The Tulane University History Project is a long-term effort to research and develop a detailed history of the University and its campuses, with respect to its racial history and founding, including the impacts from segregation and slavery. The history project will encompass a deep and rigorous historical study of Tulane University. It will cover the university’s founding as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 through the present day. The project will ultimately produce a nuanced, complex, and honest history of the university that engages its relationship with slavery, segregation and issues of racial equity.
The History Project was first announced by President Fitts in 2021 as part of A Plan for Now. Supported by the President’s Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, A Plan for Now encompasses current university initiatives that are helping Tulane become a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community for all. Tulane’s Strategy for Tomorrow builds on these efforts and guides future equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and anti-racism initiatives across the university.
The Tulane University History Project, housed in the Office of Academic Affairs and Provost, will be in conversation with these broader university EDI efforts. The project will acknowledge and build upon existing research and scholarship of faculty, staff, students, alumni and others who have engaged aspects of Tulane’s racial history. It will also explore new questions and pathways of learning that aid in producing a chronological biography of Tulane’s racial history.
The Tulane History Project will also be overseen by an advisory board co-chaired by Sally Brown Richardson, A.D. Freeman Professor of Civil Law and vice dean for Academic Affairs at Tulane Law School, and Halima Leak Francis, PhD, professor of practice and Public Administration Program director at the School of Professional Advancement. The advisory board includes a diverse group of faculty, staff, students, alumni, board members and other community stakeholders who will help advise the project.
To support this effort, Tulane has joined Universities Studying Slavery (USS), a collaborative international consortium of over 90 colleges and universities researching and documenting their institutional ties to the legacies of slavery and racism. Created and led by the University of Virginia, USS is a leading resource for universities to share best practices and guiding principles for efforts such as The History Project. The consortium also provides a framework for member institutions to work together to address both historical and contemporary issues dealing with race and inequality.
Taking an honest look at Tulane’s past is a necessary step in the university’s commitment to becoming a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive community. The Tulane University History Project will help Tulanians understand the institution’s past with an eye toward creating a guide to a better future.
