Researchers interested in the history of Black faculty, staff, and students at Drexel often ask about firsts: who was the first Black engineering graduate or who was the first Black woman to earn a master’s degree? Another common question is about the number of enrolled Black students over the years. But these seemingly simple questions are often difficult to answer because Drexel administration didn't systematically gather and collate data about race until the 1970s.

But that doesn't mean these questions are impossible to answer!

Attend this webinar and learn about the history of enrollment of Black students at Drexel and the administrative policies that effected it. Archives Technician Simon Ragovin will share records from the 1940s through 1970s that contain fragmentary enrollment data and document the often-discriminatory policies and perspectives of that period. 

He will also discuss some reasons why the process of archival research is often time-consuming and why research into the history of marginalized groups and individuals is often more difficult.

Who should attend: Drexel faculty, staff, students, alumni and others interested in the history of Drexel or in archives and the process of archival research

Presented by: Simon Ragovin, University Archives Technician

Recorded sessions: If you can’t attend a live webinar, don’t worry! We will provide a link to the webinar recording following the event.

Zoom Details: Please register using the form below to receive the Zoom login details for this session.

About Wednesdays@Noon

The Drexel University Libraries' (DUL) presents Wednesdays@Noon, a regularly scheduled series of 30-minute webinars that connect Drexel researchers, faculty, staff, and students with the Libraries’ expertise, tools, resources, and services.

Wednesdays@Noon brings together expert Libraries staff and members of the Drexel community for training sessions and discussions. These will include instructional sessions that guide effective use of the Libraries’ tools and systems, awareness sessions that promote DUL’s authoritative information resources and how to incorporate them in coursework and research, and practical sessions that share best practices to support Drexel Dragons in their work to create and shape future scholarship.

Wednesdays@Noon webinars are held at 12 p.m. on Wednesdays throughout the academic year. Sessions are open to all Drexel faculty, students and staff. Sessions will be recorded and posted on the Libraries’ YouTube page for anyone who cannot attend the live events.

Contact libraries@drexel.edu with questions or to suggest a future webinar topic.