President Frederick's Statement on Content in Special Collections and Yearbooks
Drury University maintains an array of records consistent with capturing the history of the university, the nearby community, and the issues, perspectives, and events that characterize an institution whose roots date to 1873. Some of the records are administrative, bureaucratic, or organizational in nature. Others chronicle leadership changes, and document student, faculty, and staff life in the decades since Drury began its mission. Archives exist to document history as it was, not as we wish it had been, and offer opportunities for teaching, research, and broader exploration of the past, present, and future.
As with any institution whose life cycle spans centuries, some of the records and documents collected can be offensive or harmful, and reflect social, political, intellectual, or cultural ideas of the past that may be discriminatory in nature. These are challenges that all archives and repositories must face: maintaining the accuracy of the records of the past while acknowledging that some aspects of the collection are offensive, outdated, biased, and inconsistent with the core values of inclusion, and respect for all. As the National Archives and Records Administration notes, “some content may be harmful or difficult to view. NARA’s records span the history of the United States, and it is our charge to preserve and make available these historical records. As a result, some of the materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions.” Other professional associations, such as the Society of American Archivists have similar statements, as do scores of universities who, like Drury, make their collections available.
When possible, Drury makes its materials available without redaction, as suppression of the past does harm to an understanding of the issues confronted by previous generations, and fails to contextualize the ways people and institutions have wisely and bravely pushed away from past offenses, discriminations, and prejudices.
It is a best practice to provide content warnings and archivists have ongoing professional development to assist them in using accurate descriptions that characterize items in a responsible, respectful, and sensitive manner. Drury University’s institutional archives contain past records including visual materials and yearbooks that may reflect outdated, discriminatory or prejudicial views on matters of race, ethnicity, gender, social class, disability, sexual orientation, or religion. If you feel Drury University’s archival records contain content that is sufficiently not marked as potentially harmful, please contact the university librarian and archivist.
