Advertisement for Hoosier Kitchen Cabinets, Hoosier Manufacturing Company, 424 Warren Street, Newcastle, Indiana, April 1924

Reparative Language in Collections Records

Historic New England strives to describe its collections in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in them. However, for a variety of reasons, users may encounter harmful or offensive language in collections descriptions. Staff are reviewing and revising these descriptions with the goal of balancing the preservation of original context with an awareness of the effect of language used. Some issues will be remedied quickly, while others will require more systematic review and intervention. Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections.

If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected]. We welcome your feedback.