Update:

Winter Recess: Harvard Library and the University are closed from noon on Wednesday, December 24, 2025 through Thursday, January 1, 2026. Check library hours and view our services schedule.

Exhibit

Illuminate

Contextualizing Asian American Women’s Stories through the Archives
A black and white photograph of the members of a Chinese American girls basketball team, gathered togehter for a team photograph. The three girls in the front row are seated with the center girl holding a basketball. The other five girls are standing behind them. The girls are in their basketball unifroms, dark skirts and white blouses with a ribbon draped aroud their shoulders. Two teachers or coaches are in the back row center.
Denison House Chinese girls' basketball team, 1931.
Credit: Photo by O. H. Steir/ Denison House Records, Schlesinger Library.
A black and white photograph of the members of a Chinese American girls basketball team, gathered togehter for a team photograph. The three girls in the front row are seated with the center girl holding a basketball. The other five girls are standing behind them. The girls are in their basketball unifroms, dark skirts and white blouses with a ribbon draped aroud their shoulders. Two teachers or coaches are in the back row center.

Through Friday, Jan 23, 2026

Open to the public

Location

Lia and William Poorvu Gallery, Schlesinger Library, Harvard Radcliffe Institute
Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
3 James Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
See All Hours
Exhibition webpage

Illuminate: Contextualizing Asian American Women’s Stories through the Archives spotlights the stories and lives of Asian American women whose collections are held in the Schlesinger Library. The featured materials provide viewers an opportunity to think critically and contextualize the often invisible and forgotten histories of Asian and Asian American women in the United States. At the same time, the exhibition examines how race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship, and migration impact the collective memory of a nation through primary sources.

Visit us Monday through Friday, 9am–4:30pm