Staff Writer Morgan Blair spoke with Stephen Poulson, a sociology professor whose research has led him to finding racist depictions and imagery in college yearbooks, including at JMU. Experts say
This Black History Month, the Black community has been sharing their stories that havenât been told over social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Whatâs particularly unnerving to see is how many other individuals havenât learned about Claudette Colvin, Jane Bolin and other Black heroes.Â
In my Sociology 110 class with Stephen C. Poulson, I was educated on how yearbooks capture history and how Poulson, along with students Hailey S. McGee and Tyler J. Wolfe, read through UVA, W&L and JMU yearbooks from 1890 to 1930, creating the study Racism on Campus: Yearbook Pictures from Prominent Virginia Colleges (1890-1930), where they showed normalization of racism in the pasts of these Virginia universities.Â