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News about the Lemon Project

A green, outdoor sign that says Hulon L. Willis Sr. Hall 112 Jamestown Road
Dedicated in their honor: W&M dedicates Boswell, Willis halls

New names in honor of trailblazing alumni now grace two campus buildings. Morton Hall and Taliaferro Hall were dedicated this fall as John E. Boswell Hall and Hulon L. Willis Sr. Hall, respectively.

An aerial view or campus shows brick buildings, trees and green spaces
W&M’s working group on naming, renaming submits final report

William & Mary’s Working Group on the Principles of Naming and Renaming (PNR) this week presented its final report to President Katherine A. Rowe, who accepted it during the Board of Visitors meeting Thursday in the Alumni House.

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WRL and W&M Libraries' One Book One Community returns with author Jason Reynolds

Williamsburg Regional Library and W&M Libraries are once again partnering for One Book One Community, an initiative that encourages readers to come together for a shared reading experience. This year’s book selection is "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

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W&M responds to call for feedback on naming principles

The William & Mary community responded “emphatically and with a great deal of warmth toward our Alma Mater of a Nation” to principles drafted for naming and renaming of buildings, spaces and structures on campus.

Statement on Current Events

"The role of The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation is to tell the full story, to administer the medicine, and to make it plain for all to see and learn from. Of course, some people will find the medicine difficult to take and it will make them uncomfortable, but that is the price we all must pay if real and lasting change has a hope of surviving."

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A. Benjamin Spencer selected to lead W&M Law School

A. Benjamin Spencer, a nationally renowned civil procedure and federal courts expert and current professor of law at the University of Virginia will begin at William & Mary Law School July 1.

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Lemon Project symposium focuses on 'Celebrating Legacies'

Continuing its powerful work in chronicling William & Mary’s history, the Lemon Project hosted its ninth annual spring symposium, “Celebrating Legacies, Constructing Futures: Four Hundred Years of Black Community and Culture,” on campus March 14-16.

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Historical marker for Bray School unveiled

William & Mary officials Friday morning revealed Virginia historical marker W-109 commemorating the spot where the Bray School — an 18th-century school for enslaved and free black children — was once located.

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W&M Lemon Project symposium tied to 1619 anniversary

The event, titled “Celebrating Legacies, Constructing Futures: Four Hundred Years of Black Community and Culture,” will include a meeting of the Universities Studying Slavery consortium and a keynote address by Christy Coleman, chief executive officer of the American Civil War Museum, along with multiple panel discussions.

A walking tour of the College of Mary

The Flat Hat's take on a women focused W&M walking tour that renames prominent buildings for women in W&M's history

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Williams: William & Mary has apologized for its history of slavery and discrimination. Here's why that matters.

The W&M apology coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first three African-American students to reside on campus. And in delving into its links to slavery, the college joins the trailblazing ranks of Brown University, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, among others.

College apologizes for its role in slavery, segregation

For close to two centuries, the College of William and Mary used slave labor. The College admitted its first African-American residential students in 1967. Today, the Board of Visitors voted unanimously to approve a resolution apologizing for the university’s role in slavery and segregation at their full board meeting.

The Wren Building on a sunny day
The Lemon Project: A journey of reconciliation

As the long-term Lemon Project effort prepares for the next chapter, a Board of Visitors resolution apologizes for W&M’s history of owning slaves and racial discrimination.

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Nikki Giovanni headlines Lemon Project Symposium

Giovanni, a distinguished university professor at Virginia Tech who has authored more than 27 poetry collections, urged her audience to acknowledge that the first slaves played a crucial, often ignored, part in the formation of America.

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Building on the Legacy: Lemon Project Symposium March 16-17, 2018

Today’s post is courtesy of Ravynn Stringfield, graduate student in American Studies at William & Mary and Lemon Project Graduate Assistant. The Omohundro Institute applauds the work of the Lemon Project and has supported several past events.

Civil rights pioneer Diane Nash to speak at Lemon Project symposium

William & Mary's sixth annual Lemon Project Spring Symposium, organized around the theme of "Jim Crow and Civil Rights in the Age of President Obama," will include a keynote address by civil rights pioneer Diane Nash and a performance by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.

Search for a smoking lunchbox turns up the 'Bray School cafeteria'

For the past three summers, archaeologists have dug up the grounds of a William & Mary dorm in search of the "smoking lunchbox"—the archaeologists' term for a material-culture connection between the 18th-century Bray School and a building still in use on the William & Mary campus.

W&M’s Lemon Project continues discussion about College’s past

The two-day event, held Friday and Saturday at William & Mary and Bruton Heights School in Williamsburg, featured a book discussion and keynote presentation by Craig Steven Wilder, the author of "Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities."

Archaeological search for Bray School continues

Archaeological work around William & Mary’s Brown Hall is bringing to light artifacts dating back to the early 18th century, including a few items that just might be relics from the Bray School, an 18th century institution dedicated to the education of free and enslaved black children.

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Archaeologists seek evidence of 18th-century Bray School

An archaeological collaboration between William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation hopes to find conclusive evidence of the Bray School, an 18th-century institution dedicated to the education of free and enslaved black children.

W&M's first residential African-American students honored

During Homecoming weekend, over 150 William & Mary faculty, staff, students, alumni and their families joined together to honor the College’s first three African-American residential students: Lynn Briley '71, Karen Ely '71, and Janet Brown Strafer '71.

Lemon symposium 'a day of learning from each other'

Approximately 100 people gathered at the Bruton Heights School on March 19 to share knowledge, research findings and personal experiences during the Lemon Project’s Spring Symposium.

Lemon Project symposium set for March 19

The Lemon Project at the College of William and Mary will host its 2011 spring symposium on March 19 at The Bruton Heights School in Williamsburg, Va.

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W&M's Terry Meyers featured in Post, Chronicle

Research by English Professor Terry Meyers regarding the 18th Century Bray School and its possible connection to a College building located on the edge of campus.

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W&M names co-chairs for Lemon Project

Two William & Mary faculty members will lead the multiyear effort to better understand the role of race in the College's history, including its connections to slavery, Provost Michael R. Halleran announced recently.

BOV resolution on the 'Lemon Project'

The following is a resolution that was passed by William & Mary's Board of Visitors in April 2009 concerning the "Lemon Project."