After years of debate, the College recently announced it will uncover the controversial murals painted on the walls of Hovey's Pub in the basement of Thayer Dining Hall.
The murals had been boarded up for more than a decade, having been criticized for their depiction of Native Americans drinking alcohol and carousing.
Former Provost John Strohbehn announced the decision to turn the Hovey's murals over to the Hood Museum of Art for permanent display in their current location in early summer, ending a long chapter in the history of the paintings by Walter Humphrey '14.
The murals have been a nagging problem for the College since 1979, when they were covered up after complaints by Native American students.
The murals depict drunken and naked Native Americans. In the late 1930s, Humphrey painted the scenes to illustrate the words to Richard Hovey's song, "Eleazar Wheelock."
Hovey's Pub will move into the new Collis Student Center, leaving its current room open for displaying the murals.
Hood Museum Director Timothy Rub said the conversion of the room into a gallery is appropriate because "people who may have found the representation of Native Americans offensive were forced to be in that space, whether for a meeting or social event."
