Furman Professor of History Steve O\u2019Neill has been invited to speak at a Duke University symposium about slavery March 30-31.<\/p>\n
The symposium, \u201cAmerican Universities, Monuments, and the Legacies of Slavery,\u201d is sponsored by the Duke Office of the Provost.<\/p>\n
The two-day public symposium organized by Duke historian Thavolia Glymph will convene a group of leading scholars whose work explores questions of race, memory, slavery, monuments and education in the South.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill will participate in a Friday, March 30 panel titled \u201cAmerican Universities: Reckoning with the Past.\u201d He will discuss Furman\u2019s Task Force on Slavery and Justice during the session.<\/p>\n
As co-chair of Furman\u2019s 50-Year Celebration of Desegregation, O\u2019Neill recovered the history of desegregation at Furman and presented it to the university and community. His work served as a catalyst for Furman\u2019s ongoing efforts to study diversity and bring greater racial justice on campus.<\/p>\n
He now leads six Furman students who are part of Furman\u2019s Task Force on Slavery and Justice, an initiative chaired by Furman Communication Studies Professor Brandon Inabinet. A report due out later this year, \u201cSeeking Abraham,\u201d will assimilate the group\u2019s findings about Furman\u2019s direct and indirect ties to slavery.<\/p>\n
Among other works, O\u2019Neill has authored \u201cWhat We Remember, What We Forget:\u00a0Mythmaking and Civil Rights History in South Carolina,\u201d a book chapter honoring civil rights activist and scholar Paul Gaston, and \u201cMemory, History, and the Desegregation of Greenville, South Carolina\u201d in \u201cToward the Meeting of the Waters: Currents in the Civil Rights Movement of South Carolina During the Twentieth Century.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native of Charleston, O\u2019Neill joined the Furman faculty in 1987. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree from Furman and master\u2019s and doctorate degrees from the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n