Framed in History

Back in 2019, a group of students stepped forward with a request: They wanted more information about how Smith might do a better job of honoring its earliest students of color. After talking to Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Floyd Cheung, an idea was hatched to develop an exhibit to showcase the barrier breakers of Smith’s formative days.

Then the pandemic intervened. The college shut down, and plans were put on hold. In place of a full exhibit, a slideshow in the Goldstein Lounge in the Campus Center was created as a temporary tribute to some of the college’s first graduates of color. 

But Cheung never gave up on the idea of a permanent gallery. “I long believed that we needed something with more gravitas, something that would really showcase the impact these students of color had on Smith not only while they were here but in the years that followed,” Cheung said. 

Now, nearly seven years after the idea was first proposed, a new portrait exhibit in Seelye Hall—titled Our Predecessors—is celebrating the lives and legacies of five remarkable Smith women who, through their perseverance, determination, intelligence, and grace, transformed Smith and expanded the idea of who belongs here. The portraits will be officially dedicated at a ceremony on March 6 at 4:30 p.m. in Seelye.

The gallery honors:

• Salome Amelia Machado, class of 1883, Smith's first Latine student
• Angel DeCora, class of 1896, Smith’s first Native American student
• Otelia Cromwell, class of 1900, Smith’s first African American graduate
• Tei Ninomiya, class of 1910, the first Asian student to graduate from Smith
• Sabiha Yassin Hashimy, class of 1937, the first Middle Eastern student to graduate from Smith.

Their 18-by-24–inch photographs—many of them familiar archival images—were restored and newly framed by local photographer and digital artist Jim Gipe. “They look amazing,” Cheung said. “These wonderful images have been given new life for the community to enjoy.” 

The portrait gallery is the culmination of a years-long effort to bring attention to the contributions of Smith’s earliest students of color. In 2001, then-President John Connolly asked Smith archivist Nanci Young to research and document Smith’s early graduates of color. In 2016, buildings in the Friedman Apartment Complex were named in honor of the graduates now featured in the exhibit. Seelye Hall was chosen as the home of the new photo gallery because as one of Smith’s main academic buildings it receives significant foot traffic on a daily basis. Plus, it offers more space to expand the gallery to include more graduates over time. 

Cheung noted that exhibits like Our Predecessors are important elements of the fabric of campus life because, as research by psychologist Claude Steele shows, environmental cues, such as photographs, names on buildings, and artworks, can affect one’s sense of belonging. “There are many facets to the work of inclusion. Some of it is academic, some of it is systemic change, some of it is visible and symbolic,” Cheung said. “What we know is that representation matters.”            

When Cheung views the portraits he says he feels a sense of gratitude for the courage and conviction these alums embodied. “I’m inspired because they represent the beginnings of the diverse college we have today,” he said.

He hopes current students and other members of the Smith community will see in the gallery both a tribute and a call to action—an invitation to recognize the legacy these women built and to continue expanding it. “This exhibit is one piece of a much larger, ongoing effort,” he said. “The work of equity and inclusion doesn’t end with honoring the past. It continues in how we build on that foundation, ensuring that future generations feel the same sense of belonging these trailblazers helped make possible.”