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Harvard University Expands Partnership with American Ancestors in Support of Slavery Remembrance Program

Harvard University has expanded its existing partnership with American Ancestors, a national center for family history, heritage, and culture, and the oldest genealogical nonprofit in America. As part of the next phase of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative, American Ancestors – which has been conducting the genealogical research on behalf of the University to identify those who were enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff, and those who are their direct descendants – will now take the lead role in advancing the work of the initiative’s Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program.

American Ancestors’ partnership on the Remembrance Program research was established in 2022 following the release of the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery. The University accepted the recommendations and began the work to “identify the direct descendants of enslaved individuals who labored on Harvard’s campus and of those who were enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff.”

“American Ancestors is recognized globally for the thoughtfulness and rigor of its research efforts, and we are excited to expand what has been a strong collaboration in support of our goals,” Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said. “Over the last two and a half years, we have made important progress toward fulfilling the recommendations of the Presidential Committee, and we look forward to the expertise and skill with which American Ancestors will continue to build on the foundation we laid in 2022.”

Building on the important groundwork laid by the Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program, American Ancestors will continue the program’s work of identifying Harvard leaders, faculty, or staff who enslaved others and will significantly expand its own ongoing work of identifying the individuals who were enslaved and perform genealogical research to locate their living direct descendants. As this research moves forward, the University is positioning itself to be able to engage with direct descendants identified through these efforts.

Records of family lineage created from this work will also be used to engage with descendant communities and will help inform other aspects of the Initiative’s ongoing work. The University will also donate these records to the 10 Million Names project, a collaborative initiative led by American Ancestors that is dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America.

“In this expanded role, American Ancestors is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of professional genealogical research to uncover the identities of individuals enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff, and to document their descendants,” said Ryan J. Woods, President and CEO of American Ancestors. “We understand from our extensive experience that tracing families descended from enslaved individuals is a complex, time-intensive process filled with significant challenges. We are committed to advancing this critical research to help Harvard establish meaningful connections and engagement with living descendants.”

“Thanks to the extensive work they have already done on the genealogies of enslaved people, American Ancestors brings an exceptional ability to scale the enormous effort the university has ahead of it,” said Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Advisory Council member, director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies, and the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, who also serves as an Honorary Trustee of American Ancestors and a member of the Advisory Board for 10 Million Names. “The University takes seriously the thoughtfulness and care that will go into engaging with living direct descendants, and that engagement will be based around rigorous and thorough research this partnership will advance in literally rebuilding family histories.”

The expansion of the partnership with American Ancestors coincides with other steps Harvard has taken as it looks to the next phase of the overall work of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative. The Initiative has recently identified three core priority areas for the work ahead, which are:  memorialization and education, supporting descendant communities, and advancing partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). These priority areas build on work done over the last two years that  has established partnerships and programs driven by the recommendations outlined in the report. In September, the Initiative announced the appointment of a new Advisory Council, made up of faculty, including eminent historians, from across the University and local leaders that are helping guide the next phase of implementation.

“In just over two years, we have taken significant steps to advance the mission of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative,” said Sara Bleich, vice provost for special projects and the leader of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative. “Our partnership with American Ancestors has been and will continue to be absolutely critical to this progress, and we are thrilled that they are taking on this expanded role to advance the research.”

Since establishing the Remembrance Program under the leadership of Richard Cellini, an attorney and researcher, the University has been able to lay a foundation and build the initial infrastructure to make important progress on the research and work. With this expanded partnership, American Ancestors will now build on this foundation as work moves forward into the next phase.

“Richard Cellini’s superb efforts launched us on our way on this historically important mission, and now it is time for American Ancestors to take the lead in what will be a systematic, scholarly sustained effort to establish the facts about this dark chapter in our university’s history, and begin the long journey of healing,” said Professor Gates. “We are indebted to Richard for his early guidance and his ambitious leadership.”

American Ancestors is a national center dedicated to the study of family history, heritage, and culture that serves 433,000 members and subscribers, and hosts a website featuring 1.4 billion searchable family names. The nonprofit organization’s Boston-based headquarters are home to the Brim-DeForest Library, the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, and the Family Heritage Experience, an exhibit-based journey of discovery that will open in April 2025.

More information on the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative can be found on the H&LS webpage.