Harvard University is reckoning with the university’s longstanding ties to slavery, exposing a legacy tangled up with the exploitation of enslaved people. The Harvard Legacy of Slavery initiative has come under fire in recent days. Dr. Cellini, the lead researcher, estimates that he was fired for uncovering the university’s ties to slavery. Harvard’s new wealth came in large part through a network of donors tied to the Caribbean’s plantation economy, the University’s report acknowledges. It acknowledges the university’s connections to the trafficking of formerly enslaved Africans.
In a comprehensive 2022 report, Harvard’s presidential committee made multiple recommendations, including the identification of living descendants of those enslaved by university affiliates. The initiative has found more than 900 people enslaved by professors and administration. Even more importantly, it has proven as many as 500 direct descendants of those people. These revelations reveal a very dark part of the university’s legacy. Hundreds of enslaved people worked on the campus buildings and were owned by some of the most important figures in American history, like presidents and professors.
The historical importance of these discoveries goes far beyond the university’s campus. The Isaac Royall Jr. estate in Medford, Massachusetts, serves as a particularly evocative reminder of Harvard’s colonial legacy. This estate became tied to the original enslaver who endowed the professorship. Cicely, a 15-year-old indentured servant of Rev. William Brattle, is buried in the Old Burying Ground adjacent to Harvard Yard. Her grave reminds us of the personal toll of this legacy, for Brattle was a powerful and consequential treasurer of Harvard College.
Uncovering the Past
To say the work that Cellini and his crew did—having dug through as many as 340,000 people’s genealogical records—was painstaking is putting it lightly. They worked alongside American Ancestors, a premier genealogical institute, to map the lineage of those enslaved by Harvard affiliates. Despite the challenges and lack of political will, this collaborative effort led to important victories and establishment of stronger restrictions, with great impact.
Cellini expressed concern over the handling of the project, stating, “I asked for guidance, and the answer was that she didn’t know.” Stakeholder concerns This uncertainty further stoked the fears among stakeholders and the public about what the project would ultimately recommend, and the impact of those recommendations. Cellini said there was a deep-seated fear about how many descendants they would find. “At one point, the fear was expressed that if we found too many descendants, it would bankrupt the university,” he remarked.
Despite these challenges, Cellini and her team had incredible success in finding descendants. Bleich, another member of the initiative’s team, explained that there had been no official order keeping the number of recognized descendants small. “The university never issued a directive to him to limit the number of direct descendants that could be identified through the work,” Bleich said.
Controversy and Dismissal
Unfortunately, last spring, that same initiative came under extreme fire. Two committee professors recently resigned, alleging that Harvard was seeking to “dilute and delay” the committee’s outreach to descendants. Their resignation led to national outcry and some hard questions about whether or not the university was serious about confronting its historical transgressions against humanity.
Cellini’s dismissal took many of those invested in the initiative by surprise. Sir Ronald Sanders, the Antiguan ambassador to the United States, has expressed his dismay at Harvard’s announcement. We were shocked … startled … appalled, after hearing the news of Cellini’s firing. We have been waiting to see a response,” admitted the spokesperson for Antigua on their correspondence with the university.
The fallout from Cellini’s sudden departure has produced confusion and uncertainty among stakeholders about the future of the initiative. Lloyd, one of the project members, admitted uncertainty about how to proceed: “I just don’t know where to begin.”
The Way Forward
As Harvard faces its troubled past, they are not alone, nor should they be. Over 100 universities across the world are currently researching their connections to slavery. Among these institutions, only about five have expressed a firm commitment to doing genealogical research in order to identify living descendants.
These recent exchanges between Harvard and officials from Antigua illustrate that even when relationships have been marred by historical injustice, there is hope for cooperation. A spokesperson for Antigua stated, “We would not expect a cash payment from Harvard; so well-endowed a university with expertise in a number of areas can be helpful to our country.”
Cellini is the first to admit that their work doesn’t go nearly far enough. As for the rest, he estimates that continued research will bring as many as 10,000 living descendants to light. “This is by far the hardest job that I’ve had,” Bleich remarked, underscoring the emotional weight and complexity involved in uncovering these histories.