Academy’s Committee to Study Slavery and its Legacy Hold Schoolwide CVP Presentation

By ARYAN AGARWAL, LOGAN BECKERLE, and MARVIN SHIM

On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Phillips Exeter Academy’s Committee to Study Slavery and its Legacy presented on the assembly stage, showcasing a substantial selection of historical data, facts, and analysis. Their slideshow recounted the lives of the several enslaved peoples owned by John Phillips as well as significant milestones in the Academy’s history, including an account of the first black student to graduate from Phillips Exeter Academy.   This week, The Exonian sought insight from members of the committee and students across campus for their thoughts on the assembly and the committee’s broader goals and missions.

With a history as long as Exeter’s, it is natural that parts of the story can be left untold. Led off by PEA’s Director of Equity and Inclusion Stephanie Bramlett, the committee members presented several parts of this untold story, including those of the four individuals who were at one point enslaved by John Phillips: Robin, Phillis, Dinah, and Corydon. The committee began its research in the fall term of the 2023-24 school year. 

Instructor in History Kent McConnell gave some insight into the committee’s purpose. “The mission is to tell a more holistic story of Exeter’s past. When we think about revolutionary era history, oftentimes, a white man and a wig comes to mind. We don’t see women, we don’t see people of color, and on and on.” In McConnell’s eyes, history should be as objective as possible, meaning that all of the facts are told. The problem with telling history is finding and accurately conveying the stories of marginalized peoples.

“As historians, we deal in facts and evidence. One of the greatest challenges for us is that some people, whether it’s through socioeconomic status or through race, disappear from the historical record. The question becomes, how do you recapture voices that aren’t recorded in traditional ways,” McConnell described.

“We aim to uncover the untold stories of the Academy’s history. Who were some of the enslaved people connected to the Academy? What are the stories of Exeter’s first black students? We wanted to inform the community of some of these stories and encourage further inquiry,” committee member Panos Voulgaris noted.

Lower Artur Ferreira spoke on the importance of such a mission. He said, “It’s important to learn about slavery and its legacy because it is something that helped shape the world and the country that we live in today. It is an essential part of our history, and its effects cannot be ignored.” 

McConnell echoed Ferreira’s sentiment, asserting that such work is “part of historical thinking and forms of expression on what America is about and what democratic participation looks like. It’s really an essential part of being an educated person.” Unknowingly ignoring those deemphasized parts of history can have detrimental effects, especially in a society that values equality and democracy. The committee ensures that these parts of Exeter’s history are accurately told and magnified to their true importance.

Lower Lake Zhou captured this idea perfectly. “Like any history, the study of the history of slavery is important because we can learn from the past and build from it,” he said. “In order to make progress in the issue of racial justice, we must first understand its past.”

On the same line of thought, senior Ethan Ding commented, “Assembly is a time where the community comes together and takes a pause to think and experience something new. This is about our school’s history and tradition, and whose stories have been more recognizable and understood in the past than those whose stories have not been as known.”

Ding added, “To see all those different faculty members and adult members of the community come together from their respective points of expertise, like Ms. Lawhorn from the Archives, Dr. McConnell, Coach Voulgaris, is a really powerful message of the significance of these stories.”

McConnell also spoke on contemporary divisions over such histories. He firmly stated that “people who claim this history to be divisive are seeing history as ideology or politics. I would vociferously argue that the past is the past and a full telling of it is the reality that was.” 

He continued, “I don’t really see this as an effort to unify any community. I look at it as an effort to see the richness of Exeter’s past in both forms, both its warts and ugliness as well as its more diversified and celebrated past. Unity and ideologies, in my mind, have nothing to do with this type of work. We’re just trying to capture voices that were there that have been lost.” 

In other words, McConnell removes the burden stacked on historians to “take a side,” and recognizes that history should be a recount of facts and information, not a case of political agenda. 

Ding shared how the assembly enlightened his view on the definition of Exeter. “Exeter is a place that has a certain meaning to it for everyone. Personally, it’s a collection of a bunch of anecdotes. Different moments I can think of come together to make Exeter, like the stories I have shared with the people I’ve known. They all come together to form my impression of this place. It’s important to realize how this connection doesn’t begin or end with me.”

The committee offers a unique opportunity for the Exeter community to reflect on the Academy’s past. The stories and legacy depicted by the committee continue meaningful conversations past the assembly stage and into our everyday lives. The committee showed us that our history isn’t static — it’s a dynamic, ever-changing story. Those same stories serve as a reminder that a deep understanding of our history as an Academy is needed to spur a more inclusive future.