Browse Items (55 total)

This 1907 Messenger essay details the University's history as it is described as a matter of great interest to students and the community. Among the history of the foundation of the college, there is discussion of a "colored" server named Tom who Mr.…

This untitled black and white photograph featured in the Fall 1994 issue of the Messenger depicts three unnamed black boys. No location is given. This piece was paired with the short story "The Tobacco Road," which is about a white woman being…

This sketch (a brief, abstract descriptive poem) begins with the "fear of a black" that is then related to the prevention of typhoid, which "results in the American Army." The three words of "Negro / Mister / Coffee" follow the words "They mystify."…

This "Old Piedmont Negro dialect" poem was written by a white male student masquerading as a black storyteller. Its title refers to the fictional central character, Nias, an enslaved black man who is characterized as an unintelligent, unhygenic, yet…

The author of this poem claims that she is "an Asian who wants to be white" and begins the poem with the choice, "I want to be more American." When asked what's stopping her, though, she responds, "That's not who I am." The root of her desire to be…

The Winter 1970 edition of the Messenger featured several photos that depicted black individuals or enterprises. The front and back covers of the magazine are photos of a shop known as Nathan's Market. Nathan's was a mini-mart on West Leigh Street in…

This eulogy written in the "In Memorandum" section of the Fall 1957 Messengernotes the death and service of Esau Brooks, a black athletic trainer and staff member at the University. The piece demonstrates a great deal of admiration for its subject…

This anti-integration quote from student Olen Lewis claims that, while accepting black and white Americans as "brothers" that "love each other," they should desire to be separate in some instances. This was published four years before the Messenger…

This essay by then-editor-in-chief Louise Dinwiddie, analyzes the 1929 poem "The Chinese Nightingale" by white American writer Vachel Lindsay. The poem mentions many facets of Chinese culture and, as Dinwiddie recognizes, asserts that culture is…

This poem from the Spring 1990 issue of the Messenger features an assumedly French female student who corrects a classmate's pronunciation of the word 'femme fatale.' Another classmate then reminds her that they aren't in France. The narrator then…