Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery at the New Haven Museum - Opening Event

In conjunction with new exhibition at the New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Avenue, that complements the publication of Yale and Slavery: A History and draws from the Yale and Slavery Research Project’s key findings. Presented by Beinecke Library, the exhibition is curated by Michael J. Morand with Charles E. Warner, Jr., designed by David Jon Walker, and with research leadership by Jennifer Coggins and Hope McGrath. The show will remain on view through summer, 2024. Admission to the New Haven Museum will be free during the show’s run, made possible by Yale University.

The exhibition team and the New Haven Museum will host a special event on Saturday, February 17, 2024. The curatorial and design team will offer introductory remarks at 1 p.m., followed by a screening of the Beinecke documentary, “What Could Have Been,” directed by Tubyez Cropper, at 1:30 p.m. 

The team will give brief introductory remarks again at 2 and 3 p.m., with additional screenings of the documentary at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

“Shining Light on Truth” presents evidence of the essential role of enslaved and free Black people in New Haven and at Yale. It celebrates Black resistance and community building. And it illuminates knowledge kept alive in archives and memory for more than three centuries—even when the dominant culture choses to ignore, bury, or forget.