Browse Items (55 total)

This poem details the sloppiness and ungratefulness of students and contrasts it with the diligent and thankless work that janitors do to keep campus clean. The race dynamics of this relationship are not mentioned, but this piece is paired with a…

Despite his family having immigrated to the United States from Europe in the late 19th century, the author of this essay states, “I’ve no claim to be an American.” He establishes that his family has helped the government because it has helped them,…

This essay, written by freshman John E. Donaldson, was the opening piece in the Fall 1957 edition of The Messenger. In it, Donaldson describes his hesitance toward forced integration. He begins his argument by asserting that he is "not defending the…

This essay was written by University of Richmond student, Richard Cook, who chastises the university for its continuation of its segregation policy. Cook's main argument is that while the university prides itself on being an advanced forward-looking…

These illustrations, one of a white woman, one of a black woman, one of a white man, and one of a black man, accompany quotes from social scientists denying any difference in intelligence based on race. These statements conclude that the belief that…

The narrator of this poem claims that, if he were black, he wouldn't mind being turned away from a white cemetery. The poem finishes by arguing that "it's white of them to give what tantamounts to [an integrated world], and makes us all, for what…

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…

This poem from the 1954 Messenger addresses a bumpy city bus that the narrator rides, urging it to pay attention to the people that ride it. This narrator speculates about the lives and personalities of some assumedly white riders before listing off…

This short story was written by student Yeu Chor Chan from Hong Kong. This story was his first publication in English. In it, he describes a peaceful scene by a lake (possibly Westhampton Lake, as a "brick bell tower" is to the left of the narrator…

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…