Black History Month Lecture Series African Americans of Old Yale: A Look behind the Veil

The Program for Humanities in Medicine
Black History Month Lecture Series
African Americans of Old Yale:
A Look behind the Veil
Dr. Forrester A. Lee
Yale University School of Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs

In the generation following the Civil War, African American men first came to Yale – to the college and the professional schools. They left behind scant evidence of their lives and experiences at the university. Sheepskin in hand, they departed New Haven enriched intellectually and confident as they prepared to tackle the challenges before them. However, no matter how great their optimism and ability, these men would be forced to contend with societal forces that severely limited African American ambitions and opportunities. Invariably, they would live out their lives as they had before coming to Yale, behind what W. E. B. Dubois called “the veil,” a world of African American experience defined by the “passion of its human sorrows and the struggle of its greater souls.”

Dr. Forrester Lee has researched the lives of these 19th and early 20th century graduates of Yale. He has met with their living descendants. In the lives and stories of these men, he finds much that parallels the experience of African American students today at elite New England schools. In his talk he will explore contemporary themes and relevance in the lives of students who walked the Yale campus more than one hundred years ago.
Tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 4th 2010

Beaumont Room

(333 Cedar Street)

5:00 PM

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