Explore how the US funded land-grant universities with expropriated Indigenous land: http://landgrabu.org 

I'm excited to launch a new project today with @highcountrynews @pulitzercenter @fundFIJ, and support from @mapbox. part of the amazing work by @Bobby_L33, @tahtone ++

We hope it will augment and support the epic story in HCN's April issue and what we hope will be further reporting and exploration on this topic – a historical injustice with deep consequences for the present day.

This project came together quickly. We started work at the beginning of the year and had mockups done in mid-February. Thanks to the herculean efforts of Cody Leff ( http://codymleff.com ) this is live today. We welcome your comments and suggestions as we work to refine it.

Moreover, as @tahtone
and @Bobby_L33
write, "Our data challenges universities to re-evaluate the foundations of their success."

We also hope you will share stories of your own as you explore the ~80,000 land parcels across the US with a little-discussed history. As it turns out, my story is one of them. My home sits atop a piece of land... https://www.landgrabu.org/lands/wa330250n0040e0sn280aseny

...that was obtained by the US through an 1855 treaty with the Duwamish and Suquamish people. It, along with parcels like it, were granted to different states, and then to universities. Mine was granted to Cornell University. https://www.landgrabu.org/universities/cornell-university

Why? Was Cornell going to use the land? After all, they just built an NYC campus after a competition with @Stanford and @MIT. But in the 1850s it was all about money. Selling the "scrip" – rights to the land, to raise cash for a new school. Cornell opened 3 years after the grant.

By 1850s, ahem, I mean 1860s. It's a long time ago. Abraham Lincoln himself signed the legislation for the Morrill Act, which enabled states to fund universities with newly gotten land. That money helped build endowments that are now in the 100s of millions to billions of dollars