Background
In the fall of 2018, the Faculty Senate of The University of Alabama unanimously passed a resolution calling for the University to “establish a formal commission to investigate the history of race, slavery, and civil rights on our campus, to publicize and to share the results, and to make recommendations for a comprehensive and responsible plan for curating, teaching, and promoting sustained dialogue on the history of The University of Alabama.”
In response to this resolution, The University of Alabama Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion convened a task force in 2019. The task force consists of faculty, staff, and graduate students from various colleges with interest and expertise in the histories of slavery, race, and civil rights, and the subjects of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through a series of meetings from 2019 forward the task force held various teach-ins, created a research working group to focus on UA’s history pre-1865, hired a postdoctoral researcher to examine UA’s connections to race and civil rights post-1865, and explored affiliation with the University of Virginia-led Consortium for Universities Studying Slavery.
In January 2024 The University of Alabama officially joined the Consortium for Universities Studying Slavery. The task force continues its work.
Contact Us
The Task Force can be contacted by emailing legacies@ua.edu. We welcome all questions, suggestions, and feedback about the histories of Race, Slavery, and Civil Rights at The University of Alabama. Please include your name and any information you wish to share and we will respond as quickly as possible.