Love is a Two-Way Street: The Power of Archives and Re-remembering Black Women at Haverford College

Abstract

Haverford College was founded in 1833 by a group of Quakers. In 1980, one hundred and forty-seven years later, Haverford officially became a coeducational institution. This year, 2020, marks 40 years since the first admitted class included women, three of which were Black women. After searching the archives and confirming with the registrar, I discovered that the first three Black women to graduate from Haverford in 1984 were Bev Babers, Samantha Phillips Beers, and Donna Daniels. Love is a Two-Way Street: The Power of Archives & Re-remembering Black Women at Haverford College argues that Black women are invisible in the college archives. The legacy of Black women who have been a part of Haverford for the past forty years in roles as students, faculty, and staff has not been properly documented or acknowledged. History is constructed, and often in majority-white institutions, at the heart of that construction is a racial and gendered erasure of the contributions of women of color. This thesis is a response to that silencing and meant to pave the way for a more balanced and just revisioning that will help bring greater accuracy to our record.