histories on the topic.
The proposals should be focused specifically on documenting slavery in connection with UGA’s founding in 1785 through the end of the Civil War in 1855.
“As a research institution, it is the stated mission of the University of Georgia ‘to teach, to serve and to inquire into the nature of things,’” said President Jere W. Morehead. “This research initiative reflects that mission. The new scholarship that results will document the contributions of slaves and recognize the role these individuals played in the history of the University of Georgia.”
In November 2015, the remains of African-Americans, likely slaves, were discovered during work on the expansion of Baldwin Hall.
In May, the university made public a comprehensive report on the Baldwin Hall site submitted to the State Archaeologist’s Office. The 826-page report enhanced the record of the Old Athens Cemetery by including extensive archival research about the cemetery and the surrounding area.
The funded work should be completed by June 30, 2021.
