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Sarah Lawrence College faculty member Mary Dillard (History) has been named a commissioner for the Yonkers Human Rights Commission, one of the oldest such commissions in the United States. She will serve for a three year term, joining her fellow commissioners as they support Yonkers residents in combating discrimination in housing, education, and employment, among other areas.
Dillard, who served as director of the College’s Women’s History graduate program from 2016-2021, has been a member of the history faculty since 2001. A longtime resident of Yonkers, she first learned of the Commission more than 10 years ago, after meeting a Commissioner who participated in an “Undoing Racism” workshop at Sarah Lawrence. Impressed by the work of the Commission, she was eager to get involved. “Nationally, we have seen attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, and civil rights in general,” she says. “The idea that there is an organization in Yonkers where I can play a role in addressing some of these concerns is both exciting and very important to me. I think we owe it to our residents to make sure that their human rights are respected.”
Traditionally, commissioners divide areas of responsibility and focus according to interests and expertise. While Dillard values the importance of all of the Commission’s work, her interests are focused on education and housing. “I’ve experienced housing discrimination,” she says, “and in a previous generation, my parents had to battle discrimination in housing, employment, education, and healthcare. They thought that was in the past, but just recently were outraged to learn they were illegally expunged from the voter rolls in Florida. There is so much more work to be done.”
Dillard, who is a staunch champion of equity and equal opportunity, has served as a member of the College’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and hopes that work—along with her extensive studies on human rights in Africa—will help inform her work with the Commission. On the flip side of that, she’s eager to see how her work with the Commission might influence her teaching and coursework at Sarah Lawrence.
A self-described proud Yonkers resident, Dillard’s engagement with New York’s third largest city extends beyond her work with the Commission. In Spring 2024, she’ll teach a class called The Power of Place: Museums, Monuments, and Public History in Yonkers, aimed at introducing students to the fascinating history of Yonkers through the fields of public history and museum studies. As part of that course, Dillard and students will work to create a “Museum in the Streets,” touring various neighborhoods and historical sites in the city and working with the Hudson River Museum, the Yonkers Public Library, and the Yonkers historian in an effort to share photos and links to more information at various landmarks throughout the city.