AFAM 307: Black Middletown Lives: The Future of Middletown's African American Past

In this service learning course, students will do hands-on history by uncovering, preserving, and sharing Middletown's rich African American past. We will focus on the history of the Beman Triangle. This African American neighborhood, now part of Wesleyan's campus, served as a regional and national antislavery and Underground Railroad center and home to one of the nation's first handful of independent Black churches. Students will partner with local archives, libraries, and museums to help preserve and share this neighborhood's remarkable history. Our projects will include building a website and an exhibit to share this history with the Wesleyan and Middletown communities.