This exhibit, presented by Special Collections and Archives, highlights social movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Visitors can explore exhibit themes which include literature and social movements, radical spaces of The Claremont Colleges and visual culture as traces of struggle.

The Pitzer College English 161A Archiving Social Movements class, led by Visiting Assistant Professor Whitney DeVos (PO ’08), curated this exhibit with the goal of engaging in the act of archiving to highlight voices of oppressed groups, marginalized communities and social movements as a form of activism (learn how you can also get involved). With this in mind, students explored various materials within Special Collections and Archives with the Social Movements Collections as a focal point, and then curated local examples of social movements such as the Black Civil Rights Movement, Chicanx Movement and the United Farm Workers movement.

Selected items on display range from pamphlets, zines, photographs, banners, posters, programs, art, tattoo designs and more. (Please Note: Some of the materials contain adult/explicit content.) As students worked thoughtfully to select works central to their themes, student curators made additional discoveries in the collections that increased the breadth of the collections represented. In the exhibit, the curators present the histories of struggle surrounding these artifacts, so that they, as well as visitors to the exhibit, can also ask what sorts of forgotten or occluded futures they invoke.

Exhibit highlights include:

• Print, graphics, newsletters, a paño and more from the Social Movements Collection.

• Photographs from the Pitzer History Project Collection.

• News clippings and newsletters from The Claremont Colleges Periodicals Collection and the Radical Newspaper Collection.

• A graphic t-shirt and buttons from the Darlene Nicgorski Papers on the Sanctuary Movement.

• Music, statements and a banner from the Women's Union Collection.

Exhibit Details
North Lobby Gallery, The Claremont Colleges Library (800 N. Dartmouth Ave., Claremont, CA 91711)
March 8, 2023 – July 29, 2023* (extended for the summer!)
Exhibit on view during Library building hours

*Please note this is the correct end date; our calendar is limited to a 45-day window so the dates listed below will be updated as time goes on.

Accessing the Collections
Students, faculty and staff of The Claremont Colleges, as well as members of the community, are welcome to consult the collections for research and instruction. You can explore the collections and schedule your Reading Room appointment today.

For more information, please contact Special Collections.