American University Archives & Special Collections takes culturally sensitive and responsible collection stewardship with the utmost seriousness. Our collections serve as historical evidence of attitudes, beliefs, actions, and policies of individuals, organizations, and governments; and we make them available as objects of study. We collect materials that encompass a variety of time periods and viewpoints which can include outdated, biased, offensive, violent, or graphic terms and/or depictions. In order to preserve their authenticity, we do not edit or remove these terms or images from our collections. University Archives & Special Collections and American University Library do not endorse violence, racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful views or language that demeans or threatens the personhood of any individuals or groups of people. In our work, Library staff try to balance the viewpoints conveyed in our research collections by providing additional context and contemporary terminologies in staff-supplied descriptions. If you encounter harmful language in staff-created descriptions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.