The Lemon Project
A Journey of Reconciliation
Founded in 1693, William & Mary is well known as an intellectual and cultural center in Virginia. The university is more than just a place of education, however. It has also been an important political and social force for the past 300 years, both reflecting and giving shape to ideas of freedom, slavery, race, equality, and citizenship in Virginia and the nation. While William & Mary’s role in the nation’s founding has been widely studied, it has only been recently that scholars have begun asking questions of the university's role in perpetuating slavery and racial discrimination.
In 2009, after student and faculty resolutions calling for a full investigation of W&M's past, the Board of Visitors acknowledged that the university had “owned and exploited slave labor from its founding to the Civil War; and that it had failed to take a stand against segregation during the Jim Crow Era.” As a result, the Board offered its support for the establishment of The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation. The Project is named for Lemon, a man who was once enslaved by William & Mary. We cannot know the full dimensions of Lemon’s life or his relationship with W&M. In many ways, Lemon stands in the place of the known and unknown African Americans who helped to build, maintain, and move the university forward.
The Lemon Project is a multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary through action or inaction. An ongoing endeavor, this program will focus on contributing to and encouraging scholarship on the 300-year relationship between African Americans and W&M, and building bridges between the university and Williamsburg and Greater Tidewater area. The Lemon Project is a member of the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium. The Lemon Project is generously funded by the Office of the Provost at William & Mary.
The Lemon Project builds bridges between William & Mary and African American communities through research, programming, and supporting students, faculty, and staff.
- Expand The Lemon Project’s local, national, and global leadership roles in the universities studying slavery movement
- Research the lives of Africans and African Americans from the 17th century to the present and share this knowledge on and off campus
- Establish physical presence on campus
- Engage and collaborate with colleagues across the university and the Greater Williamsburg area
- Contribute to enriching experiences for African American students with programs and opportunities fostering belonging
