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Harvard makes amends for erasing African Americans from history


Aiming to confront present-day vestiges of long-ago slavery at the University, Harvard officials today celebrated some of the people whose lives and toil remained invisible for so long, dedicating a plaque to four colonial-era slaves.

“Today we take an important step in the effort to explore the complexities of our past and to restore this painful dimension of Harvard’s history to the understanding of our heritage,” said President Drew Faust during the ceremonial unveiling of a stone plaque at Wadsworth House before a distinguished audience of officials, faculty, and invited guests.

Affixed near Wadsworth Gate, the plaque memorializes Titus, Venus, Bilhah, and Juba, four slaves who lived and worked in Wadsworth House and were owned by Harvard presidents Benjamin Wadsworth and Edward Holyoke during the 1700s.

Read entire article at Harvard Gazette