The EDI Antiracism Committee (EDIAC) led a conversation with the State Library of Oregon (SLO) about the "legacy" applied to the first State Librarian Cornelia Marvin Pierce. Pierce has been celebrated for years as a remarkable name in librarianship. However, many library workers and the general public are not aware of her advocacy in the horrific practices of eugenics and her husband's involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. The EDIAC and the SLO both agree Cornelia Marvin Pierce does not represent librarians and library staff, therefore celebrating her as an outstanding librarian and maintaining the honorable plaque donated by her sister at the State Library of Oregon's premises is unnecessary, unwanted, and unwelcome.
We thank the SLO for the open dialogue about this theme and for removing the plaque.
"A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority." -Booker T. Washington
Anti-Racist approach when honoring someone.
*Based on EOU Library Naming Final Report
OLA Equity Diversity Inclusion and Antiracism Toolkit- The Trajectory of an Initiative.
OLA LIOLA 2021 Presentation by Librarian Marci Ramiro-Jenkins
Data Analysis examples below were extracted from the
EDI Antiracism Committee OLA Preconference Presentation
Access Pre-Conference recording HERE
