Cornell’s Legacy

Professor Jon Parmenter is an associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences Department of History, where he specializes in the history of indigenous peoples in the Northeast, particularly that of the Haudenosaunee. In addition to his professorship and research, he has served as a legal and historical consultant to several Haudenosaunee communities and was recognized as an expert in the history and ethnography of the Iroquois by the Ontario Superior Court. In this episode, with host Maria Castex, Parmenter discusses his research on indigenous dispossession and Cornell University’s legacy as a land grant institution. In October of 2020, Parmenter wrote a blog post titled “Flipped Scrip, Flipping the Script: The Morrill Act of 1862, Cornell University, and the Legacy of Nineteenth-Century Indigenous Dispossession.” This episode discusses the Morrill Act and its further implications in detail, along with the degree to which we must confront this history and engage in discourse and the broader process of redress. Finally, Professor Parmenter offers advice for those in the business world who want to confront their privilege and do their part in addressing systemic injustice. At Cornell, Professor Parmenter teaches courses like “Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong: An Introduction to Native American History, New World Encounters, and the American Revolution.” In 2011, Professor Parmenter was the recipient of the Stephen and Margery Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences. He received his BA and MA in History from the University of Western Ontario and a PhD in History from the University of Michigan. Links from Episode at Cornell Faculty Page: Jon Parmenter Cornell University & Indigenous Dispossession Project: Flipped Scrip, Flipping the Script: The Morrill Act of 1862, Cornell University, and the Legacy of Nineteenth-Century Indigenous Dispossession High Country News: Land Grab Universities