Princeton University Library Showcases Diverse Forms of Activism

Princeton, New Jersey — Princeton University Library exhibition showcases diverse forms of activism from across nine decades.

Warsaw, 1944. Selma, 1965. Santiago, 2019-20. Lahore, 2020. …“Records of Resistance: Documenting Global Activism 1933 to 2021,” the latest exhibition at Princeton University Library (PUL), considers how issues of perennial concern, including indigenous, gender, and LGBTQIA+ rights, social inequality, antisemitism, and systemic racism manifest in resistance over time and across the globe. Showcased are large images, drawn from our digital collections, that range from sacred Passover Haggadot that embody Jews’ spiritual resistance during the Holocaust, to dramatic photographs of marchers on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, to vibrant posters and pamphlets created by protesters taking to the streets of Santiago, Chile and Lahore, Pakistan only a few years ago. 

These images capture continuity and change in practices of protest and activism in diverse geographic and social contexts. The images have been reproduced–in some cases, to life-size. 

The exhibition presents just a small sample of the thousands of images available in the Digital Princeton University Library (DPUL). “DPUL is designed to make the extraordinary collections of PUL accessible worldwide,” said Will Noel, John T. Maltsberger III ’55 Associate University Librarian for Special Collections, “There are over 60 digital collections, exhibitions, and essays housed in DPUL, with a number focused on historical moments of activism.”

"Records of Resistance: Documenting Global Activism 1933 to 2021" curators are Fernando Acosta-Rodriguez, Ellen Ambrosone, Will Clements, David Hollander, and Gabrielle Winkler.

The exhibition is open to the public in the Milberg Gallery in Firestone Library through December 11, 2022 from noon to 6 p.m. daily. Guided tours are available; please check the PUL website for available dates and times. 

For more information about the exhibition, please visit: https://library.princeton.edu/activism.