Unearthing Towson's History Project

The Unearthing Towson’s History Project is an interdisciplinary collaborative effort that centers students as researchers and interpreters and connects alumni and the wider community to the university.

The team’s goals are:

  • Investigate the history of intersectional diversity including not only race and male/ female gender but sexuality, complex gender, class, and ethnicity.
  • Gather the stories of current and past Towson students, faculty, and staff’s experience with diversity.
  • Record oral histories of those associated with Towson University’s past.
  • Digitize and make resources relating to diversity at Towson University available to the wider community.
  • Share these stories with the wider public through online exhibits, blog posts, and resources.
  • Become a resource for the wider Towson University community to learn about and preserve its past.
  • Partner with area institutions to situate Towson University’s experience in the wider region.


The project is a collaboration between the Albert S. Cook Library Special Collections and University Archives, the Department of History, and the Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity with the support of the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. Unearthing Towson's History Project is a member of the Universities Studying Slavery consortium.

Learn more about Unearthing Towson's History.

Oral Histories

Interviews with Towson University faculty, students, and alumni speaking about their time at the school.

Primary Resource List

A comprehensive list of archival sources related to the school's history of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Timeline [coming soon]

An interactive, visual representation of events related Towson University's diversity, equity, and inclusion history.

Students, Start Digging: Unearthing Towson's History Project at TU

A poster presented by student researchers Peyton Cleary and Allyn Lawrence at the Fall 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. The session is an exploration of the African American Studies major that disappeared from the TU curriculum in the early 1980s, and a closer look at how student activism at TU has evolved since the 1960s, especially in response to societal events and crises.

The History of the African American Studies Major at Towson

A guest post on the TU Special Collections and University Archives blog by student researcher Allyn Lawrence, documenting the beginning and later disappearance of the African American Studies program.

"Students who agitate": The Evolution of Student Activism at TU

Student researcher Peyton Cleary writes about the history of student protest and campus activism at Towson University. Part one of a two part series of articles.

Past Perceptions: The Administrative Response to Student Activism at TU

Student researcher Peyton Cleary writes about the history of administrative response to student protest at Towson. Part two in a two part series of articles.