News archive

[September 2012]

Bridge 2012

Imagine a televised presidential debate this fall in which women of color are asking the questions. When the focus turns to the hot-button reproductive rights issues that are in the headlines - abortion, rape, same-sex marriage, funding for contraception - what questions would women of color pose? What would the candidates have to answer for?

About 50 first-years, all students of color, pondered this possibility as they participated in “Saving Our Stories: Women of Color Remember the Past and Shape the Future.” This pre-orientation session introduced them to the riches of the Sophia Smith Collection that document the lives of their mothers’ and grandmothers’ generations. The students viewed and discussed videotaped oral histories in which African American, Native America, Latina, and Asian American activists describe tackling a range of issues, from environmental pollution and sterilization abuse to immigration status and maternal mortality, in their efforts to gain reproductive health and rights in their communities.

So while we may not see that imagined election-year debate in 2012, we take heart. We look forward to seeing these new Smith students in the SSC over the next four years as they prepare to assume responsibility for framing the questions that guide public policy and hold national leaders accountable in years ahead.

Browse the Women of Color subject guide

March for Women's Lives, Washington, D.C. (2004)

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[April 2012]

Red Flame

On April 4 and 5 , Hampshire College student Jaymes Timpson Winell presented a most engaging and inspiring song-and-dance performance entitled Red Flame. Based on the life and work of her grandmother, Anne Burlak Timpson whose papers are now in the Sophia Smith Collection, Jaymes' performance has made great use of these materials. So, too, will the archived material provide rich sources for her final research paper, all part of her Division III senior project. Timpson (1911-2002) was a Communist Party official and labor organizer who went to work at fourteen and within two years became an activist, fighting for the rights of workers as she would continue to do for decades. Her papers include correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, interviews, audiovisual materials, and an unfinished autobiography. In Red Flame, Timpson's granddaughter presented an emotionally-charged and spirited look at one woman's efforts to make social, political and economic justice a reality for all Americans. At the same time, it was very much grounded in the historical context.

As Jaymes herself said, "This performance is an attempt to put history on its feet, share some songs and stories, and explore what fearlessness might look like." The Sophia Smith Collection is pleased and proud to be a part of such endeavors.

[January 2012]

SSC images now searchable!

Digital images from the SSC can now be searched and viewed in the Smith College
LUNA image database.

To date, over 300 images from our collections have been added and the online collection will continue to grow.

More information on finding images

For older news stories:

   View PDF versions of the SSC's former newsletter, Imposing Evidence

   Read selected articles (1998 to 2004) from past newsletters

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