I just received an email re: Harvard& #39;s plans to hire graduate students to continue the Harvard and Slavery research that I worked on for two years as the Harvard and Slavery Research Associate. Since Harvard thrives on obfuscation, let me speak clearly to anyone applying:
1) Your research will be a smokescreen for Harvard to say they are working on Harvard and Slavery, but you will not receive the resources and opportunities you need to be successful. Your cheap ($20/hr) labor will cover for Harvard& #39;s failure to invest in long-term sustainability.
2) Since 2007, Harvard has fobbed off this work on students rather than investing in the sort of faculty committees doing similar work at places like UVA, Wm&Mary, Georgetown, etc. Harvard has repeatedly refused to hold public events, or even create a stable website.
3) One of the tactics Harvard uses to stall is by cultivating an environment of perpetual newness. They pretend this is all brand new and you& #39;re starting from scratch. Don& #39;t fall for it! Make sure they show you all the work that& #39;s been done before before you replicate it!
4) You will be pressured to produce bad history. Right in the job posting it says they& #39;ll be asking for research on "Harvard& #39;s leadership." When I was writing the Harvard and Slavery report, I was pressured to include a section on abolitionists to make Harvard feel better.
5) They will retaliate if you talk about Reparations. After I submitted a letter listing possible reparative actions, I was excluded from further meetings — as in, the admins would meet to discuss my work and refuse to tell me the meeting time/place. They don& #39;t want to hear it.
6) You can do good and important work, but know what you& #39;re getting into. You& #39;re there to make Harvard look good. You will not be supported if you talk about reparations or Harvard& #39;s current actions.

Make sure you retain all rights to your work and that Harvard cannot bury it.
If you are a Harvard student applying for this job, I am happy to answer questions via DM.

@jmddrake @kenalyass @surliertexan @HarvardPDC @Free_Renty @DigitalHistory_
I& #39;m also willing to suggest other research projects not listed in the job posting, like:

- Harvard& #39;s collections of human remains

- dissections and the use of human remains as teaching tools

- Harvard& #39;s collection of nude anthropometric photos of students including WEB Du Bois
- eugenics at Harvard

- Harvard& #39;s current investments

- everything ever touched by Jeffries Wyman, founding curator of the Peabody Museum

- ongoing lawsuits against Harvard re: Harvard and Slavery

- research into Harvard& #39;s emotional investment in claiming abolitionist roots
I should specify here that the people at the Harvard Archives, as well as other archivists/librarians/faculty I worked with were helpful and eager to do real work. The problems were mostly from the structure of the project and from admins in the President& #39;s office.
Harvard can and will research anything forever and ever and ever. It is a way of never having to specify what reparations they intend to pay. https://twitter.com/cgdhopkins/status/1266864187596308481?s=20">https://twitter.com/cgdhopkin...
You can follow @cgdhopkins.
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