By Nimisha Bhat, Assistant Librarian for History, Anthropology, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
With the start of summer and Pride month, it’s a great time to check out some highlights from UC’s library & consortium collections to celebrate trans history, queer culture and LGBTQIA liberation! Here are a few titles to learn from and enjoy: Continue reading
Tag Archives: diversity equity inclusion
RESPECT Presents a 20-Day Self-Education Against Systemic Racism
Systemic racism is defined as “policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization, and that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race (Cambridge Dictionary).” How does systemic racism bleed into education? The University of Cincinnati Libraries’ R.E.S.P.E.C.T. developed a 20-Day Self-Education Challenge to explore examples of systemic racism – both past and present – that exist in various areas of education, along with ways in which we can help dismantle those practices.
Scheduled to take place May 22-June 16, the challenge is divided into four weeks, each with a different theme.
- Week 1: Critical Race Theory – what is it?
- Week 2: Systemic Racism in Education – a history
- Week 3: Systemic Racism in Academia
- Week 4: Systemic Racism in Academic Libraries
Learn on your own and then gather online each Friday at 11am via Zoom for a moderated discussion of each week’s module. Register now to watch, read and listen to informative pieces. The challenge is free and open to all. Each week’s module will be sent to those who register along with the Zoom link for the weekly conversation
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Racial Equity Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team) is a UC Libraries committee charged with developing external programming that explicitly addresses the negative role that systemic racism plays in our society.
Tiffany Grant Awarded the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty
Tiffany Grant, PhD, assistant director for research and informatics and co-director of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research and Data Services Unit, in a ceremony held April 4, was honored to receive the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty. Named for the celebrated civil rights activist, this award is designed to showcase current campus-affiliated individuals and groups whose efforts relate to diversity, equity and inclusion and who have had a positive impact on the university.
Nominated by her colleagues, Tiffany was commended for her commitment to promoting awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion; exhibiting sensitivity to people of various cultures; facilitating growth among colleagues and peers; preparing students, faculty and staff to thrive in a diverse and global workforce; and collaborating with colleagues to create and implement initiatives and policies that build an equitable and inclusive environment. One nominator wrote of Tiffany that she, “embodies the spirit and dedication to spreading awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all her work at the University of Cincinnati.” Continue reading
OhioLINK DEI e-books now available
Thanks to the State Library of Ohio awarding OhioLINK the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grant funded by IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), we now have access to ‘Phase 1’ of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion electronic book collection (see complete Excel list) . OhioLINK’s goal was to bring better representation of diverse communities and perspectives to the library collections. Through the ProQuest platform’s curated librarian-selected collection that covers various subjects with diversity and representation in race, gender, religion, physical ability, age, political persuasion, and sexual orientation, that goal was met.
This dynamic digitally shared collection allows all OhioLINK member libraries to have an unlimited number of users and perpetual access to all 82 e-books. Books can be accessed through a search in the UC Library Catalog or by following the directions below. Check it out!
- Log in to UC Libraries’ proxy: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.uc.idm.oclc.org/lib/uc/home.action
- Search for the book’s title (e.g., Setsuko’s Secret : Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration)
- A green “Available” indicator means we have access. Happy reading!
Langsam Library exhibits installed in honor of Black History Month pay tribute to trailblazers and display the enormous loss in the Middle Passage
On display in the Walter C. Langsam Library are two new exhibits created and installed for Black History Month. The first pays tribute to Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers – Lucy Oxley and O’dell Owens. The second exhibit displays the enormous loss of life in The Middle Passage.
Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers
On display on the 4th floor lobby of Langsam Library, this exhibit features materials from the collections of UC Libraries about Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color to receive a medical degree from the UC College of Medicine, and O’dell Owens, renowned physician, former Hamilton County coroner and the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.
The Middle Passage
On the 5th floor lobby of Langsam Library is a large map depicting the Middle Passage, which commonly refers to the experience of enslaved African people as they traveled across the Atlantic Basin to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. Illness, insanity, hunger, dehydration, torture, revolt, suicide and ship wreck led to the death of ~1.8 million Africans at sea during their Middle Passage.
The exhibit corresponds with the Uncommon Read of the book “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” by Sowande’ M. Mustakeem. A Lunch and Learn with the author is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.
Both exhibits were curated by UC Libraries faculty and staff: Meshia Anderson, Susan Banoun, Sidney Gao, Tiffany Grant, Gino Pasi and June Taylor-Slaughter. It was designed by UC Libraries communications design co-op Jakob Elliott.
UC Libraries resources in celebration of Black History Month
UC Libraries presents resources and collections in celebration of Black History Month.
Louise Shropshire: An Online Exhibition
An online exhibit featuring Louise Shropshire a Cincinnati Civil Rights pioneer and composer.
Theodore M. Berry Papers Project
An exhibit highlighting the 2010 project to completely process the papers of Theodore Moody Berry, Cincinnati’s first African mayor.
Marian Spencer: Fighting for Equality in Cincinnati
An alumna of the University of Cincinnati (Class of 1942), Marian Spencer fought for Civil Rights in Cincinnati for nearly seventy years. This exhibit examines her career and her papers at the Archives and Rare Books Library.
The Colored Citizen
Published in Cincinnati sporadically from the height of the Civil War in 1863 until approximately 1869, The Colored Citizen was edited by a group of African American citizens from Midwestern cities, including Cincinnati. It was a paper with general news, but with a focus on the political, economic, and cultural affairs that had an impact on African Americans of the age. The Archives and Rare Books Library hold one issue of this paper.
Phillis Wheatley
In 1773, at the age of 20, Wheatley published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, making her the first published African-American poet.
Lucy Oxley
Source article highlighting Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color ever to receive a medical degree from the College of Medicine. Continue reading
Join UC Libraries’ RESPECT group in reading and discussing “Slavery at Sea”
The University of Cincinnati Libraries Racial Equity Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team (RESPECT) and the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library are hosting a book discussion and Lunch and Learn with Sowande’ M. Mustakeem, author of “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.
How to get the book:
“Slavery at Sea” Book Giveaway
RESPECT has purchased 20 copies of “Slavery at Sea” to give away free to the first 20 individuals who request a copy via the form.
OR Unlimited e-book access to “Slavery at Sea”
UC Libraries has acquired unlimited e-book access to “Slavery at Sea” for those wishing to read the book online. It can be accessed via the Library Catalog.
Join us for weekly Book Discussion Chats
RESPECT will sponsor weekly opportunities to discuss “Slavery at Sea.” These discussions will take place virtually via Zoom and will be held Thursday, February 2nd, 9th and 16th from 11am – noon. Register to attend one or more of the sessions.
RESPECT’s “Slavery and Sea” book discussions and Lunch and Learn are part of a larger Un-Common Read event being held throughout the university in celebration of Black History Month.
UC Libraries closed Monday, Jan. 16 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. from LIFE Magazine
UC Libraries will be closed Monday, Jan. 16 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.The Libraries will resume normal hours on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Want to read up on Martin Luther King, Jr., his impact and legacy, and how you can make a difference? Check out these library resources and the Racial Justice Resources for Activists, Advocates and Allies Research Guide.
University of Cincinnati Press title, “Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching,” named a 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
“Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching,” edited by UC’s Rita Kumar and Brenda Refaei, and published by the University of Cincinnati Press, has been named a 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Title.
Each December, Choice publishes its list of Outstanding Academic Titles. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles, both print and digital, reviewed by Choice during the previous year and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community. The list is quite selective, containing approximately ten percent of some 5,000 works reviewed annually in Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. Continue reading
UC Libraries resources in celebration of Juneteenth
Juneteenth, a combination of June and nineteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865 when federal troops, led by General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, and read General Order Number 3, freeing the quarter million enslaved people in Texas. This was two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; however his edict could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. This day came to be celebrated as Juneteenth.
Juneteenth is the oldest celebration of the ending of slavery in the University States. African American people have been commemorating it since 1865 with picnics, BBQs, church services and with some people traveling to Galveston to mark the day. In June 2021, President Biden proclaimed Juneteenth a federal holiday called Juneteenth Day of Observance. The University of Cincinnati, and UC Libraries, observes this holiday, and will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022 in its honor.
To learn more about Juneteenth, check out these sources:
UC Libraries Resources
The following is a short list of items located in UC Libraries about Juneteenth. There are many more books, articles, videos, etc. that can be searched through the Articles tab on the Libraries’ homepage.
- “On Juneteenth” by Annette Gordon-Reed. Located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, call number: E185.93.T4 G67 2021
- “Juneteenth : the story behind the celebration” by Edward T. Cotham, Jr. Located in the Walter C. Langsam Library Cohen Collection (on the white shelves in the front of the library), call number: E185.93.T4 C684 2021
- “Juneteenth!: celebrating freedom in Texas“ by Anna Pearl Barrett.
- “Juneteenth: fact sheet“ by Molly Higgins. Congressional Research Service –
General Resources:
- “Juneteenth: What You Need to Know.” History Channel
- “Juneteenth!”
- “What is Juneteenth?”
- “The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth.” National Museum of African American History and Culture
- “What is Juneteenth?”