Halifax’s University of King’s College to examine possible links to slavery
HALIFAX — One of Canada’s oldest universities is embarking on a scholarly inquiry to examine its possible connections with slavery in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The study by the University of King’s College in Halifax will include original and independent research by Canadian and U.S. scholars, and is expected to be completed by early 2019.
“We are bringing the light of scholarly investigation and evidence to bare on important issues in the history of this university and indeed the history of Nova Scotia,” said university president William Lahey. “For many of the decades in question King’s University was the only university in Nova Scotia, so this is of provincial and we think of national importance.”
Lahey said the idea is to examine King’s past in an open and honest way in order to make the school as welcoming as it can to people of diverse communities — including those from the African Nova Scotian community. He said the school would be collaborating with the community on the project.