Events
Past Sponsored Events
Genealogy Update – May 2026
For the past 2 years, renowned genealogist Renate Sanders has been working to expand the stories of the 16 enslaved individuals auctioned in 1860 to benefit Wake Forest College. This report provides positive and probable findings for 8 of these 16 individuals, and works to better see them for who they were as parents, spouses, veterans, and pillars of their communities after emancipation. To read the report in the Special Collections & Archives, click here.
Freedom Dreams Mass Meeting – March 27, 2025
The Freedom Dreams Mass Meeting: A Celebration of Community was held on Thursday, March 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the Hanes Art Gallery at Wake Forest University. This public event sought to unite community members around shared aspirations for freedom, justice, and democracy through a tradition of music and gathering rooted in the civil rights movement. The program featured musical performances by the Albany Civil Rights Institute Freedom Singers and was moderated by Dr. Claire Crawford, Assistant Professor of Political and International Affairs and the Program of African American Studies. Additional speakers included Rev. Andria Williamson (M.Div. ’17), Associate Chaplain and Director of Chapel Programs at High Point University, and Rev. Joshuah Brian Campbell, Director of Worship, Music, and the Arts at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Director of the University Gospel Choir.
Through music, testimony, and reflection, the gathering honored the enduring struggle for equality and called on the community to envision a more inclusive American democracy. The event was sponsored by the Slavery, Race and Memory Project, Wake the Arts Center, the Program for Leadership and Character, the WFU Humanities Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the WFU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the WFU School of Divinity, and the A.C. Reid Philosophy Funds. To view the event recording, please click here.