Hard Histories at Johns Hopkins

Martha Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History and the SNF Agora Institute, is director of the Hard Histories at Hopkins Project, which examines the role that racism and discrimination have played at Johns Hopkins. Launched in 2020 and conducted out of the SNF Agora Institute, the project blends research, teaching, public engagement and the creative arts, to engage our broadest communities—at Johns Hopkins and in Baltimore—in a frank and informed exploration of how racism has been produced and permitted to persist as part of our structure and our practice.

“History tells us how we got here. Hard Histories show us a way forward.”

The Hard Histories project will offer new insights into lesser-known chapters in the history of Johns Hopkins, as well as opportunities to study and discuss the implications of our past for our present and future. Student researchers will help lead Hard Histories through research in its history lab, working through the archival record. Project partners will come from across our university and across the city of Baltimore.

Hard Histories is a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University, Hopkins Retrospective, and the SNF Agora Institute.

To learn more, visit Hard Histories at Johns Hopkins.