Bryn Mawr Yearbook Photo 1938 – Nazi Flag

Welcome back,

After browsing through Bryn Mawr’s online Repository (for a whopping 2 minutes) I encountered this photo. The photo is from the 1938 yearbook and features unknown Bryn Mawr students or possibly faculty/staff and a Nazi flag.

For context, Bryn Mawr is going through a process of archiving and indexing its history. This process has begged the question of who is in charge of maintaining or combating injustices of the college? I am stunned–ashamed. What a horrible photo to include in the official yearbook of the school. As a current Bryn Mawr students I am more upset to say that this photo has not been mentioned or named once in the classroom.

I can only imagine how many other inappropriate photos are scattered throughout our college’s history and archives. Anti-Semitism is all too present in the school’s past and surely now in the future. What actions will take to prevent such ignorant mindsets?

In class today, we pondered a number of questions: Whose job is it to do this discovery work? What does the process of flagging these types of photos look like? Where would we like to recognize and acknowledge these photos?

This post will become part of an ongoing series that will stand as the initial flagging of Bryn Mawr’s problematic history. In exposing the college’s history, the intent is to honor the harmed and silenced. Furthermore, we will also be working to prevent such misfortunes in the future by actualizing our college’s history and setting an equitable precedent.

Talk soon.

Aaliyah Joseph ’22