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The setting sun glistened off the windows of Old Library, and the peaceful sound of a West African kora and energy of a new beginning filled the air as the Bryn Mawr community gathered in the Cloisters of Old Library for the long-awaited twilight unveiling of artist Nekisha Durrett’s Don’t Forget to Remember (Me).

The monument is the centerpiece of the Bryn Mawr Art Remediating Campus Histories (ARCH) project and honors the lives and labor of Black staff members who worked on campus during the early 20th century. The four-year project arose from an exploration of exclusionary histories on campus.

Don’t Forget to Remember (Me) embeds braid-patterned pathways made of more than 9,000 pavers into the Cloisters’ courtyard ground to form the shape of a knot around the central fountain.

Nearly 250 of the pavers are engraved with the names of Black maids, porters, and domestic staff employed at Bryn Mawr from approximately 1900 to 1940, many of whom have long gone unrecognized in the institution’s official history. Illuminated glass pavers interspersed throughout the design represent those whose names have been lost to time.

At the unveiling on April 24, Youba Cissokho's kora performance set the mood for a night of spellbinding performances and poignant remarks as guests entered the Cloisters.

Associate Professor Monique Scott, who served as faculty director of the ARCH project, gave welcoming remarks, and Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge, ARCH student researcher Annalise Ashman ’24, M.A. ’25, co-chair Millie Bond ’05, and Durrett all spoke.

Scott praised the contributions of the many individuals who helped guide the ARCH project —and returned to campus for the dedication—including former President Kim Cassidy, former Secretary of the College Ruth Lindeborg, faculty members, and some of the students who pushed for a more inclusive history-telling by the College.

“Many generations of students have brought to light the histories and challenges of the people that work at the college, labor at the college, the people that make this college what it is and are at the very root, at the very center of the College,” Scott said. 

Cadge called the monument “a bridge from the past to the future.”

“Through it, we strive to remember, in the fullest sense of the word, to tell a richer, more honest, and more complete story about who we are, and most especially, who we aim to be,” she said. 

Gabrielle Bernadine Smith ’17 remembered being a student and sneaking onto the roof of the Cloisters to look down at the courtyard.

“Many generations of students have brought to light the histories and challenges of the people that work at the college, labor at the college, the people that make this college what it is and are at the very root, at the very center of the College."

“It's so amazing to look down and to see how the space has been so fundamentally and permanently changed,” she said. “I hope that this keeps us going in the right direction, so that generations to come, we continue to honor our ancestors but also honor the type of people and the type of community that we want to be.”

Durrett thanked the Bryn Mawr community for its bravery in examining its history and for allowing her the freedom to create a work that didn’t compromise her vision.

“There was just so much work that came before I got here, so much work to open the door and crack the window to even the suggestion of this idea,” she said. “Someone said last night they described me as a conduit, and that is kind of like what it feels like. It just seems like I'm just listening to this quiet, to this powerful quiet … Thank you for welcoming me and making me feel a part of this campus community.”