Harmful Content Statement

The records documented on our archive contain some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. Various images and terms used within the archive reference stereotypes intended to mock certain cultural and racial communities. Additionally, users may encounter images and descriptions of animal abuse or other such disturbing content. 

As you examine our resources, you may see language that may be considered culturally insensitive or derogatory. Our authors aim to only include such language where it is essential for access and discoverability. We will ensure that offensive terminology is only present in collection descriptions when quoted directly from the original material. 

We encourage users to tag records with terms useful for research purposes and for increasing discoverability. 

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If you have any questions, concerns,  or wish us to review an item's description or tag - please reach out: a2circuses@umich.edu

Our Harmful Content Statement was heavily influenced by the National Archives and Record Administration's (NARA) Statement on Potentially Harmful Content and the Williams L. Clements Library's Harmful Language Statement.

  • Harmful Language Statement. (2021, May 28). UM Clements Library. https://clements.umich.edu/research/language-statement/ 
  • NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Content. (2022, June 17). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/research/reparative-description/harmful-content 
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