April 29-30, 2021
featuring a keynote address by President Jonathan Holloway
The symposium has concluded.
All sessions were recorded and are available for viewing.
Scarlet and Black Book Fund:
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The Scarlet and Black Project is celebrating the release of our newest books from Rutgers University Press. Our 3-volume book series examines the history of race at Rutgers from slavery to Black Lives Matter.
Our virtual symposium includes panels and presentations that discuss the scholarship, public history, and community engagement aspects of our project. Speakers include project co-directors Deborah Gray White and Marisa Fuentes as well as doctoral researchers, community partners, and distinguished Rutgers alumni.
Available for pre-order now, Scarlet and Black 3-volume series includes:
- Volume 1: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History
- Volume 2: Constructing Race and Gender at Rutgers, 1865-1945
- Volume 3: Making Black Lives Matter at Rutgers, 1945-2020
Session Videos
Thursday, April 29, 2021
11:00 AM Art and Archives of the Scarlet and Black Project
1:00 PM The First Black Alumni: An Exploration of Scarlet and Black, Volume 2
Program
Download: Program with Speaker Bios (PDF)
Thursday, April 29, 2021
11:00 AM Art and Archives of the Scarlet and Black Project
This panel will explore the images used in the Scarlet and Black volumes, the digital archive, and community art projects in New Brunswick. Panelists will discuss how their contributions have helped to shape the images and artwork of the project.
- Jesse Bayker, Digital Archivist for the Scarlet and Black Project
- Erika Gorder, Archivist at Special Collections and University Archives
- Dan Swern, Producing Director at coLAB Arts
- Tracey Johnson, Scarlet and Black doctoral researcher
1:00 PM The First Black Alumni: An Exploration of Scarlet and Black, Volume 2
This panel will discuss the scholarship of Scarlet and Black, Volume 2: Constructing Race and Gender at Rutgers, 1865-1945. Panelists will discuss how race and gender shaped the experience of some of the first black students to attend Rutgers, such as Paul Robeson and Julia Baxter Bates.
- Kendra Boyd, co-editor of Volume 2, Assistant Professor of History at Rutgers–Camden
- Miya Carey, co-editor of Volume 3, Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow at Binghamton University
- Shaun Armstead, Scarlet and Black doctoral researcher
- Bruce Hubbard, RC ’69, Principal of New York City law firm Bruce A. Hubbard P.C.
6:00 PM Invisible Narratives: Racial Specters and the Making of Institutions – Keynote Address by President Jonathan Holloway
Friday, April 30, 2021
11:00 AM A Community Project: Scarlet and Black in New Brunswick
This panel will explore the public history and local community centered initiatives that have been developed through the Scarlet and Black Project. Panelists will discuss the Mount Zion AME archival digitization project, the development of the project’s mobile app, campus historical markers, and the preservation of local history.
- Pamela Walker, Scarlet and Black doctoral researcher
- Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan, Assistant Teaching Professor and Coordinator of Public History
- Barbara Saunders, history coordinator and preservationist at the Mount Zion AME Church of New Brunswick
- Brenann Sutter, Scarlet and Black doctoral researcher
1:00 PM The Student Protest Movement at Rutgers: Scarlet and Black, Volume 3
This panel will discuss the scholarship of Scarlet and Black, Volume 3: Making Black Lives Matter at Rutgers, 1945-2020. Panelists will discuss the significance of campus and community student protest movements at Rutgers in New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark during the late twentieth century.
- Miya Carey, co-editor of Volume 3, Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow at Binghamton University
- Beatrice Adams, Scarlet and Black doctoral researcher
- Roy Jones, RU-CCAS ’70, Executive Director of the National Institute for Healthy Human Spaces
- Vickie Donaldson, RU-NCAS ’71, RLAW ’82, former Director of Homeless Services at the Newark Department of Health and Wellness
4:00 PM The Legacy of Scarlet and Black: A Conversation with Marisa Fuentes and Deborah Gray White
Co-directors of the Scarlet and Black Project will reflect on the last five years and discuss how the project is reshaping Rutgers University.
- Deborah Gray White, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History
- Marisa Fuentes, Presidential Term Chair in African American History
