The Medford Historical Society and Museum presents the program “African American, Native American, and Afro-Native Histories of Medford: An Introduction to the Initiative on Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies at Tufts.” This roundtable will feature five of the historians and scholars behind the newly founded university initiative at Tufts to explore the history of slavery and colonialism within and beyond Medford: Kerri Greenidge, and Kendra Field, Tufts Associate Professor; Heather Curtis, Tufts professor; Kyera Singleton, Tufts postdoctoral fellow and Executive Director of the Royall House & Slave Quarters in Medford; and John Hannigan, Tufts Archivist and Project Manager.

Founded in 2023, the Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies at Tufts (SCL) initiative explores the university’s historical ties to racial slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism in Massachusetts and across the Atlantic world, including the historic Black and Afro Native communities of Charlestown and Medford; the Universalist religious tradition upon which Tufts was founded and its relationship to slavery, anti-slavery, and social movements; and the long presence of African-descended and indigenous students on Tufts’ campus. The project builds upon years of work within the Tufts Archival Research Center, and the Tufts African American Trail Project, which maps African American and Afro-Native public history sites across Massachusetts. Registration is required through the library’s online calendar.