Statement on Harmful Content and Descriptions

The Newberry preserves and provides access to historical materials, some of which contain harmful language and imagery. These items reflect the society in which they were produced and do not reflect the values of the Newberry. We make them available—both for in-person use and via our digital collections—so that they may be researched and taught in context.

Materials may contain offensive depictions and language related to ability, gender, race, religion, sexuality/sexual orientation, and other categories. For materials containing graphic violence or sexually explicit imagery, our digital collections may utilize "opt-in" viewing, ensuring these items do not appear automatically in initial search results or browsing.

Finding aids, catalog records, digital collection metadata, and other descriptions may include harmful language transcribed directly from the original historical sources. We retain this language to preserve the integrity and accuracy of the description, to present the item in the context in which it was created, and to facilitate historical research.

Standardized vocabularies applied to facilitate searching (such as Library of Congress Subject Headings) may also contain outdated and harmful terms. To bring harmful language in descriptions to our attention, please contact reference@newberry.org. In some instances, Newberry staff will supplement but not replace the offensive terms that come from authorized sources.