Williams’ Spaces, Places, and Names: Jan 18 - Feb 18

At Williams and other institutions of higher education, places, spaces, and names are not only historical objects, they are the interpretations they evoke in each one of us. The Williams Reads selected book, Ebony and Ivy written by Craig Steven Wilder, emphasizes that American colleges, in the way they use memory, are “not innocent or passive beneficiaries of conquest” and colonialism.

In this pop-up exhibit, the Committee on Diversity and Community’s past subcommittee selected four places, spaces, and names at Williams: the Haystack Monument, the Blockhouse plaque, the “Written in Stone Project,” and Ephraim Williams. They then asked a group of students, alumni, staff, and faculty to write labels to accompany these objects. As a result, an archival image has multiple labels, each written from different vantage points and thus representing the complexity of personal experience and institutional memory.

We encourage feedback. Please write your thoughts about this pop-up exhibit or reactions to Ephraim Williams, the Blockhouse plaque, the “Written in Stone Project.” or the Haystack Monument. Post-its and a board to stick them to are nearby. Your post-it can be anonymous if you like.  

Pop-up exhibits will be located in Sawyer Library (open 8am – 10pm) and Schow Library (open 8am-4:30pm). Opens January 18 and runs through February 18. A semester-long installation iteration of the exhibit will be in Special Collections Schow Gallery.

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