A Long and Winding Road: Education, Atonement, and Repair in the Process of Rethinking Institutional History at the University of Virginia

For the past decade, the University of Virginia has committed to telling a much fuller and more complex story about its past, paying special attention to highlighting the experiences of the unsung founders and marginalized in the school’s two centuries of existence as part of an atonement process. That work has involved intensive waves of research, a host of educational initiatives, sustained community engagement, and encouraging other institutions to follow us in doing this work, all with the goals of engendering cultural change at home and seeking avenues for systemic redress beyond campus. Historian Kirt von Daacke, who has led those efforts, will share his experiences and discuss where this work might head in the future.