In the lab, faculty and students will collaborate with community members to explore Miami's connections to slavery and the experiences of African Americans who lived on and around the Oxford campus between 1809 and 1964. Teams will use university, local, and descendent family archives to examine the history of race and racism, free and enslaved African American labor, and their relation to Miami University.
Students interested in the lab are strongly encouraged to enroll in Professor Sutton’s Fall 2025 course, “The Black Midwest” (HST 350), as a prerequisite to HUM 320, which will run in Spring 2026. Lab members will contribute to a preliminary report on slavery and Miami University, which will summarize historical findings, provide recommendations for institutional responses and sketch future lines of inquiry. The lab will culminate in a symposium where students, faculty, and community members will share their findings, host workshops, and lead historical walking tours.
