Digital Exhibits

These exhibits introduce visitors to important topics relating to slavery and freedom at Miami University and in Oxford, Ohio. As preliminary investigations they offer critical context to the connections to slavery and the lived experiences of African Americans who lived on and around the Oxford campus between 1809 and 1877. The exhibits are organized around the Miami and Slavery project's five central but interconnnected themes: 

• Enslavers, the Enslaved, and Free African Americans
• Early Black Workers at Western and Miami
• Black Life in Oxford 
• Namesakes: Memory, Memorialization, and Buildings
• Students, University Leaders, and Campus Life

Together, these digital exhibits explore  the University’s founding history, bringing into view the longer, overlooked history of African American presence, contributions, and experiences at Miami and in Oxford.  

Note on Sources

Sources for the exhibits are primarily housed in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections and University Archives at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The documents curated here are part of over 3,900 pages of material identified  and digitized by participants in the yearlong, "Slavery, Freedom, and the Midwest" Humanities Lab as relating to the broader study of slavery at Miami University and Western College.  The full "Miami and Slavery Research Digital Collection" can be explored through Miami University Libraries' Digital Collections. To learn more about how to conduct research on slavery at Miami consult the "Primary Source Guide for Slavery Research at Western College and Miami University."