Whitman College is named after a colonialist legend. Marcus Whitman – missionary, doctor, ‘pioneer’ – is best known not for his accomplishments in life, but for the circumstances of his death....
In 2021, the United States Legislature voted to replace the Marcus Whitman statue that currently presides in D.C.’s National Statuary Hall with a statue of Billy Frank Jr. An advocate for Native American...
We have all heard about Marcus Whitman, the man our college is named after. The way Marcus Whitman was murdered made him a character that is remembered to this day, and Whitman College had a big role...
Despite the fact that Whitman’s namesake, Marcus Whitman, was a religious missionary, today Whitman has no institutional religious affiliation. This is a topic students in politics professor Stan Thayne’s...
Throughout the week following Indigenous Peoples’ Day, falling on Monday, Oct. 11 this year, Whitman’s history department and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) co-sponsored...
Lee Thomas, author of critically acclaimed novel series Goosebumps
• October 21, 2021
With rapper Saweetie's voice saying "Let's go" in the background, the Marcus Whitman statue records his frozen, expressionless face with text reading: "Me omw to Oregon Country spreading the White Man's...
The “Scrub In” performance art piece, in which participants scrubbed the Marcus Whitman statue on campus with water, was hardly literal.
“In fact,'' said senior co-organizer of the performance,...
"I am a stranger here myself," by Debra Gwartney, is a book about a young mother who fled Idaho because of its gender expectations. She makes peace with her roots by finding inspiration from Narcissa...
Avisual exploration of the discourse surrounding the Whitman family makes its home in Maxey Museum’s newest exhibit, “A Proper Monument?”, which opened on April 11 and will remain up until May 5.
The...
Lisa Uddin, Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Studies
• March 1, 2018
It has been almost five months since the portrait of Narcissa Whitman that once hung in Prentiss Hall was defaced with black spray paint, and Avard Fairbanks’ statue of Marcus Whitman on the corner of...
On October 9, 2017, recognized nationally as Columbus Day and unofficially as Indigenous People’s day, the portrait of Narcissa Whitman hanging in the Great Hall of Prentiss was defaced and the hands...
Though never formally adopted by the college, the Missionaries have been the school’s de-facto mascot for over a hundred years. Attempts to change the logo have been made since the 1920s, but generally failed due to opposition from alumni and an inability to unite the opposition in support of another name.
