Haystack, Hawai'i and Institutional History
Sat, September 8th, 2018
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
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The Haystack monument was erected in 1867 to honor former Williams students who met on a spot near what is now Mission Park in 1810 and went on to found the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. During the 19th century, it sent missionaries to China, Hawai’i, and other nations in southeast Asia, teaching numerous indigenous peoples and spreading Christianity worldwide. The Haystack was recently reviewed by the Committee on Campus Space and Institutional History which considered several “controversial works of art”.
The Field is the World: Williams, Hawaiʻi, and Material Histories in the Making, features an exploration of Williams’ complicated, centuries-long relationship with the people of Hawaiʻi—including the role of Williams alumni in converting native Hawaiians to Christianity, in developing a written Hawaiian language, founding the Hawaiian plantation economy, and later overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy, which was replaced by a republic first led by a Williams alumnus, Sanford B. Dole.
One of three Induction-related college encounters at this time, the tour will begin at the ’62 Center for the Theatre and Dance and proceed to the Williams College Archives in Sawyer Library. After a discussion of the Haystack Monument with Sylvia Kennick Brown of College Archives, participants will move to WCMA for a tour of the Hawai’i exhibit with Sonnet Kekilia Coggins, WCMA Interim Deputy Director, and Kailani Polzak, Assistant Professor of Art.
All encounters begin with a 10 am welcome by Protik Majumder, Past Interim President and Barclay Jermain Professor of Natural Philosophy, on the ’62 Center MainStage.