Harvard University's 134-page report sheds light on the institution's dark past, revealing a complex and disturbing history of ties to slavery.
According to the report, enslaved people were an integral part of Harvard's early days, living in the president's residence on the Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus and playing a crucial role in daily life.
As Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow noted in an email announcing the initiative, the report is 'shocking' in its revelations.
Enslaved men and women served Harvard presidents and professors, feeding and caring for students, the report states.
Contrary to New England's popular image as a bastion of abolitionism, the report reveals that wealthy plantation owners and Harvard were mutually dependent, with the university benefiting from extensive financial ties to slavery.
The report notes that well into the 19th century, Harvard and its donors profited from loans to Caribbean sugar planters, rum distillers, and plantation suppliers, as well as investments in cotton manufacturing.
Early attempts at integration were met with resistance from Harvard leaders, who prized the institution's status as a school for the white upper crust, including wealthy white sons of the South.
