Connecting WPI’s Past to the Histories of Slavery and Native American Dispossession

Hauff, Gray

Student Work

Connecting WPI’s Past to the Histories of Slavery and Native American Dispossession

Public Deposited

During the 2022 to 2023 academic year, this IQP investigated WPI's connections to Indigenous dispossession through its investments in railroads, telegraph wire, and barbed wire. Understanding WPI’s relationship to the history of colonization and Indigenous dispossession in the United States will allow the Institute to take further action towards redress for the harm done to Indigenous communities. This project is not meant to be the end point, rather a stepping stone toward more research, conversations, and action regarding the Institute’s connections to the dispossession of Indigenous people. The wealth earned from the financial contributions of Ichabod Washburn was tracked and analyzed from the 1865 to 1883 ledger. Ichabod Washburn and Philip Moen’s contributions to WPI created a direct link between WPI and wealth generated by the dispossession of Indigenous communities in the West. Fred H. Daniels indirectly linked WPI and Indigenous dispossession. Going forward, it is recommended that WPI takes this information and uses it to modify how the Institution conveys its history by acknowledging their truthful history, taking responsibility for the ties the Institute does have, as well as taking steps to support current and future Indigenous students that decide to attend.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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