Hope and Despair Greet the New Century, 1989 – 1990
Four color lithograph with chine collé and sculptured attachments
State: 17/34
23 1/8 x 33 1/2 in. (58.738 x 85.09 cm)
Bequest of Margaret Healy, PhD 1969
Bryn Mawr Special Collections, 2022.12.74
In the wake of the Civil War, moving towards the twentieth century, the founders of Bryn Mawr College were driven by both hope and despair. Despair over the destruction of war, the plight of Indigenous peoples, and the enduring trauma of slavery. Hope that institutions shaped by Quaker values could build a better future for the people of the United States and the world.
Today we find hope in some of the founders’ accomplishments, but despair in the harm caused by the exclusionary and even destructive ways through which they realized their goals. We struggle with how those legacies burden our community today. We work to transform this institution. We hope to create better futures.
How can we resist accepting or excusing the shortcomings of the Bryn Mawr that has been and is?
How can we imagine a better Bryn Mawr now? How do we build a better Bryn Mawr together?
How will our intentions be read in the future?