Black Student Experiences at Wellesley College
HistoryMaker Miriam DeCosta-Willis, The HistoryMakers, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/miriam-decosta-willis-39
HistoryMaker Shirlee Haizlip, The HistoryMakers, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/shirlee-haizlip
The vast array of the anecdotal material that can be found within the archive was one of the key features that drew me to the Digital Archive. Within my first few weeks as a Student Ambassador, I found myself inspired to search for alumnae from my college, Wellesley College, in the archives. It is so important foundationally to understand who the Black students before me were and how they worked to create the spaces that I take up today. I used the search term “Wellesley.” I organized a playlist of clips based on the chronological timeline of Wellesley Alumnae HistoryMakers by graduation year. Not only did this paint a picture for me but it allowed for, as Ms. Julieanna Richardson (the founder and president of The HistoryMakers) has described, “the collection having a conversation with itself.” Each story from these various alumnae created an overall fountain of knowledge about Black student Wellesley experiences. The clips built on each other and the progression of Black student life was on full display.
1973. “Black at Wellesley: Ethos Choir” [Image]. Wellesley College Archives Image Gallery, Identification # WCA_2017_11_29_004. Artstor, https://library.artstor.org/public/24424738.
The first clip that I explored was from HistoryMaker Miriam DeCosta-Willis (1934-2021) (Wellesley College Class of 1956) who co-founded the Memphis Black Writer’s Workshop and taught as a professor at numerous universities (including as the first African-American Professor to teach at Memphis State University). Ms. Willis’ interview gave foundational context for what Wellesley was like for Black students in the 1950s with there being a very tiny number of Black students: “there were only three… two other blacks and myself… And I guess, as a whole, there were maybe twelve”.[1] It was known that there was once a time when there were no Black students at Wellesley (as with many Predominantly White Institutions) and a time when there were very few but Ms Willis’ anecdote breathes life into that reality.
The next clip from HistoryMaker Shirlee Haizlip (1937-) (Wellesley College Class of 1959) provided anecdotal experiences that are invaluable to understanding the environment that Black students resided in. Ms. Haizlip was the first African-American to become a general manager of a CBS affiliate network, and she has also written numerous books. When the interviewer, Larry Crowe, mentioned to Ms. Haizlip that during her time at Wellesley, “they had a cap on the number of black students each class,”[2] Ms. Haizlip responded, “Um-hm, as they did with Jewish students as well, um-hm… But it was never talked about, you know. We only just discovered it because you knew they weren't there, you know.”[3] Ms. Haizlip also noted that Black students were not all light-skinned: “there were brown skinned people so… who were light and brown. They weren't all light by any means.”[4] This clip speaks to one of the reasons why the preservation of African-American oral histories is important: it allows us to record anecdotal accounts of history that often are not found in written texts. Oral histories allow for historically silenced narratives to be front and center and this clip created a deeper understanding of my institution’s history for me.
1983. “Ethos” [Image]. Wellesley College Archives Image Gallery, Identification # wca00912. Artstor, https://library.artstor.org/public/SS35279_35279_21165831.
HistoryMaker Dr. Vivian Pinn, The HistoryMakers, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dr-vivian-pinn
HistoryMaker Dr. Vivian Pinn (1941-) (Wellesley College Class of 1963) was the first African-American woman in the United States to chair a pathology department when she was appointed to the position by Howard University. Dr. Pinn provides more clarity about the total Black population, when she says, “There were a total of eight blacks on campus when I got there. There were two seniors… two sophomores, and four of us in the first-year class.”[5] Given the seven year difference between the year that Ms. Willis graduated from Wellesley and the year that Dr. Pinn graduated from Wellesley, it is noteworthy that there were still less than ten Black students total on campus.
HistoryMaker Callie Crossley, The HistoryMakers, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/callie-crossley
HistoryMaker Desiree Rogers, The HistoryMakers, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/desiree-rogers-41
HistoryMaker Callie Crossley (1951-) (Wellesley College Class of 1973) who has had an amazing career as a journalist, director and producer, including an Oscar nomination and a National Emmy Award for “Eyes on the Prize” and HistoryMaker Desiree Rogers (1959-) (Wellesley College Class of 1981) who has had a remarkable career, including becoming the first African-American White House Social Secretary during fellow HistoryMaker President Obama’s presidency, helped to provided more recent context about Wellesley. Their narratives felt the most familiar and connected to my own. As an Africana Studies major, when Ms. Rogers noted that she spent, “some time learning about my culture in my… years… at Wellesley”[6] I completely related to that statement. Further, when Ms. Crossley emphasizes that the Black students before her made a, “big push to get more black students… and they had gone to the administration and said this is ridiculous”[7] I was reminded of the Black students in the years above me who have been “big siblings” and champions for me since I toured Wellesley. For them, I am inexplicably grateful and for these Black alumnae the same is true: thank you, I am grateful!
February 6th, 1972. “Ethos” [Image]. Wellesley College Archives Image Gallery, Identification # wca00914. Artstor, https://library.artstor.org/public/SS35279_35279_21165839.
Notes:
[1]Miriam DeCosta-Willis (The HistoryMakers A2003.173), interviewed by Kelly Navies, July 31, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Miriam DeCosta-Willis describes her experience at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts from 1952 to 1956
[2]Shirlee Haizlip (The HistoryMakers A2013.341), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 16, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 2, Shirlee Haizlip talks about the racial demographics at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts
[3]Shirlee Haizlip (The HistoryMakers A2013.341), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 16, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 2, Shirlee Haizlip talks about the racial demographics at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts
[4]Shirlee Haizlip (The HistoryMakers A2013.341), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 16, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 2, Shirlee Haizlip talks about the racial demographics at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts
[5]Dr. Vivian Pinn (The HistoryMakers A2013.197), interviewed by Larry Crowe, July 22, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 2, Dr. Vivian Pinn recalls her friends at Wellesley College
[6]Desiree Rogers (The HistoryMakers A2007.169), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 27, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 5, Desiree Rogers remembers Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts
[7]Callie Crossley (The HistoryMakers A2013.118), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 23, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 9, Callie Crossley talks about her positive experience at Wellesley College, Massachusetts
