February 2017

‘The Art of Life in South Africa’: Q&A with Yale historian Daniel Magaziner

From 1952 to 1981, South Africa’s apartheid government operated a training school for art teachers in the Bantu Education system — the school system for black South Africans.

Although primarily intended as a place to train teachers, the school, known as Ndaleni, offered black South Africans the largely unheard-of opportunity to learn art history and to train as artists. This opportunity came at a price: Upon completing the course, the students were to teach in a Bantu school for at least a year, entangling them with the apartheid state.

Diversity and Yale History

The Department of History works vigorously to promote diversity. As Yale historians, we approach diversity as an affirmation of the principles of equality and justice. We understand the full spectrum of ways in which people experience, inhabit, and express their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, ability, socioeconomic status, and religion to enrich our intellectual community, and we commit to welcoming and supporting all people.

The Atlantic: "Frederick Douglass, Refugee" by David Blight

“Frederick Douglass, author, orator, editor, and most important African American leader of the 19th century, was a dangerous illegal immigrant. Well, in 1838 he escaped a thoroughly legal system of enslavement to the tenuous condition of fugitive resident of a northern state that had outlawed slavery, but could only protect his “freedom” outside of the law.”

Read the full article at theatlantic.com by Prof. David Blight.