With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Student group opposes Harvard Law seal, citing slavery ties


Some students at Harvard Law School want the school to change its official seal, citing its ties to an 18th-century slaveholder.

The seal depicts three bundles of wheat, an image borrowed from the family crest of Isaac Royall Jr. It is meant to pay tribute to Royall, a wealthy merchant who donated his estate to create the first law professorship at Harvard University, just before the university established the law school.

But Royall made much of his wealth through the slave trade, and his family owned dozens of slaves at its Massachusetts house, which is now a museum.

Read entire article at The Boston Globe