A writer, teacher, and composer, Marita Bonner was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, June 16, 1898. She was educated at Radcliffe College (A.B. 1922). A gifted musician (referred to in the Radcliffe class poem as "1922's Beethoven"), she won college song competitions for the "Heathen Song" (1919) and "The China Lady" (1922). Bonner was admitted to Charles T. Copeland's writing seminar, and one of her sketches "Dandelion Season" was selected to be read annually to the Radcliffe classes. Marita Bonner published plays, essays and short fiction in The Crisis and Opportunity. Among her literary experiments were one-act modernist plays "The Purple Flower" (1928) and "Exit, an Illusion" (1929). Two prize-winning essays were "On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored" (1925) and "Drab Rambles" (1927) She won the Wanamaker music prize for Negro Music in 1927, and continued to publish short fiction until 1941. She taught at the Bluefield Colored Institute, Bluefield, Virginia (1922-1924) and at Armstrong High School (1924-31). During 1944-1945 and 1950-1963, Bonner taught handicapped children in Chicago schools. This collection has been digitized and can be accessed through the finding aid.

Composite collection of biographical data about some of Radcliffe's African American students from the classes of 1898 through 1933. Includes information about their college experience and later careers.

In December 1968, African American Radcliffe students held a sit-in at Fay House (the main administrative building at Radcliffe) regarding admission rates of African American students at Radcliffe. Information and resources about the sit-in can be found in the Library's Expos 20: Resistance course guide.