Introduction
This primary source packet contains materials pertaining to race and ethnicity at Haverford College between the 1940s and the 1990s. It is by no means an exhaustive list of materials, but these sources do shed light on histories of discrimination, solidarity, racial identity, diversity initiatives, and student activism at Haverford. Because administrative records constitute the bulk of the College Archives’ holdings, the majority of these materials were produced by offices and individual administrators on campus. However, there are also materials created by students and alumni that offer an alternative perspective on many topics.
These materials may support classes and research topics related to race and identity studies, the history of higher education, the history of student activism, and the history of Haverford College.
Packet contents:
- List of primary sources
- Guiding questions for engaging with the primary sources
- Articles which provide background on this topic:
- “Race.” In Straight A’s: Asian American College Students in Their Own Words, edited by Christine R. Yano and Neal K. Adolph Akatsuka, 58-88. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/stable/j.ctv11318z0.7
- Rollock, Nicola. “Pursuing Racial Justice Within Higher Education: Is Conflict Inevitable?” In Knowledge, Policy and Practice in Education and the Struggle for Social Justice: Essays Inspired by the Work of Geoff Whitty, edited by Andrew Brown and Emma Wisby, 149-164. London: UCL Press, 2020. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/stable/j.ctv13xpshq.17
- Geiger, Roger L. “The Unraveling, 1965-1970” and “Surviving the Seventies.” In American Higher Education Since World War II: A History, 179-266. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/stable/j.ctv9hvtbz.10
- Reyes, Daisy Verduzco. “Higher Education and Latino Students.” In Learning to be Latino: How Colleges Shape Identity Politics, 1-12. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/stable/j.ctvscxrtz.4 DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvscxrtz.4
- Johnston-Guerrero, Marc. P. “The Meanings of Race Matter: College Students Learning About Race in a Not-so-Postracial Era.” American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 53, No. 4 (August, 2016): 819-849. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/stable/24751616
Primary Sources
Howard Comfort letter to Morris Leeds regarding the admission of Black students to Haverford, November 23, 1942. HCB-001-006, Felix Morley presidential papers, Box 1, “War Emergency, 1941-1942”
[digitized version]
Felix Morley and Brint Stone correspondence on the performance of the Main Line Community League Inter-Racial Chorus at Haverford, June 14, 1944. HCB-001-006 Felix Morley presidential papers, Box 3, “Scattergood Files–May 1943-December 1944”
[digitized version]
Jan Long letter to Felix Morley regarding admission of Black students to Haverford, December 21, 1944. HCB-001-006, Felix Morley presidential papers, Box 1, “War Emergency, 1943-1945”
[digitized version]
Charles Silberman letter to John Coleman on Black students and housing, December 4, 1969. HCB-001-012 John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Greg Kannerstein’s reaction to Charles Silberman’s letter, January 5, 1970. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Greg Kannerstein letter to Leonard Krivy on Black Studies at Haverford, January 14, 1970. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Sid Perloe and John Coleman correspondence on Black students and housing, January 1970. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Greg Kannerstein letter to Sid Perloe on Black students and housing, February 25, 1970. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Black Students League statement on the Vietnam War, ca. 1970. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Richard Luman to Gerhard Spiegler regarding Black students and library collections, May 10, 1971. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
Black Students League letter to the Board of Managers, May 21, 1971. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, 1969-May 1971”
[digitized version]
John Nelson, Class of 1973, letter to the staff of the Bryn Mawr-Haverford College News regarding the Committee on Student Standings, September 13, 1971. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, August-December 1971”
[digitized version]
John Coleman memo to Black students at Haverford, September 15, 1971. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, August-December 1971”
[digitized version]
John Coleman memo to John Nelson, Kendall Martin, and Theodore Williams, November 8, 1971. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students, August-December 1971”
[digitized version]
Black Students League, “Several Concerns, or, A Bill of Facts,” February 9, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, February 1972”
[digitized version]
Black Students League, “Our Specific Concerns,” February 20, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, February 1972”
[digitized version]
Thomas D’Andrea memo to faculty on BSL statements, February 21, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, February 1972”
[digitized version]
Puerto Rican Students at Haverford, “Some of Our Concerns,” February 22, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, February 1972”
[digitized version]
John Coleman, “Perspectives on the Black Students’ Statement,” February 23, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, February 1972”
[digitized version]
“A Summary and Chronology of Events Leading to and Related to the Boycott by the Black Students’ League and Puerto Rican Students of Haverford,” March 10, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, March 1972-1973”
[digitized version]
Greg Kannerstein memo on summer program, March 21, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, March 1972-1973”
[digitized version]
John Coleman memo on new athletics facility, March 30, 1972. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, March 1972-1973”
[digitized version]
The Sisterhood and the Black Students League, “The Status of Afro-American History in the Bi-College Community,” March 27, 1973. HCB-001-012, John R. Coleman presidential papers, Box 1, “Black Students League, March 1972-1973”
[digitized version]
PRSH, AASH, BSL memo to John Coleman, February 19, 1975. HCS-003-079, Rick DeJesús-Rueff, Documents pertaining to the history of Puerto Rican students at Haverford College, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Puerto Rican Students at Haverford memo to Stephen Cary, March 31, 1975. HCS-003-079, Rick DeJesús-Rueff, Documents pertaining to the history of Puerto Rican students at Haverford College, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Student Affairs Committee memo, May 6, 1975. HCS-003-079, Rick DeJesús-Rueff, Documents pertaining to the history of Puerto Rican students at Haverford College, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Juan Albino and Rick DeJesús, History of Puerto Rican Students at Haverford, ca. 1975. HCS-003-079, Rick DeJesús-Rueff, Documents pertaining to the history of Puerto Rican students at Haverford College, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Minorities Coalition Memo, April 13, 1977. HCS-003-079, Rick DeJesús-Rueff, Documents pertaining to the history of Puerto Rican students at Haverford College, Box 1.
[digitized version]
William M. Harris, Report on Diversity at Haverford College, 1980. HCB-001-014, Harry C. Payne presidential papers, Box 4, “Minority Affairs, 1987-1988”
[digitized version]
Report of the Joint Bryn Mawr College-Haverford College Diversity Review Committee, 1983. HCB-001-015 Thomas G. Kessinger presidential papers, Box 2, “Committee on Diversity, 1983”
[digitized version]
Report of the Committee on Diversity: Minority Concerns, 1984-1985. HCB-001-014, Harry C. Payne presidential papers, Box 2, “Committee on Diversity, September-October 1987”
[digitized version]
Harry C. Payne memo to Committee on Diversity, October 9, 1987. HCB-001-014, Harry C. Payne presidential papers, Box 2, “Committee on Diversity, September-October 1987”
[digitized version]
Marilou Allen’s response to Payne’s memo, October 28, 1987. HCB-001-014, Harry C. Payne presidential papers, Box 2, “Committee on Diversity, November 1987-May 1988”
[digitized version]
Matthew Hamabata, Report from the Office of Minority Affairs, January 1988. HCB-001-015 Thomas G. Kessinger presidential papers, Box 4, “Minority Affairs 1988-1989, Background Material, 1978-1988”
[digitized version]
Correspondence between Harry C. Payne and Vernon Dixon on affirmative action in hiring, May 18, 1988. HCB-001-015 Thomas G. Kessinger presidential papers, Box 1, “Affirmative Action, 1988-1989”
[digitized version]
Matthew Hamabata letter on race relations programming at Haverford, June 2, 1989. HCB-001-015 Thomas G. Kessinger presidential papers, Box 4, “Minority Affairs, 1988-1989”
[digitized version]
Calendar of Events for Black History Month at Haverford College, sponsored by the Black Students League, February, 1990. HCQ-003-043, Black Students League records, Box 1.
[digitized version]
BGALA agenda for a workshop on race and sexuality, February 13, 1995. HCQ-003-013, Sexuality and Gender Alliance records, Box 1, “Miscellaneous Materials, 1994-1996”
[digitized version]
Budgeting form for the Women of Color Group, ca. 1994-1995. Women of Color Group records, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Black Students League, “On Race Relations at Haverford: Where we are and where we could be.” HCQ-003-043, Black Students League records, Box 1.
[digitized version]
Guiding Questions
- Who created these sources? For what purpose?
- Describe the implied audience for these materials. What informs your opinion?
- How do discussions of race relations on campus by students differ from discussions by College administrators? How do different groups “measure” the campus climate as it relates to race and ethnicity?
- How does the language regarding issues of race and identity change over time?
- What tactics did student groups employ to express their needs and demands? How did administrators respond to these tactics?
- How are the issues and concerns expressed in these materials still relevant today?
- Whose voices are heard in these sources? Whose are not?