"For [an] expansive view, one turns to Educated in Tyranny.... The African Americans in [the book], which include free people of color as well as the enslaved, deal with their degrading circumstances with ingenuity, determination and strength of character.... Slavery is now generally recognized as America's 'original sin,’ and [this book makes a] significant contribution to our understanding of how it permeated all aspects of society, especially in the South.
A model of engaged and compassionate scholarship, drawing upon prodigious research and ingenious methods, Educated in Tyranny is essential to understanding the University of Virginia. This is a book written by people who care deeply about the University, who are devoted to telling its story honestly and fully.
Educated in Tyranny changes our way of seeing. Where before we looked upon the Lawn and saw the beauty of the architecture's classical orders, now we see the disorder of the oppressed and their oppressors.... What stands out is the array of disciplines and talents brought to bear that recreate history from discarded shards and restore humanity to people the record rarely refers to by name.
Educated in Tyranny is fascinating, well-written, and well-argued. The book is a very important landmark in the ongoing work on the history of slavery at universities. It also demonstrates the power of collaborative projects in uncovering such histories. McInnis and Nelson offer a powerful reflection of the process that the University of Virginia has undertaken, and a powerful record of the ways in which the institution has chosen to honor and claim this difficult history.
Little, if any, previous scholarship has explored the horrific abuse endured by enslaved people working at Southern colleges in the lead-up to the Civil War, according to Maurie D. McInnis, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. It’s now coming to light... [ Educated in Tyranny draws] on years of painstaking scrutiny of archival records, which U-Va. made available as part of its ongoing attempt to grapple with its slaveholding past.
"For [an] expansive view, one turns to Educated in Tyranny.... The African Americans in [the book], which include free people of color as well as the enslaved, deal with their degrading circumstances with ingenuity, determination and strength of character.... Slavery is now generally recognized as America's 'original sin,’ and [this book makes a] significant contribution to our understanding of how it permeated all aspects of society, especially in the South. "—author of Wall Street Journal
"A model of engaged and compassionate scholarship, drawing upon prodigious research and ingenious methods, Educated in Tyranny is essential to understanding the University of Virginia. This is a book written by people who care deeply about the University, who are devoted to telling its story honestly and fully. "—Edward L. Ayers, University of Richmond, author of The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America
" Educated in Tyranny is fascinating, well-written, and well-argued. The book is a very important landmark in the ongoing work on the history of slavery at universities. It also demonstrates the power of collaborative projects in uncovering such histories. McInnis and Nelson offer a powerful reflection of the process that the University of Virginia has undertaken, and a powerful record of the ways in which the institution has chosen to honor and claim this difficult history. "—Leslie M. Harris, Northwestern University, co-editor of Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies
"Little, if any, previous scholarship has explored the horrific abuse endured by enslaved people working at Southern colleges in the lead-up to the Civil War, according to Maurie D. McInnis, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. It’s now coming to light... [ Educated in Tyranny draws] on years of painstaking scrutiny of archival records, which U-Va. made available as part of its ongoing attempt to grapple with its slaveholding past. "—author of Washington Post
"[A] complete appreciation of the University of Virginia entails learning hard truths. This... collection examines that truth, of the enslaved people who constructed the buildings and served the young men who were studying the precepts of liberty. Essays look at slave labor, violence, free blacks and the university as a bastion of pro-slavery thought. It includes eye-opening realities such as medical students robbing the graves of slaves. The book's tragic truths are important in understanding this Virginia institution. "—author of Boomer Magazine
" Educated in Tyranny changes our way of seeing. Where before we looked upon the Lawn and saw the beauty of the architecture's classical orders, now we see the disorder of the oppressed and their oppressors.... What stands out is the array of disciplines and talents brought to bear that recreate history from discarded shards and restore humanity to people the record rarely refers to by name. "—author of Virginia Magazine
Little, if any, previous scholarship has explored the horrific abuse endured by enslaved people working at Southern colleges in the lead-up to the Civil War, according to Maurie D. McInnis, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. It’s now coming to light... [ Educated in Tyranny draws] on years of painstaking scrutiny of archival records, which U-Va. made available as part of its ongoing attempt to grapple with its slaveholding past.
"For [an] expansive view, one turns to Educated in Tyranny.... The African Americans in [the book], which include free people of color as well as the enslaved, deal with their degrading circumstances with ingenuity, determination and strength of character.... Slavery is now generally recognized as America's 'original sin,’ and [this book makes a] significant contribution to our understanding of how it permeated all aspects of society, especially in the South.
