Roma are an ethnic group that originated in Northern India and migrated to Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries. The majority of Roma, also known as Romani, live across Europe, where they have faced persecution and segregation. During World War II, Romani were subjected to deportation, forced labor, and medical experimentation, and hundreds of thousands were executed in killing centers across Europe. This genocide decimated Roma populations and social networks, and they continued to face persecution after the war. Roma women were sterilized across Eastern Europe until the 1990s. Today, 90% of Romani in Europe live below the poverty line and face violence from other citizens and police.
Approximately one million Romani live in America. According to a 2020 Harvard study, discrimination is widespread even though many Americans know little about Roma. Many study participants described hiding their ethnic identity to avoid stereotyping or discrimination. Across the U.S., including in Oregon, Romani people have historically been harassed by police, subject to discriminatory housing and employment laws, and smeared as criminals.
The term “gypsy” is considered derogatory by many Roma people. It comes from the word “Egyptian,” where many Europeans mistakenly believed the Romani came from. In 1971, at the First World Roma Congress, a majority of attendees voted to reject the use of the term “gypsy.” However, some still use it to self-identify. In the U.S., it has also come to signify a free-spirited person, or someone who moves from one place to another without settling down. In industries like logging or trucking, it can refer to independent contractors. These uses reference the traditional migratory lifestyle historically practiced by Roma. There is greater debate about whether these uses of “gypsy” are offensive.
In our collections, “gypsy” is used as a descriptor of Romani people themselves, costumes and student events themed around Roma stereotypes, an adjective (as described above), and a logging term. Primarily, however, it refers to the “Asian gypsy moth” or “gypsy moth,” a group of invasive moth species that includes Lymantria dispar dispar, Lymantria dispar asiatica, L. d. japonica, L. albescens, L. umbrosa, and L. postalba. In 2021, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) voted to change the common names, and in 2022, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced new names for these species. Lymantria dispar dispar is now known as the “spongy moth,” and the rest are now the “flighted spongy moth complex.” According to APHIS, the name refers to the moths’ eggs, which have a “spongy” texture. This change avoids equating Roma with a pest insect, and is part of the ESA’s Better Common Names Project, which seeks to update names that refer to ethnic or racial groups.
Around half of the uses of “gypsy” are mentioned in the collection finding aid or preliminary collection inventory. The rest appear in Oregon Digital scans of SCARC materials. SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the original wording in the collection descriptions. However, we have also added a note to each affected collection to inform users of its context, along with a link to the SCARC Special Collections and Archives Research Center Anti-Racist Actions website and this blog post.
We acknowledge the racism represented by the term “gypsy” and the continued persecution that Roma face. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information about Roma in Oregon, we recommend Carol Silverman’s report for the Oregon Historical Society. Another great resource is the RomArchive, a digital archive for Roma art and culture.
Affected Collections
John D. Lattin Papers, 1941-2004
Thomas Kraemer Papers, 1908-2018
Gerald W. Williams Electronic Records, 1985-2008
Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection, 1973-2004
Gerald W. Williams Papers, 1854-2016
Gerald W. Williams Slides, 1961-2003
Research Accounting Office Records, 1935-2010
Entomology Department Records, 1887-2003
Extension and Experiment Station Communications Moving Images, 1937-2007
Beaver Yearbook Photographs, 1938-2005
Hans Plambeck Papers, 1900-1995
Barometer Campus Newspaper, 1896-2014
Oregon’s Agricultural Progress Magazine, 1953-2016
William L. Finley Papers, 1899-1946 (MSS Finley)
The Lamplighter Literary Magazine, 1936-1945
Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection, ca. 1860-present
College of Science Records, 1880-2015
Underground Newspapers, circa 1965 – 2002
Urban League of Portland Records, 1910-2014
Hop Press Newsletters, 1948-1955
Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection, 2013-2017
Oregon State Yank Newsletters, 1943-1945
Prism Literary Magazine, 1972-2019
Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection, 1995-2024
Oregon State College Preview and Promotional Booklets, 1938-1960
Oregon Pioneers Oral History Collection, 1975-1978
This work was completed in large part due to the initiative of Margot Pullen (Student Archivist) and the support of the Anti-Racist Description Team. Margot wrote this post and completed updates to collection finding aids.
