Abolition Lab Manifests Itself Through Lectures

Knox Students Learn about the US-Dakota War

Yuchen Wang Staff Writer

Knox College is a school of less than eleven hundred students. Yet its history goes back more than one hundred years, and the founder, as well as the first several presidents and trustees were involved in the underground railroad during times of slavery. Knox also contributed significantly to progressive changes during the 19th century. One of the first Black students in Illinois: Barnabas Root, and the first Black senator in the United States: Hiram Revels both graduated from Knox. This year, an opportunity to commemorate these historical events was awarded to Knox by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in the form of a $1.2 million grant. This grant is funding research and learning opportunities related to historical justice, in the form of the Abolition Lab. The projects funded will focus on the theme of Abolition – a core value of the college since it was founded.

“Our goal is to get students to think differently about the humanities disciplines, make classes more hands-on and immersed in the community, as well as making learning more accessible through new tools and technologies,” Post Doctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities Dr. Jennifer Andrella said.

Dr. Andrella is in charge of this project, along with seven faculty members headed by Associate Dean Danielle Fatkin. Departments such as the Knox Library, Vovis Center, and Kleine Center will all have involvement with the project as well.

Two key parts of the project will be exploring abolition with a strong focus on the college’s founding and encouraging students to develop skills relating to researching archives, as well as learning about abolition in the 21st century to raise awareness of social justice issues to students.