Land-Grab Universities

Dr. Robert Lee

University of Cambridge

Abstract

This talk discusses an investigation into the Morrill Act of 1862, the foundation of the land-grant college system in the United States. The project located more than 99% of all Morrill Act acres, identified their original Indigenous inhabitants and caretakers, and researched the principal raised from their sale in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It reconstructed approximately 10.7 million acres taken from nearly 250 tribes, bands and communities through over 160 violence-backed land cessions.