Mondays at Beinecke: Early Black Students at Yale with Jennifer Coggins and Charles Warner, Jr.

Zoom webinar registration: https://bit.ly/3S9Cxww

A talk in conjunction with new exhibition at the New Haven Museum, “Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery,” curated by Michael J. Morand with Charles E. Warner, Jr., and designed by David Jon Walker. The exhibition will be on view at the museum, 114 Whitney Avenue, from February 16. It is presented by Beinecke Library, Yale University Library.

The exhibition complements publication of the new book “Yale and Slavery: A History” and draws from the Yale and Slavery Research Project’s key findings. The exhibition has a special focus on stories of Black New Haven, including early Black students and alumni of Yale, from the 1830s to 1940.

“Shining Light on Truth” presents evidence of the essential role of enslaved and free Black people in New Haven and at Yale. It celebrates Black resistance and community building. And it illuminates knowledge kept alive in archives and memory for more than three centuries—even when the dominant culture chose to ignore, bury, or forget.

Coggins is Community Engagement Archivist at Beinecke Library. She has been a leader in the research, writing, and finding images of early Black students for the new exhibition at the New Haven Museum and for use in future digital humanities and other projects.

Warner is a graduate of Morehouse College and works with the New Haven Public Schools. He chairs the Dixwell Church History Committee, is a member of the Yale and Slavery Working Group, and is a Beinecke Community Engagement Fellow. Warner is Chairman of the Connecticut Freedom Trail, a collection of 160 sites and institutions throughout Connecticut, related to the history of slavery, abolition, Black history.

Mondays at Beinecke online talks focus on materials from the collections and include an opening presentation at 4pm followed by conversation and question and answer beginning about 4:30pm until 5pm.