How The First Black Smithies Live In Us Today
Record Group 80.02 Classes, Smith College Archives, box 1584, folder 17. Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Black-and-white photographic print of a portrait of Otelia Cromwell (Class of 1900) from the 1900 Smith College Yearbook.
Cromwell Day Context
In 1989, in response to student activism, which called for further education and reflection around issues of race and diversity, Otelia Cromwell Day was created.
In 2019, the name was changed to Cromwell Day to honor the legacies of both Otelia and Adelaide Cromwell.
Today, Cromwell Day is a full-day event. Classes are canceled, keynote addresses are given, and music is sung. Workshops and other performances are held in the afternoon and evening. It is a well-planned event, with a lot of intention put into organizing speakers and workshop design.
In recent years, a short film has been shown on Cromwell Day, “The Life and Legacy of Otelia Cromwell”. The video provides a closer look at Otelia’s life and legacy at Smith. However, many Black Smithies, including myself, have felt disconnect from the life and legacy of the Cromwells. Who they were and why they mattered seemed more complex to me than they were the first to break race barriers at Smith.
The Cromwells deserve to be more actively recognized for their contributions to Smith College, civil rights, and society. Centering the Cromwells’ and connecting their legacy to current black students’ experiences at Smith feels especially vital today. I wanted to tell the story of the importance of the Cromwells’ legacy while also prioritizing the current climate at Smith for black students. This was the basis for my project.
The research questions guiding this project:
- What works by Black women have been forgotten or neglected?
- How do we bring attention to these individuals and their work?
- How can uplifting Black voices of the past empower Black students at Smith today?
- How does representation cross generations?
- How does it inspire current Smithies of color?
Research Process
This began with a deep dive into the literary works and academic acheaviements of both Otelia and Adelaide Cromwell.
Followed by many hours combing through the Cromwell Family Papers in Smith College’s Special Collections. This was my first time getting to explore the Cromwell archives in a meaningful way and it was eyeopening.
I found myself smiling at family portraits and Christmas cards, eyes widening at dated Valentine’s, and chuckling at Otelia’s motherly scolding of Adelaide in their letters.
Faculty and staff biographical files, College Archives, CA-MS-01008, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.
The brown box of images that Adelaide had full of polaroids was particularly special to go through. Photos of friends and family across all seasons, wedding receptions in the living room, lounging on the beach, enjoying the outdoors. And documenting major civil rights events like Rev. Martin Lurther King’s Funreral in 1968.
Preliminary Questions: Think About…
- What do you know about the Cromwells already?
- What would you like to know more about?
- How do you recognize your ancestors?
- Do you think about the people that inhabitited the space before you?