The Race & Racism in Historical Collections Project Group (now the RRHC Working Group) formed in spring 2021 under the auspices of Vassar's Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI). Our charge:
The Race and Racism in Historical Collections EPI Project Group will work with the library to describe, contextualize, and provide access to Vassar’s history, as represented in the historical collections of yearbooks, diaries, photographs, and newspapers, in ethical and honest ways. These historical collections, primarily from the early 20th century, include language and images that reflect racial stereotypes, bias, and racism, perpetrated by individuals as well as embedded within Vassar’s institutional culture and the wider culture of systemic racism that persists to this day.
This group will facilitate discussions with the Vassar community about these collections, and about the library’s responsible stewardship of this evidence of the college’s past. We plan to create an inclusive space for engagement and collective reflection about how our past echoes in our present.