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Who is Esther Popel Shaw?

a photo of Esther Pople

The PSC is proudly named after Esther Popel Shaw ’19 (1896-1958). Esther A.B. Popel (later Esther Popel Shaw) was the first African-American woman to graduate from Dickinson College. Professionally, she was a published poet of the Harlem Renaissance Era and an anti-racist and feminist activist.

In March 2023, New York Times Style Magazine included her poem "Flag Salute" as part of its "New Black Canon," a collection of "undervalued 20th-century works that testify to the richness of the Black American literary archive."

You can learn more about Mrs. Popel Shaw by visiting this link to the Dickinson Archives story