It was such a treat to visit the current exhibit at the Schlesinger Library entitled Illuminate: Contextualizing Asian American Women’s Stories through the Archives. Our tour wasled by Victor Betts, Curator for Collections on Ethnicity and Migration at the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Thank you, Victor!

This exhibit spotlights the stories and lives of Asian American women whose collections are held in the Schlesinger Library. From pamphlets and photographic albums to government reports and playbills, these archives reveal how Asian and Asian American women were perceived and depicted through an American lens through time. These views were reflected in government policies such as the Page Act of 1875, the first restrictive federal immigration law in the U.S., targeting Asian immigrants, but especially Chinese labor and women.

These archives tell often invisible and undertold histories of Asian and Asian American women in the United States. Looking through layers of identities, the exhibit examines how race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship, and migration impact the collective memory of a nation. While we can still draw many parallels in the present time to those historical views of Asian and Asian American women, we also learn about the remarkable strength and resiliency among these often marginalized communities. Inspired by the Japanese festival of Tanabata, visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to write down their thoughts and reactions on strips of paper (called tanzaku 短冊) and hang them for others to see. One visitor wrote: “… how might we use the archives and use these past relationships to forge connections, and preserve knowledge/collective memory?”

The exhibit is on view in the Lia and William Poorvu Gallery at the Schlesinger Library through January 30, 2026. It is free and open to the public.

For those of you who are not able to travel to Radcliffe, there is a wonderful digital exhibit on the Schlesinger Library’s website. You can also listen to the Illuminate Spotify Playlist, which is pretty cool!

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Last month, we had a wonderful tour of the current exhibit entitled Hồng-Ân Trương: With love from your Vietnamese sisters at the Radcliffe Institute. Thanks, Meg Rotzel, Curator of Exhibitions at Radcliffe College, for giving us a great tour!Our visit was joined by friends and colleagues from the Harvard Art Museums.

We enjoyed seeing and learning about Trương’s work, which engages deeply with archival materials to examine structures of time, memory, and the production and circulation of narrative histories. For this exhibition, Trương responded to an object held at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library: a scrapbook created by the Vietnam Committee for Solidarity with the American People and gifted to Angela Davis in 1972.

We were also delighted to hear a story Meg shared about three intergenerational Vietnamese women who had never met before attending a public tour of the exhibit. They ended connecting after the tour and even returned to the exhibit again as a group and get together to cook.

Trương recently received an Anonymous Was A Woman Award. Congratulations to Trương!

Hồng-Ân Trương: With love from your Vietnamese sisters is organized by Caitlin Julia Rubin, a visiting curator at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Latula x Cronus aka Radcliffe is better than Davekat.

Background from Befriendus

i know i turn her on at radcliffe cambridge oct 27 1972

Daniel Radcliffe Raps Blackalicious’ “Alphabet Aerobics”

In the same episode:

Helen Keller: I wanna get wrecked by a townie

Peter Griffin: hey was Beowulf a sequel to teen wolf starring Scott Baio?

Blue Moon

August 19th, 2024. a Blue Moon, but also a Sturgeon Moon. And a Super.

There were many reasons why tonight was special, and those were all good reasons. And truly, the moon’s state was a big reason why he had chosen tonight.

They were in the clearing, just across the river from their home. Esmee was already asleep, Sistina watching over the young wrymling from the living room

it was a chillier night that he had been expecting, but Vatoris was _not_ caught _unawares_…or, at least, not entirely.

Controlled fire balls and a blanket could be _very_ useful for staying warm

“..pass the cocoa”

as well as some _expertly_ made hot chocolate.

The man chuckled, holding the thermos over to his amatas, his Radcliffe. Shoulder to shoulder, head leaning on Radcliffe’s own, there was a _wonderful_ calm that had settled between them.

He had, of course, asked Radcliffe here as a date. A nice picnic, with _well_ made food. And, of course, a few favorites from the _store_.

There were so many things he was willing to bother with for his loved ones, and dealing with the food from the marketplace that was instant _was_ one of them.

Vatoris watched as warm, brown hands took the thermos and poured himself out some more of the drink. The moonlight helped to illuminate the man beside him, in a luminescence that seemed to fit him.

From bright eyes, to sun kissed skin, to dark hair….he couldn’t imagine any one else being here with him, tonight.

He couldn’t imagine asking this question to any one else ~~again~~

“….Radcliffe”

“Hrm..?”

he took a shaky breath, focusing his red and purple eyes up at the moon

“You and I have been…seeing each other for some time now, yes?”

he could hear the way Rad tapped his fingers on the cup, and nodded

“about 5 or so years now, I think” there was humor in his voice, fond and rumbling as that beautiful head of his leaned to the top of Vatoris’s own

(he didn’t worry about getting poked by Vatoris’s horns. He simply leaned, careful of them but not letting them stop the affection. It was another reason Vat’s heart soared near this man)

“…Indeed” a nod, and he’d slip his hand out from underneath the blanket, palm up, requesting

it only took a few moments for the lovely brown of his ~~husband~~ boyfriend’s hand to settle there

~~_here goes everything_~~

“…I have a question for you.” he started, _willing_ his voice not to _shake _ “….you know that I’ve…I haven’t had much… that is, I’ve had very…”

_he had practiced this so much, where were all of his words!_

“what’s the matter? _le petit bipeur a ta langue?_”

a chuckle, and his tail wrapped around Radcliffe’s waist

“.._not quite_” but she _did_ have the _box_…

“…._I love you_, Radcliffe…” he tried again, and felt the way the man beside him tensed _ever_ so slightly. It was something…they _both_ did. In the beginning, every once and a while

‘love’ was a complicated, foreign thing. But….they had decided to _share_ it.

It had been trial and error. It had been team work and arguments and _patience_.

It had been the gentle hand holding that now graced his knee, those purple and red eyes staring down at them

“…_I love you very much…and I…I’ve a question for you, that has been on my mind for some time.._” admitting it made his cheeks darken with color, the tip of his tail flicking with anxious energy

though, he could feel the side of Rad’s head move. No longer head to head, instead there were warm, chapped lips against his temple

_Radcliffe squeezed his hand_

“…._yeah..?_” was mumbled out…_coaxing_ him

“…._we’ve talked about it…before…_” Vatoris offered, and could _feel_ Rad’s heart skip a beat

~~or maybe that was just his own~~

“…_y-yeah.._” a deep breath, and the man beside him leaned his forehead against Vatoris’s, piercing blue eyes watching him “…._go on then_”

_that was **practically** confirmation…_

but he’d do this _right_

“Radcliffe DuBois…” murmured sweet and softly, Vatoris’s free hand came up to cup his cheek, tilting his head (careful of his own horns) to meet those lips “….._will you do me the **honor**…of allowing me to share the rest of my life with you ….? as your husband…? As **my** husband..?_”

There were so many things the two of them had shared over their long history together. Laughs, tears, shouting matches. A bed, showers, love. Meals, taxes and so on.

This was a mix of tears and laughter. It was a moon, a soft song, and the feeling of warm lips against each others

“Je fais…_vin_” french _and_ elvish, more things they had shared together, Radcliffe’s hands came to cup the sides of his face “…_you can have me, ya’grump.._”

laughter and a grumble came up his chest, ignoring the jab in favor of letting the love _Flood_ from his heart in this moment

“i’ ar ame’ mar…_tu es mon coeur_” was whispered in a breath, before all of it was taken by the warmth of his _fiancee’s_ lips against his own

the world blurred together with tears, however he was _quite_ certain that beautiful blue, sturgeon, super moon had turned _Gold_

there was a few moments of heated shared breath, before Vatoris edged out a laugh

“…_do you still wish to see the ring?_”

there, in that moment, was where laughter was shared between them as well

it was a beautiful night~

Daniel’s photoshoots are my endless sketch inspiration

I’m glad your enjoying the story!

I can’t quiet remember if the boys were born before David passed. If any were, I’d say he likely passed away when Dylan (And possibly Dawkins) were very young. Too young to understand death or its ramifications. However everything he has left behind has had a huge effect on them to this day! His study is full of science and history books. As well as his telescope and some nerd memorabilia here and there! Even if he was gone before they were born his memory has had a lasting impact!

As for Demelza, its a sort of Nature and Nurture situation. A lot of it has to do with who raised her and how. Her parents were a big influences, but so were her Uncle Radcliff and Aunt Dot.

Her mum, Orie (Oreo), is really instrumental. Orie grew up in a poor family and had, what I like to call, terminal eldest daughter syndrome. Not terminal in that it will kill you, but in that it will kill your relationships. Orie’s parents were the lowest rung on the social ladder. Both working hard at menial jobs for long hours and very little pay. Her parents were happy though, loving each other and their children. It was just that Orie (Oreo) was the eldest, so when her parents were at work, she was raising her siblings. Unlike Dolly and Dylan years later, she had NO time off because her parents took NO time off. She also started caring for them when she was very young. She was basically parenthesized against her will with zero ability to punish them. Her siblings always acted up when she was caring for them, but became angels when her parents were home, with her parents downplaying the misbehavior they didn’t see when Orie complained about it. Orie always had issues with her parents because of this and a few other things. (Including her birth name Oreo, which got her picked on a lot.) So as soon as she turned 18 she left, and hardly talk to any of her family again.

However that childhood made Orie dream of a Cinderella life. Where she’d marry well and never have to cook or clean. Never have to care for a flock of screaming children, with a nice big house. Not to say she’d marry for money alone. She just knew what she wanted. Patch certainly didn’t match many of these prerequisites. He wasn’t rich, just well off. He didn’t have a huge house, he lived in a nice one with his sick parents. He had to do some cooking and cleaning, but it wasn’t alot. However he did save her life and was very kind to her. (They met during an air raid and had to take shelter in a doorway together.) At first Orie just volunteered to help him with his block captain work, but they got to now each other, fell in love and married.

It wasn’t a fairytale marriage, but it worked very well! Patch was passive and indecisive, but kind. Orie knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it, even if she was a little rough around the edges. They worked together very well, even if it was Patch saying ‘Yes dear.’ most of the time. When the subject of children came up however, Orie was not interested… at first. She spent her childhood and teenage years raising her siblings, she didn’t want to do it all over again as an adult. She was finally enjoying life for dogs sake! However as time went on, Patch’s siblings had children.

Orie supposed Little Dipper and Domino were cute… Plus now that she was an adult they actually listen to her. Not to mention Patch was so good with them… hmmm…

Eventually she pulled Patch aside and agreed to have ONE child. Patch was over the moon, he just wanted one anyway! They ended up have Demelza and Patch loved her to bits! Orie went through a weird phase after Demelza was born where she didn’t really … love her baby? Not that she hated Demelza, it was just she didn’t feel this instant love that she expected? (This is called the baby blues and its actually really common for many mothers!) After a week though the feelings came and Orie started to bond with Demelza!

Orie was content to let Patch do most of the emotional rearing for Demelza. She took over schooling, manners and other things. She had a pretty good life… but Demelza’s could be even better. She was the one who pushed her daughter to climb the social ladder. Not wanting her to be stuck with tons of kids and house work when Demelza grew up. That mixed well with Uncle Radcliff, who had just moved back into the house after a stress stroke. Uncle Radlciff owned a factory and mingled with the upper crust a lot. (He and Orie got along swimmingly, both being a bit cold and grumpy, if well meaning.) Demelza looked up to Uncle Radcliff, whatever he and mum said was gospel just about. This also coincided with Aunt Dot moving in after her husband died suddenly. She was a bit like Patch, a push over and soft spoken. However unlike her three siblings she didn’t work. So she took over cooking and cleaning, much to Orie’s delight. (Orie got along best with Dot and Radcliff of all of Patch’s siblings. Not that she argued with any of them much.) Dot wanted children but never had any, so she enjoyed helping to raise Demelza, which did help soften her demeanor greatly.

So yeah, it was a HUGE mix of four parental figures in her life that caused this. Her friends also play a part in how snooty and uptight she can be. David used to be able to settle her, but he’s no longer around…

Oh and fun fact! Demelza was named by her mother. Orie, as I said, was bullied a lot as a child because she was named after a ridiculous, American snack cookie. (Oreo) She insisted that her daughter have a refined, dignified name! So Demelza it was.

(God I love exploring generational trauma with characters!)

Memory Fragment 57.

“The conflagration’s point of origin was obvious. First the Library caught fire; and it spread disastrously when the gas-line exploded.”

— Conflagration’s Origin // Radcliffe

Memory Fragment 55.

“A dutiful, honorable daughter would commemorate her deceased family in marble. I know a gifted sculptor with whom I might negotiate a commission.”

— Marmoreal Memory // Radcliffe

Memory Fragment 52.

“Whoever said true art serves neither ornament nor use is ignorant of the aesthetic of the East.”

— Aesthetic Opinion // Radcliffe

Memory Fragment 48.

“Catastrophe may strike even the best regulated families, Miss Liddell. Of course, one family’s disaster may be another family’s opportunity. And the same goes for a surviving family member, if you know what I mean.”

— Accidents Do Happen // Radcliffe

Memory Fragment 41.

“Odd indeed. Unusual perhaps. Even extraordinary. But nearly nothing is unique, Alice. Yours was not the first brick home to be destroyed by fire.”

— Brick Homes Do Burn // Radcliffe

Apparently my great-grandmother graduated from Radcliffe in 1915, so I looked up her yearbook.

I was a little worried because according to the yearbook and newsletters I found from Radcliffe 1915, the big “hot topic” that everyone on campus frequently debated was women’s suffrage.

There was a huge anti-suffrage club at the school, and I was dreading finding my great-grandma’s yearbook entry. Can you imagine the embarrassment of finding out your great - grandmother was in an anti - women’s suffrage club?

(I mean I have found some really fucked up shit about my dad’s family *hashtag Black Dinner of 1440*… my maternal grandma had some Jewish mafia cousins… but anti-women’s suffrage?? Excuse me???)

But thankfully… NOT IN THIS FAMILY

Not only was my great-grandma in the Suffrage Club, she was also in the Socialist Club.

Think she would have gotten along with my other great-grandma Anna, who often went to Eugene Debs rallies…

I also suspect she may have helped found the Menorah Club at Radcliffe, but unfortunately since it was 1915 and .. you know… patriarchy bullshit, the Menorah club records from the time only mention info about men involved in the Menorah Club. Radcliffe (as the women’s section of Harvard) only gets a tiny footnote. Typical.

According to family, Anna was apparently quite the character, and didn’t put up with any shit.

Oxford Radcliffe camera | Limited edition fine art print from an original drawing.
The Radcliffe Camera is a building of Oxford University, England, designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.

My sketches start life as hand-drawn graphite images made on cartridge paper. I often work on these with charcoal, oil pastel or Caran d'Ache to create the look I’m after. The artwork is then scanned and finessed digitally ready for fine art printing. This process often referred to as Giclée printing uses the highest standard of printing methods to give gallery quality results that maintain all the details of the original sketch.

The graphite pencils I use are Faber-Castel, the oil pastels are Sennelier and the china-graph is Caran d’Ache. The inks are pigment based archive quality (100years+). The heavyweight specialist papers I use are of the best professional quality having a wonderful surface designed specifically for fine art drawings and illustrations.

Very limited editions with only ten per size printed.
All artwork is signed and includes a certificate of authenticity.

The A5 are 5.8" x 8.25" (14.8cm x 21cm)
The A4 are 8.25" x 11.7" (21cm x 29.8cm)
The A3 are 11.7" x 16.5" (29.8 cm x 42cm)
The A2 are 16.5" x 23.4" (42 cm x 59.4cm)
Originals are A3 11.7" x 16.5" (29.8 cm x 42cm)

Frames not included in price.
Free shipping on artwork to all destinations.
https://www.seanbriggs.co.uk/product/oxford/?feed_id=2680&_unique_id=65aa25d28ff49

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The 1916 Company launches merging WatchBox, the preeminent global platform, and community for collectible watches, with leading watch retailers Govberg, Radcliffe, and Hyde Park Jewelers across the U.S. The 1916 Company was created to form a leading global destination and community for fine watches, jewelry, education, and experiences. The 1916 Company brings together the primary and secondary markets under a single, unified brand, comprising more than 20 boutiques and Collector’s Lounges in key watch markets worldwide.

WatchBox was founded in 2017 by Danny Govberg, Justin Reis, and Tay Liam Wee to raise the experience for clients digitally as they collect, sell, trade, and learn about watches —while engaging with like-minded enthusiasts who share their passion for watches. The 1916 Company advances this mission, offering collectors a welcoming, trusted, global partner for both new and collectible pre-owned watches, as well as fine jewelry, a dynamic media platform, and a global network of Collector’s Lounges and boutiques, supported by a dedicated team of Client Advisors.

“Watches have the power to bring people together,” remarked Justin Reis, Global CEO of The 1916 Company. “Over the years, we’ve observed our collectors’ desire not only for digital connectivity, but the rich experiences of physical interaction —they value the bonds formed with our dedicated Client Advisors and the friendships they’ve made across our community. The evolution into The 1916 Company is a natural progression for us, shaped by our clients’ voices and needs. With The 1916 Company, we’re reinforcing the sense of community, rooted in our existing relationships, while eagerly embracing the opportunity to forge new ones. Our vision starts and ends with our customer.”

Justin Reis and Danny Govberg

The 1916 Company is now one of the world’s foremost luxury watch and jewelry retailers, connecting the strengths and legacies of the largest pre-owned platform with three independent jewelers. Hospitality, warmth, generations of experience, and long-standing partnerships with the most respected luxury watch brands, including Rolex and Patek Philippe, set the tone for this next chapter. The company’s presence spans eight multi-brand salons and five mono-brand boutiques in Pennsylvania —Philadelphia and Ardmore—, Maryland —Baltimore and Towson—, Delaware —Newark—, Colorado —Denver—, California —Newport Beach— and Arizona —Scottsdale.

John Shmerler and Damon Gross of Radcliffe and Hyde Park Jewelers, respectively, will lead The 1916 Company’s authorized retail network. These locations are complemented by lounges in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, and Dubai, as well as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Boca Raton. The 1916 Company’s $200+ million pre-owned collection is accessible both online and across all physical locations, with a distinct focus on the ultra-rare, collectible timepieces and the world of artisanal independent watchmaking.

“We want collectors and enthusiasts to enjoy visiting us around the world; to feel part of our extended family and Collector’s Circle as they discover The 1916 Company’s uniquely personalized approach to collecting and our extraordinary watch and jewelry collections,” said John Shmerler.

John Shmerler

A future-focused business, the company’s name honors the legacy of Albert Govberg who founded Govberg Jewelers in Philadelphia in 1916. Danny Govberg, Co-founder, Executive Chairman, and grandson of Albert, shared:

“In creating The 1916 Company, we embrace our identity as a 107-year-old start-up. The principles of our business are rooted in enduring relationships, while our commitment to innovation and transformative change drives us to anticipate the ever-evolving needs of discerning watch collectors today and tomorrow.”

In a separate release, The 1916 Company will announce that it has joined the official network authorized to sell Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watches. Effective today, Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watches will be available for sale online at Govbergwatches.com and Radcliffejewelers.com and within dedicated Rolex CPO environments at the company’s Official Rolex Jeweler locations. Pre-owned Rolex timepieces will no longer be presented on www.thewatchbox.com.

New and existing clients of WatchBox, Govberg, Radcliffe, and Hyde Park Jewelers will be introduced to The 1916 Company over the forthcoming six months.

For more info on The 1916 Company click here.