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Research Guides
A workshop for Otelia Cromwell Day 2019
Using the dates on the document prepared by the BSA in the “NYC Alumnae Panel” file, students can identify Sophian articles reporting on various racially motivated incidents on campus.
Files from this office relate to the establishment of:
A number of oral history interviews with Smith Alumnae discuss issues of race at Smith. Search the link using the keyword ‘race’ to identify individual oral histories exploring this topic.
Includes oral history interviews with Latina women from the Classes of 2012-2014. Transcripts of the oral histories and project records are also included. Interviews are filed with the College Archives Audio-Visual Collection.
A collection of email messages, memos, correspondence, oral history interviews and transcripts, project files, and collected material relating to Smith College student reaction to the Anne Spurzem ’86 letter to the Sophian that prompted the “Pearls & Cashmere” and “Mobilizing Smith” campaigns. Hate notes found in Parsons House prompted student responses documented in the material. All-Campus Meeting letter; minutes of the Intergenerational Dialogue held in Helen Hills Hills Chapel are among the primary source materials in the collection.
An oral history project sponsored by the College as part of its 100th anniversary celebration. Interviewees discuss a variety of issues, including race and the reactions to minority students at Smith. A subject file, containing clippings from interviews is available. Identification of the interviewees is possible via the transcript clippings.
Interviewees of interest:
In 1962, the Alumnae Association began awarding the Smith College Medal. As the years progressed, a number of women of color received this honor. Biographical files of medalists are available and open for research.
Smith College Medal Recipients (partial listing)
The College Archives had a collection of Alumnae Biographical Files that are part of the Class Records. It appears these files were originally maintained by the Alumnae Association, and over the years the contents of the files have been contributed by the alumnae, family and friends. While a large majority of Smith alumnae are represented, not all have files. An in-house database is available to search names.
Biographical information about Otelia Cromwell can be found in:
Information about the formation of Otelia Cromwell Day can be found in:
Founded as the Smith College Association for Christian Work (SCACW) in 1892, it was developed to ‘promote a broad and intelligent activity in the cause of humanity…’ in a variety of ways. As the organization aged, it changed its name to Smith College Religious Association, but remained committed to administering to the spiritual and social needs of all faiths. Some of the file titles listed below are indicative of the work of the group relating to race and bias.
Blackface Exhibit Controversy, Summer 1996, Box 36.8 Contains photocopies of the physical exhibit; reaction pieces concerning the exhibit by Library administration; original comments by SSW students. Oversize materials are in map cases. See files in box.
THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LISTING. You may find more connections as your work continues.
