Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Administrative History
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Related Material
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Arrangement
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Vassar College. Africana Studies Program |
| Title: | Vassar College 1969 Black Studies Sit-in Records |
| Dates: | 1966-1974 |
| Quantity: | 0.8 cubic feet (2 boxes) |
| Abstract: | Materials related to the early years of the Vassar College Black Studies Program and the student sit-in staged in 1969 for improvements to the program along with other demands relating to the African-American community both on campus and off. |
Administrative History
Vassar College’s Black Studies Program was established in the Fall of 1969, one of a number of similar programs established at colleges and universities across the country in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. With recommendations and urging from the Students’ Afro-American Society (SAS), a multidisciplinary program in Black Studies was approved by the Board of Trustees in February, 1969. The Urban Black Studies Center was also established and opened off-campus that year to provided educational opportunities in Black studies and Black history for Poughkeepsie residents and Vassar students. However, both initiatives were considered experimental and not assured of permanent funding.
On October 22, 1969, the SAS presented the College’s administration a list of demands related to the Black Studies Program, the Urban Center, and student services. Among their concerns were: the inability of the Black Studies Program to grant degrees; a lack of Black faculty; a lack of funding for the program; a lack of transportation between campus and the Urban Center; and a lack of contiguous housing for the exclusive use of African-American students. Dissatisfied with the administration’s response to these demands, 32-35 students occupied the first floor of the Main Building on October 30 and barricaded themselves inside, including administrative offices, the mail room, and the campus switchboard. They remained until November 1, when the College and Trustees agreed to most of the protestors demands. The occupation drew substantial national publicity. The Catlin Report, formally the report of the Joint Ad-Hoc Committee on the Education of Minority Students, recommended increasing the number of Black students, faculty, staff, administration, and trustees; a larger proportion of financial aid to Black students; a commitment to the Black Studies concentration equal to others in the Vassar curriculum; a commitment to the Urban Center as part of the academic Black studies program; separate housing as an option available to Black students (but no dormitory assigned exclusively to Black students for legal reasons), and a cultural center for Black students. The Board of Trustees approved the report in December, 1970.
Renamed the Africana Studies Program in 1976, the program is the oldest of Vassar’s multi-disciplinary programs.
TopScope and Content Note
The records document the creation of the Urban Center for Black/Africana Studies, beginning in 1968. Included are faculty, trustee, administration, and student reports and correspondence documenting the establishment and early growth of the program. Also included are student handouts, administrative correspondence and reports, and press clippings recording the extensive coverage of the 1969 occupation of Main, which played a significant role in the program’s development. Records of the Urban Center and material related to its activities within the Poughkeepsie community are included. Correspondence also records fund-raising efforts for the projects.
TopArrangement
This collection is organized into seven series by type of material.TopAccess and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Subject Headings
Organizations:
- Vassar College--Administration
- Vassar College--Students
Subjects:
- African American students--New York (State)
- African Americans--Study and teaching
- Black people--Study and teaching
- College students, Black--New York (State)
- Student movements
- Student protesters
Document Types:
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Fliers (printed matter)
- Reports
VCL Categories:
- Vassar College Events and Issues
Encoding Information
Encoded by Jessica Kemm, October 2009. Updated by Emma Gronbeck, April 2024.
TopAdministrative Information
Preferred Citation
Vassar College 1969 Black Studies Sit-in Records, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Date of original processing unknown.
Acquisition Information
Materials were transferred from several Vassar College offices.
Series List
Series I. Articles and Clippings, 1966-1974 |
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Series II. Flyers and Handouts, 1969 |
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Series III. News Releases, 1969-1972 |
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Series IV. Reports, 1969-1974 |
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Series V. Correspondence, 1968-1974 |
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Series VI. Black Studies Program, 1969-1971 |
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Series VII. Miscellaneous, 1969-1974 |
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Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Materials related to the early years
of the Vassar College Black Studies Program and the student sit-in staged in 1969
for improvements to the program along with other demands relating to the
African-American community both on campus and off.
