Category: Slavery and Amherst

Amherst College in 1821

Slavery, Amherst College, and Black lives in the Connecticut River Valley

View of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts with mountains in the distance and dark clouds overhead

The Racial History Steering Committee, along with the Office of the President, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion shared current research findings and new research opportunities at a panel discussion on April 11, 2023.  Speakers: Welcome by President Michael Elliott Mike Kelly, Co-chair of the Steering Committee on A Racial History of Amherst…

Israel E. Trask and Paternalism

Israel Trask letter to Eliza Trask page 3

Students who took Professor Elizabeth Herbin-Triant’s course “Slavery in US History & Culture” during the Fall 2021 semester visited the Archives & Special Collections to explore primary sources related to slavery. This blog post is by student Anna Kruesel ’22, who chose to focus on a single letter from the Israel E. Trask Papers. The…

Nicka Smith Presentation: Community Discussion on Next Steps. Monday, October 18 at 4:00

Please join us at the Center for Humanistic Inquiry (second floor, Frost Library) on Monday, October 18 at 4:00! The Steering Committee of A Racial History of Amherst College invites any and all interested members of the Amherst College community to discuss genealogist Nicka Smith’s presentation of October 4, 2021–and the important questions of whether…

Nicka Smith at Amherst, October 4, 2021

Nicka Smith

Nicka Smith’s talk on October 4 was recorded and is available on the college’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/RBe9uHxSTJo  The Amherst Student published an article about the talk: “Nicka Smith Delivers Talk on Israel Trask and the Trask 250” Anna Smith ’22 published an op-ed piece on Trask to propose that the college acquire his mansion in…

The Kellogg Connection

Portion of 1770 Town of Amherst tax records

What do an academic prize, slavery, and cereal have in common? The Kellogg family. While transcribing the Charity Fund register and records book, 1818-1840, I noticed a name with which I was vaguely familiar.  William, Joseph Jr., and Martin Kellogg of Amherst donated a combined total of 250 dollars (or about $5,370 today) to the…