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Today, Wellesley College can proudly state that its students come from 87 countries of residence. But, how did the College's student body look at its inception? Old documents including yearbooks and publications reveal the College enrolled a handful of students of color as early as 1883.
Today, Wellesley College can proudly state that its students come from 87 countries of residence. But, how did the College's student body look at its inception? Old documents including yearbooks and publications reveal the College enrolled a handful of students of color as early as 1883.
Using materials from the Wellesley College Hall Archaeology Project (WCHAP) and the Archives, our team discovered evidence of these students' lives at Wellesley and a sense of how they might have been treated while on campus.
Using materials from the Wellesley College Hall Archaeology Project (WCHAP) and the Archives, our team discovered evidence of these students' lives at Wellesley and a sense of how they might have been treated while on campus.
Concerned with both ethnicity and tradition, we came up with a central question to guide our research: What are the intersections between ethnicity, race, and traditions at Wellesley? How is this reflected in the material culture obtained from the excavation?
Concerned with both ethnicity and tradition, we came up with a central question to guide our research: What are the intersections between ethnicity, race, and traditions at Wellesley? How is this reflected in the material culture obtained from the excavation?
An object that stood out among the WCHAP materials as relevant to this theme of ethnicity and race was a fragment of a ceramic blue plate. The sherd is small with raw edges of what appears to be porcelain. Although the object is old, it clearly features a blue and white pattern, similar to the style found on Chinese porcelain from the Yuan dynasty. Over time, as the beauty of these clay creations - ranging from pots to figurines - gained popularity, they were appropriated heavily in the West. And thus, we can assume that this plate was created as a Western “copycat” of the real thing, most likely mass-produced in a factory. Nevertheless, appropriation is at play as it references a desire for non-Western culture, raising the larger question of Wellesley’s role in this culturally exploitative tradition. Putting this fragment into the context of Wellesley and College Hall is not a challenge. Images from the archives reveal plates with similar patterning were used for eating in the dining halls. While this plate was not made in China, it addresses the desire for cultural objects, highlighting the orientalism and appropriation that the College participated in.
Another object that stood out as particularly relevant to our theme of ethnicity and tradition was the fragment of a Japanese bell broken during the fire now housed in the Wellesley College Archives. The bell was originally used in a Japanese monastery, presumably to alert the monks to prayer or as an alarm bell in the mornings or for meal times. In the picture to the right, the inscription by the bell reads: "Bell from ancient Buddhist temple in Japan. Given to Wellesley College by J. L. Graves of Boston. Inscribed by Ka-me-da. Giver of Bell to the Buddhist Temple. Cast and Engraved by Ko-ga-wa Ku-ni-no-lu, in the eleventh year of the Age Bunka [1804-1818]." (2) The bell was then given to Wellesley in 1875, and its purpose shifted. Rather than maintaining the religious or cultural ties from the bell's original context, Wellesley used the bell as an alarm system for wake up calls in the mornings and as a fire alarm, placed in the College Hall atrium to be rung by an assigned student. Similarly to the sherd of the blue and white ware plate, this bell fragment and the Japanese bell itself were a part of an appropriative Orientalism and fascination with Japanese and Asian culture on the part of the College. For example, apart from this bell and other decorative objects and patterns from Japanese culture, Wellesley hung a samurai sword inside College Hall. It is important to note that the Japanese students enrolled in Wellesley at the time would have had to interact with these objects outside of their original contexts. Though not quite the same as the Japanese bell used in College Hall, Wellesley carries on its own tradition of bell usage through Galen Stone Tower and the carillon bells.
Through our research, we also found a piece of a sled from the excavation. Sledding has become a big part of the Wellesley community during the winter as it allows both students and faculty to enjoy the winter snow on campus. It connects people on a personal level, highlighted through images from the archives that show how anticipating faculty members are to sled in the winter. Even today, sledding is an activity that Wellesley students and faculty enjoy. Serving a similar purpose of leisure and communal activity, a purple bottle of bubbles was found in the excavation. The purple bubbles represent the purple class of Wellesley, a symbol which reflects on the Wellesley tradition of using colors to represent different classes. The purple bubble bottle is a reminder that unites students regardless of their differences in race or ethnicity.
Though the intersection between ethnicity and traditions at Wellesley is not always apparent, objects such as the fragments of the blue and white ware plate and the bell illustrate how the main tie to ethnicity lies in the appropriated nature of these objects. It highlights the reality that Chinese and Japanese students at the time would have encountered these out of place objects as they walked about College Hall.
Though the intersection between ethnicity and traditions at Wellesley is not always apparent, objects such as the fragments of the blue and white ware plate and the bell illustrate how the main tie to ethnicity lies in the appropriated nature of these objects. It highlights the reality that Chinese and Japanese students at the time would have encountered these out of place objects as they walked about College Hall.
Traditions at Wellesley have largely been considered an aspect of the College’s history and culture that fosters community and a greater sense of belonging. However, noting the potentially divisive nature of displaying objects with an appropriative history is crucial to this theme and important to acknowledge.
Traditions at Wellesley have largely been considered an aspect of the College’s history and culture that fosters community and a greater sense of belonging. However, noting the potentially divisive nature of displaying objects with an appropriative history is crucial to this theme and important to acknowledge.
Two objects that symbolize non-exclusionary traditions at the College that we have included as a part of our exhibit are the purple bubble bottle, which relates to the tradition of class colors, and the sled fragments, which relate to the tradition of ‘traying’. These objects, though unrelated to ethnicity or race, represent unity amongst all students, regardless of their backgrounds.
Two objects that symbolize non-exclusionary traditions at the College that we have included as a part of our exhibit are the purple bubble bottle, which relates to the tradition of class colors, and the sled fragments, which relate to the tradition of ‘traying’. These objects, though unrelated to ethnicity or race, represent unity amongst all students, regardless of their backgrounds.
Bibliography
Bridges, Elana. "The Women of Seed to Harvest" Davis Museum at Wellesley College https://www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum/whats-on/Virtual_platform/the-women-of-seed-to-harvestCollege Hall. 1875-1914. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_21165296Dining Room, College Hall. 1875-1914. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_15803418Japanese Bell. 1875-1914. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_15800831Rosa, Mary. “Letter from Mary Rosa, Wellesley, Massachusetts, to her mother” 20 April 1911. Wellesley College Archives Digital Repository. Sledding down Severance Hill. 1925. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_15799304Students Riding a Sled. 1974. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_15799311Van Jura, Matthew J. "Tradition Today: How Student Affairs Professionals Can Strengthen and Preserve Campus Traditions," The Vermont Connection: Vol. 31 , Article 12. 2010. https://www.uvm.edu/~vtconn/v31/VanJura.pdfMonkhouse, Cosmo. "A History and Description of Chinese Porcelain" Cassell and Company, Limited. 1901. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zZJpAAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=IA3&dq=chinese+porcelain+history&ots=ygMueeiwX2&sig=svPKcWU0nfGmPQQrogiBlN4qjGQ#v=onepage&q=chinese%20porcelain%20history&f=falseHeader Image: Hoop Rolling. 1930-1970. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35279_35279_15801614
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