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A backwards Thought- Class location

MadamPresident's picture

On Thursday December 1, 2016, I led our class to the Enid Cook Center Library for Class. I chose this location because it is one of the most concealed and closed off spaces to the campus. Prior to selecting this class location I sat of the ECC Board of directors as the Community Outreach Coordinator, and of our goals was to provide the Bryn Mawr community the opportunity to learn more about, and see what lies beyond the locked doors of ECC. The ECC was built as a reprisal for the Perry House building which was built so that the black students who attended Bryn Mawr had a place to stay. Perry House held 10 people, but because of the poor conditions that number dwindled to 7. Eventually Perry House was allowed to get so bad that, it would be too costly to fix and was torn down. The ECC was made in reponse to this had can hold 27 people. It is mainly for those of the African Diaspra and is a safe place for people of color. The ECC was named after Enid Cook was the first black woman to attend Bryn Mawr. The only thing that remains of Perry House are memories and the floor boards in the ECC Library. ECC is a closed space for it's inhabitants, but I wanted to give my class a chance to sit in the ECC and take in what I would consider the history and legacy of Bryn Mawr.