Dartmouth to dig into its past to aid future

Students to help Ivy League college reckon with history

CONCORD, N.H. — As educational institutions across the country wrestle with their ties to slavery, Dartmouth College is taking a closer look at the darkest corners of its own history.

The college plans to launch a “historical accountability” project this summer, which aims to better understand how marginalized groups have been treated since the college was founded in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock.

The institution will award fellowships to three undergraduate students to research the college’s historical record. Another team of students will work with faculty to map the archives and figure out ways to incorporate Dartmouth’s history into the college’s curriculum.

“We want to dig into the past that we’re not as proud of, but that shaped this place and created the culture that is still present,” said Jay Satterfield, head of the special collections library at Dartmouth.

The program drew inspiration from other institutions coming to terms with their past. Among the first to do so was Brown University, which exposed its past link to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in a 2006 report.

Four years ago, the Ivy League school celebrated its 250th anniversary and presented a slavery memorial that evoked a ball and broken chain, fashioned from castiron, sinking into the earth.

Dartmouth is approaching the same milestone next year, which was one of the inspirations for taking a closer look at the school’s troubled history.

Wheelock was a congregational minister from Lebanon, Conn. His legacy lies in having carved the original campus out of the New Hampshire wilderness and teaching Native American students.

But according to Morgan Swan, with the Rauner Special Collections Library, some archival discoveries could highlight the role Wheelock’s slaves played in building the original campus and how Dartmouth strayed from its mission to educate Native Americans.