Vassar celebrates Black History through a variety of events and activities, while also highlighting the accomplishments of its students, faculty, and alums.
Vassar professors and local community leaders were determined to get Poughkeepsie-born Jane Bolin—the first Black woman appointed judge in the U.S.—the recognition she deserved. To spotlight Bolin’s life, work, and legal legacy, city officials proclaimed April 11 (Bolin's birthday) Jane Bolin Day.
Associate Professor of Political Science Taneisha Means’s student-supported research on the lives, work, and impact of Black judges in the U.S. was recently published in the book Robed Representation.
Exploring Transfer alum Dr. Mildred Johnson ’03, a nonprofit executive, talks about the transformative power of education on the Conversations @ the Salt Line podcast. After transferring to Vassar for her four-year degree, she earned two master’s degrees at Johns Hopkins and a PhD at the University of Chicago. Watch and listen to the podcast.
Alexis Pauline Gumbs discussed her new book, Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, and led a workshop for students and faculty during a recent visit to campus.
Architectural drawings and personal papers of the late Jeh Vincent Johnson, a renowned architect who taught architectural design at Vassar, were donated to Vassar by his family and are now housed in the College’s Archives and Special Collections Library.
Professor Mia Mask’s critically acclaimed book, Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western, examined the evolution of Black westerns from the 1950s to the present. Now the film professor brings a 15-film series focused on the genre to the British Film Institute.
As part of Vassar’s Inclusive History Initiative, students in a Vassar Intensive presented research relating to the Rev. Howard Thurman, a religious and civil rights leader who gave more than a dozen sermons at the College between 1928 and 1957.
