Community Histories Lab

The Community Histories Lab at Yale School of Medicine brings historians, students, educators, practitioners, and community organizers together to conduct historical research that matters to our communities. We aim to unearth local histories of New Haven and Yale University that promote justice along the lines of race, class, disability, gender, and sexuality. A core commitment of the Lab is to elevate community voices and make local histories accessible outside the walls of the academy. Specifically, our work is divided into three broad areas:

1. Building archives (both oral history and printed material) that serve community needs
2. Original historical research that answers pressing questions for New Haveners today and
3. Dissemination of these histories, through innovative teaching and other modalities, within and beyond the university.

Please see the Projects page for our upcoming work. Currently, some of our projects include oral histories of historical harm in New Haven, institutional histories of the Connecticut Mental Health Center, and research on the legacies of eugenics and their contemporary implications with the Anti-Eugenics Collective at Yale.

The Community Histories Lab will begin its work in Fall 2024 and has received funding through the Yale University Poorvu Center’s Rosencranz Award and the 320 York Fund. If you are interested in supporting this work, please email communityhistorieslab@yale.edu.