In the News
The “Messy Experiment”
Bunting Fellows in conversation, circa 1964-1972; Tillie Olsen, holding a cup, is at right. Photograph by Olive Pierce (circa 1964-1972). Copyright (C) the Pierce family. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard UniversityOn November 20, 1960, scientist Mary Ingraham Bunting unveiled her vision for the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study. Newly appointed as Radcliffe’s president, she made her announcement just weeks after the country had elected John F. Kennedy its youngest president.
So What Have You Been Up To?
Image courtesy of Jessica BrilliHarvard faculty and staff talk about how they’re spending their time during social distancing when there’s nowhere to go and no one to see.
COVID-19 Targets Communities of Color
Photo credit Jonnica Hill/UnsplashCamara Jones RI '20 and other Harvard specialists say the pandemic exacerbates longstanding inequities in American society.
Reporting on the World between the Wars
Dorothy Thompson is one of four journalists written about in Nancy Cott's new book. Thompson is pictured circa 1940. The image is held by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College ParkHistorian Nancy F. Cott tells the story of the period through the lives of four American foreign correspondents.
The Pandemic Isn't Distributed Evenly
Illustration from Radio Open Source/Creative CommonsCOVID-19 has an acute sensitivity to social standing in America—to our race and class lines, our work habits and age brackets.
African Americans Facing Higher Rates of Coronavirus
Camara Jones. Photo by Tony RInaldoCamara Jones RI '20 says COVID-19 outbreak's devastating affect on the African American community is caused by increased exposure to the highly contagious virus.
The Collective Effort
Joan Kane. Photo by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff PhotographerJoan Naviyuk Kane RI '20 and other Harvard affiliates from the nationwide "To Serve Better" project reflect on how coronavirus is affecting their communities.
In Prisons, a Looming Coronavirus Crisis
Photo source UnsplashHarvard experts, including Radcliffe's Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Kaia Stern, warn of rapid spread in prisons amid crowded conditions and large numbers of older individuals with chronic conditions.
A New Reality
One former fellow wrote from Oxford, in the United Kingdom, where life has "completely changed within just two weeks."We asked Radcliffe fellows around the world to write about the life-altering effects of COVID-19.
The Quarantine Diaries
Jessica Brilli, Study: The Neighbor's House. Acrylic on panel, 2020. 9" x 12".The history of our present moment is taking shape in journals and drawings. “Diaries and correspondences are a gold standard,” says Jane Kamensky of the Schlesinger Library. “They’re among the best evidence we have of people’s inner worlds.”