Records of the Harvard Black Students Association, 1977-2005, and undated
Overview
The Harvard Black Students Association, also known as the BSA, was established during the 1976-1977 academic year. The records document the history, activities, and interests of this group.
Dates
- Creation: 1977-2005,
Creator
- Harvard Black Students Association (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Box 1 of the Records of the Harvard Black Students Association is open for research. University records in boxes 2 and 3 are restricted for 50 years from their date of creation. Student records in boxes 2 and 3 are restricted for 80 years from their date of creation. Specific restrictions are noted at the folder level.
Extent
1 cubic feet (2 document boxes, 1 half document box, and 1 portfolio folder)The records document the history, activities, and interests of this group.
Documents include newsclippings and flyers, correspondendence, meeting minutes and agendas, administrative records, photographs, subject files, and publications.
History of the Harvard Black Students Association
The Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association, also known as the BSA, was established during the 1976-1977 academic year, in response to a call to protest an article in the Harvard Lampoon. Replacing the then-defunct Association of African and Afro-American Students at Harvard and Radcliffe (AFRO), the BSA aimed to present the black student perspective on minority issues at Harvard, such as affirmative action and the development of Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department. As a deliberate contrast to AFRO and as an attempt to re-ignite student interest, the BSA was founded with no specific political or philosophical frame of reference. By 1985, however, the BSA had become an umbrella group for all black student organizations and its activities primarily political. The BSA gradually took over that coordinating role from the Harvard-Radcliffe Afro-American Cultural Center, which was established in 1969 and defunct by the mid-1980s.
As of 2007, the BSA strives to establish and promote interaction between black students at Harvard College, as well as to encourage interaction among all members of the Harvard community and facilitate dialogue between the Harvard, Cambridge and Boston communities. The ultimate goal of the Association is to provide a forum for the open expression of the political, social, and cultural views of black students. To this end, it provides a variety of political, cultural, and social programs and services to its membership and the black community at Harvard. In 2003, the BSA published the first Black Guide to Life at Harvard.
Biographical / Historical
The Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association, also known as the BSA, was established during the 1976-1977 academic year, in response to a call to protest an article in the Harvard Lampoon. Replacing the then-defunct Association of African and Afro-American Students at Harvard and Radcliffe (AFRO), the BSA aimed to present the black student perspective on minority issues at Harvard, such as affirmative action and the development of Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department. As a deliberate contrast to AFRO and as an attempt to re-ignite student interest, the BSA was founded with no specific political or philosophical frame of reference. By 1985, however, the BSA had become an umbrella group for all black student organizations and its activities primarily political. The BSA gradually took over that coordinating role from the Harvard-Radcliffe Afro-American Cultural Center, which was established in 1969 and defunct by the mid-1980s.
As of 2007, the BSA strives to establish and promote interaction between black students at Harvard College, as well as to encourage interaction among all members of the Harvard community and facilitate dialogue between the Harvard, Cambridge and Boston communities. The ultimate goal of the Association is to provide a forum for the open expression of the political, social, and cultural views of black students. To this end, it provides a variety of political, cultural, and social programs and services to its membership and the black community at Harvard. In 2003, the BSA published the first Black Guide to Life at Harvard.
Series in the collection
The collection is arranged in eight series:
Acquisition Information
- Accession 17367; 2006 May 26, the Association
- Accession 17703; 2007 September 20, Harvard College Student Activities Fair
General note
This document last updated 2015 May 7.
Processing Information
A small subset of the Records of the Harvard Black Students Association were first classified and described in the Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980. In March 2008, Juliana Kuipers re-processed the material. Re-processing involved integrating accessions and reorganizing the collection, housing materials in the appropriate containers, establishing a series hierarchy, and creating this inventory. All call numbers were simplified.
Publications of the BSA and other Harvard organizations were cataloged individually in HOLLIS.
Creator
- Harvard Black Students Association (Organization)
- Title
- Harvard Black Students Association. Records of the Harvard Black Students Association : an inventory
- Author
- Harvard University Archives
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua12008
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu