Smith College
Encyclopedia
Smith College is a private
, independent
women's
liberal arts college
located in Northampton, Massachusetts
. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters
. Smith is also a member of the Five Colleges
consortium, which allows its students to attend classes at four other Pioneer Valley
institutions: Mount Holyoke College
, Amherst College
, Hampshire College
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
In 2010, U.S. News & World Report
ranked it 14th in Best Liberal Arts Colleges. Notable alumnae include: Nancy Reagan
, Barbara Bush, Betty Friedan
, Gloria Steinem
, Julia Child
, Madeleine L'Engle
, Margaret Mitchell
, Sylvia Plath
, Sherry Rehman and Yolanda King
.
and opened its doors in 1875 with 14 students and six faculty. When she inherited, at age 65, a fortune from her father, Smith decided that leaving her inheritance to found a women's college was the best way for her to fulfill the moral obligation she expressed in her will: "I hereby make the following provisions for the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our colleges to young men." By 1915–16 the student enrollment was 1,724 and the faculty numbered 163.
Today, with some 2,600 undergraduates on campus, and 250 students studying elsewhere, Smith is the largest privately endowed college for women in the country. The campus was planned and planted in the 1890s as a botanical garden
and arboretum
, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
. The campus landscape now encompasses 147 acre (0.59488842 km²) and includes more than 1,200 varieties of trees and shrubs.
Smith has been led by 10 presidents and two acting presidents. For the 1975 centennial, the college inaugurated its first woman president, Jill Ker Conway
(Elizabeth Cutter Morrow was the first actual president of Smith College and the first female head of the college, she did not use the title of president), who came to Smith from Australia
by way of Harvard
and the University of Toronto
. Since President Conway's term, all Smith presidents have been women, with the exception of John M. Connolly's one-year term as acting president in the interim after President Simmons left to lead Brown University
.
. The Picker Engineering Program offers a single ABET
accredited Bachelor of Science
in engineering science, combining the fundamentals of multiple engineering disciplines.
Smith recently joined the SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission.
Smith runs its own junior year abroad (JYA) programs in four European cities: Paris
, Hamburg
, Florence
and Geneva
. These programs are notable for requiring all studies to be conducted in the language of the host country (with both Paris and Geneva programs conducted in French). In some cases students live in homestays with local families. Nearly half of Smith's juniors study overseas, either through Smith JYA programs or at more than 40 other locations around the world.
Junior math majors from other undergraduate institutions are invited to study at Smith College for one year through the Center for Women in Mathematics
. Established in the fall of 2007 by Professors Ruth Haas and Jim Henle, the program aims to allow young women to improve their mathematical abilities through classwork, research and involvement in a department centered on women. The Center
also offers a post-baccalaureate year of math study to women who either did not major in mathematics as undergraduates or whose mathematics major was not strong.
The Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute supports collaborative research without regard to the traditional boundaries of academic departments and programs. Each year the Institute supports long-term and short-term projects proposed, planned and organized by members of the Smith College faculty. By becoming Kahn Fellows, students get involved in interdisciplinary research projects and work alongside faculty and visiting scholars for a year.
Students can develop leadership skills through Smith's two-year Phoebe Reese Lewis Leadership Program. Participants train in public speaking, analytical thinking, teamwork strategies and the philosophical aspects of leadership.
Through Smith's internship program, "Praxis: The Liberal Arts at Work," every undergraduate is guaranteed access to one college funded internship during her years at the college. This program enables students to access interesting self-generated internship positions in social welfare and human services, the arts, media, health, education, and other fields.
The Ada Comstock
Scholars Program is a bachelor's degree
program for non-traditional students
.
Also offered in a non-degree studies program is the Diploma in American Studies. This is a highly competitive one-year program open only to international students of advanced undergraduate or graduate standing. It is designed primarily, although not exclusively, for those who are teaching or who plan to teach some aspect of American culture and institutions.
The Smith College master of social work (M.S.W.) degree is nationally recognized for its specialization in clinical social work and puts a heavy emphasis on direct field work practice. The program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education
. The school also offers a Ph.D. program designed to prepare MSWs for leadership positions in clinical research education and practice.
The college has a limited number of other programs leading to Ph.D.s, and is part of a cooperative doctoral program co-administered by Amherst College
, Hampshire College
, Mount Holyoke College
and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
.
Houses are found in three main regions of campus: Upper and Lower Elm Street, Green Street/Center Campus, and the Quadrangle. Each region can, in turn, be divided into smaller areas to more precisely provide the location of the house in question.
Smith's athletic teams have been known as the Pioneers since 1986. The name expresses the spirit of Smith's students and the college's leadership role in women's athletics (the first women's basketball game was played at Smith in 1893).
A new spirit mark was unveiled to the Smith community in December 2008. The new visual identity for Smith's sports teams marks the culmination of a yearlong project to promote visibility and enthusiasm for Smith's intercollegiate and club teams—and to generate school spirit broadly. It will be used for athletics uniforms, casual apparel and promotional items for clubs and organizations. As Smith was the first women’s college to join the NCAA, the new mark is seen as linking the college’s pioneering alumnae athletes to their equally determined and competitive counterparts today. http://www.smith.edu/spirit/
Smith College does not have college colors in the usual sense. Its official color is white, trimmed with gold, but the official college logo is currently blue and yellow (a previous logo was burgundy and white). NCAA athletic teams have competed in blue and white (or blue and yellow, in the case of the soccer, crew, swimming, and squash teams) uniforms since the 1970s, and selected Pioneers as the official name and mascot in 1986. Popular club sports are free to choose their own colors and mascot; both Rugby and Fencing have chosen red and black.
Smith has a rotating system of class colors dating back to the 1880s, when intramural athletics and other campus competitions were usually held by class. Today, class colors are yellow, red, blue and green, with incoming first-year classes assigned the color of the previous year's graduating class; their color then "follows" them through to graduation. Alumnae classes, particularly at reunion, continue to identify with and use their class color thereafter.
Two recent additions to the campus, both of which enhance its sense of community, are the architecturally dramatic Campus Center and the state-of-the-art Olin Fitness Center.
In 2009, construction was also completed on Ford Hall, a new science and engineering facility. According to the Smith College website, Ford Hall is a "...facility that will intentionally blur the boundaries between traditional disciplines, creating an optimum environment for students and faculty to address key scientific and technological developments of our time." The building was officially dedicated on October 16, 2009.
The campus also boasts a botanic garden that includes a Japanese tea house, a variety of specialty gardens including a rock garden, and historic glass greenhouses dating back to 1895. It is rumored that the architecture of Chapin House was the inspiration for the one in Tara in Gone with the Wind
. (Margaret Mitchell
went to Smith for one year.)
A novelty of Smith's homelike atmosphere is the continuing popularity of Sophia Smith's recipe for molasses cookies. These are often served at the traditional Friday afternoon tea held in each house, where students, faculty and staff members and alumnae socialize.
Smith offers "panel discussions and seminars for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students on subjects such as coming out as transgender at work." In 2003, Smith students voted to remove pronouns from the language of the Student Government Association constitution, in order to make that document inclusive of transgendered students who don't identify with the female pronouns "she" and "her."
signals the start of the fall semester. For new students it is the first chance to experience Smith College's tradition and spirit. Likewise, for some returning students, the annual event is like a big, welcome-home party as well as an occasion for celebration and an opportunity for creative attire. House communities develop imaginative themes for group fashion, and Smith seniors put special touches on favorite hats to create their own unique "senior hats," to be worn for the first time at Convocation.
Mountain Day
is observed early in the fall semester. The President of the College selects a crisp, sunny, beautiful autumn day when the leaves are in full color, and announces the cancellation of classes by having bells rung on campus at 7:15 AM on the chosen day. The eager anticipation of Mountain Day leads to intense speculation meteorology by students in the weeks leading up to the surprise announcement. Traditional observance of Mountain Day by students might involve New England
road trips or outdoor pursuits, and college dining services provides box lunches to be taken off-campus.
Otelia Cromwell
Day, named for Smith's first African-American student, began in 1989 to provide students with an in-depth program specifically addressing issues of racism and diversity. Afternoon classes are cancelled, and students are invited to participate in lectures, workshops, symposia and cultural events focused on a different theme each year.
Rally Day In February 1876, the College began an annual observance of George Washington
's birthday. In 1894, a rally became part of the day's events, and the focus of the celebration became primarily patriotic rather than exclusively social—though always with a women's college twist. Students that year staged a mock debate on the subject, "Does Higher Education Unfit a Man for Domestic Life?" In 1906 the celebration was first referred to as Rally Day (although the name was not used officially by the College until 1992). In 1944, seniors made Rally Day the first public wearing of their graduation caps and gowns; since then, mortarboards have been replaced by wacky, often homemade hats. Today, the Rally Day Convocation is centered around a historical theme, and features a distinguished keynote speaker and the awarding of Smith College Medals to accomplished alumnae.
Traditional reunion and Commencement events are linked, and celebrate the close ties between Smith's alumnae and its graduating seniors and their families. At the conclusion of final exams, most underclasswomen leave the campus, while seniors remain in their houses for a week to celebrate and prepare for Commencement. Alumnae arrive for reunions later in the week, and many alumnae arrange for official accommodations in the campus houses, right alongside senior residents.
Ivy Day
, the day before Commencement, is the high point of reunion and a significant event for seniors as well. Junior ushers lead a parade through campus, carrying vines of ivy to be planted by the departing seniors as a symbol of their lifelong connection to the college. Alumnae (and, often, their children), dressed in white and wearing sashes in their class color, line up in reverse order by class along both sides of the route. Seniors line up nearest the end of the parade route, wearing traditional white outfits and each carrying a single red rose. All cheer each alumnae class as it marches past, then fall in to join the end of the parade. Many alumnae classes carry signs with humorous poems or slogans, or hold balloons or wear hats in their class color. Ivy Day festivities conclude in the Quad, where the seniors plant their ivy and speakers address alumnae on the progress of fundraising and the state of the college.
Illumination Night, beginning at dusk on the Saturday evening before Commencement, is a celebration of the campus and a send-off of sorts for graduating seniors. Throughout central campus, electric street lights are replaced for one night by multicolored Japanese-style paper lanterns, lit with real candles. These hang on both sides of every walking path and cast a soft glow over the buildings and lawns. Student a cappella singing groups and improv comedy troupes roam the campus, stopping occasionally to entertain the crowds. A jazz band, hired by the college, turns the science buildings' courtyard into a dance floor. Seniors, alumnae, faculty and their families spend the evening on walking tours of the illuminated campus and Botanic Gardens
. The major official event of the night is the Senior Step Sing: seniors gather on the steps of Neilson Library, where they are serenaded by members of the Sophomore Push committee, then are physically pushed off the stairs and "into the real world."
Until the early 1990s, all alumnae reunions were held during Commencement weekend. However, as the number of returning alumnae grew beyond the capacity of the campus, reunions were split into Reunion I/Commencement Weekend and Reunion II, held the following weekend. "Significant" reunions (50-, 25- and 10- year, but also 2-year) and the earliest reunion classes (65-year and prior) are assigned to Reunion I; other reunions (5-, 15-, 20-, 30-year, and so on) are assigned to Reunion II.
In keeping with its sustainability efforts, all Smith dining locations have discontinued the use of "to-go" supplies which included paper cups and plates, as well as plastic utensils. They now encourage students to bring their own, reusable containers and utensils if they wish to bring food back to their rooms. To further decrease use of disposable cups, Smith College provides all students with a reusable drink container at the beginning of each academic year. In past years, these containers have been variations on travel mugs, Sigg bottles, and nalgenes. Nalgenes, in particular, have achieved an almost trend-like status at Smith since the popularization of sustainability and reusability.
Those dining halls that still offer "To-Go" options no longer provide paper bags, and instead use wax paper bags, biodegradable plastic, and recyclable utensils made of vegetable cellulose.
For Smith's efforts regarding sustainability, the institution earned a grade of "A-" on the "College Sustainability Report Card 2010" administered by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Smith was lauded for many of the indicator categories, including student involvement, green building, and transportation, but was marked down for endowment transparency.
Dorothy Canning Miller, Museum curator
The Alumnae Association of Smith College considers all former students to be members, whether they graduated or not, and does not generally differentiate between graduates and non-graduates when identifying Smith alumnae.
's novel The Bell Jar
, the protagonist Esther Greenwood attends Smith College. In Running With Scissors, a memoir by Augusten Burroughs
, the author details how he and his foster-sister, Natalie, took walks together on the campus. The fictional Catamount College in the novella Beasts
by Joyce Carol Oates
is based on Smith College. The character Chenault in The Rum Diary
by Hunter S. Thompson
went to Smith College. Commencement, a novel by J. Courtney Sullivan was published in 2009 and recounts the friendship of four Smith College classmates.
Smith has its place in films as well. The 1954 film White Christmas
referenced Smith. Jean Simmons plays a recent Smith grad in 1957's "This Could Be the Night
". The 1966 movie Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
and the 1993 movie Malice
were both filmed on the Smith campus. In the 1971 film Carnal Knowledge
, Candice Bergen
's character, Susan, is a Smith student, and portions of the film take place on the Smith campus. The character Joanna Kramer, played by Meryl Streep
in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer
is a Smith College graduate. In the movie The Nanny Diaries
Mrs. X is a Smith alumna. Spike Lee
also has a reference to a Smithie as a lesbian paying an ex-biotech exec to inseminate her and many other homosexual women in the movie She Hate Me
. Sadie (Nicole Vicius) from 2007 lesbian-comedy Itty Bitty Titty Committee
dropped out of the college after meeting her partner, a guest lecturer at Smith.
Well-known television shows integrate references to Smith into character plot lines. Charlotte York in the show Sex and the City
is a Smith College graduate. In an episode of The Simpsons
—"I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
"—Lisa Simpson
is tempted by the Siren-like representatives of the Seven Sisters
(and George Plimpton
), who offer a scholarship to the Sister school of her choice (and a George Plimpton hot plate) if she will throw a
Spelling Bee. Dr. Cristina Yang, a surgical resident played by Sandra Oh
on Grey's Anatomy
, graduated from Smith College with degrees in French Literature and Chemistry, and lived in Talbot House. Ainsley Hayes (played by Emily Procter
), the conservative lawyer hired to work in the White House Counsel's Office on The West Wing, graduated from Smith. In an episode of Mad About You
Paul's sister and her girlfriend are referred to as "The Fighting Lesbians." Paul (Paul Reiser
) replies, "No, that would be the name of the Smith College Ice Hockey Team." Emily Gilmore in the show Gilmore Girls
went to Smith and majored in history. In season two of "Nip Tuck"- episode "Julia McNamara", Julia gets anesthesia before her facial surgery. One of the dreams she has is that Dr. Liz Cruz's made-up daughter will be attending Smith that coming fall. In the third season of ER
, Dr. Doug Ross (played by George Clooney
) mentions he is dating a Smith graduate. Nurse Carol Hathaway makes a joke about Dr. Ross's normal dates being unable to spell Smith. A very similar joke was made in the movie White Christmas
, which starred George Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney
.
In the 2009 Heroes
episode "A Clear and Present Danger
", the Smith College viewbook is displayed prominently at the top of a stack of college materials Claire Bennet
is apparently reviewing. Angela Petrelli
asks Claire if she's found a favorite, to which Claire replies, "Hamilton, Smith, Georgetown, they're all the best schools in the country."
The webcomic Questionable Content
mentions Smith College (usually referred to as "Smif" in the comic) as the place where one of the main characters, Marten, is employed as library staff, and several of the minor characters attend. Ellen, studies marine biology. Tai, Natasha and Cosette are also students. Jeph Jacques, the author, went to Hampshire College
, one of the neighboring schools.
Some characters from the webcomic Minimalist Stick Figure Theatre, set primarily in Northampton, are students at Smith College.
In a recent Hallmark Channel
original movie titled "Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith," Cybill Shepherd
stars in a story about a woman in her 40s who returns to Smith College to finish her bachelor's degree. Smith alumna Susan Rice '63 wrote the script for the film, which aired August 1, 2009.
In the 1960 novel "The Tight White Collar" by Grace Metalious, the character Margery Cooper attends Smith College.
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
, independent
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
women's
Women's colleges in the United States
Women's colleges in the United States are single-sex U.S. institutions of higher education that exclude or limit males from admission. They are often liberal arts colleges...
liberal arts college
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
located in Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (colleges)
The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and...
. Smith is also a member of the Five Colleges
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
consortium, which allows its students to attend classes at four other Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
institutions: Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
In 2010, U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
ranked it 14th in Best Liberal Arts Colleges. Notable alumnae include: Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, Barbara Bush, Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
, Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
, Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
, Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
, Sherry Rehman and Yolanda King
Yolanda King
Yolanda Denise King was the first-born child of Coretta Scott King and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
.
History
The college was chartered in 1871 by a bequest of Sophia SmithSophia Smith
Sophia Smith founded Smith College in 1870 with the substantial estate she inherited from her father and siblings....
and opened its doors in 1875 with 14 students and six faculty. When she inherited, at age 65, a fortune from her father, Smith decided that leaving her inheritance to found a women's college was the best way for her to fulfill the moral obligation she expressed in her will: "I hereby make the following provisions for the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our colleges to young men." By 1915–16 the student enrollment was 1,724 and the faculty numbered 163.
Today, with some 2,600 undergraduates on campus, and 250 students studying elsewhere, Smith is the largest privately endowed college for women in the country. The campus was planned and planted in the 1890s as a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
and arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
. The campus landscape now encompasses 147 acre (0.59488842 km²) and includes more than 1,200 varieties of trees and shrubs.
Smith has been led by 10 presidents and two acting presidents. For the 1975 centennial, the college inaugurated its first woman president, Jill Ker Conway
Jill Ker Conway
Jill Ker Conway is an Australian-American author. Well known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoir, The Road from Coorain. She was also Smith College's first woman president, from 1975–1985, and now serves as a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
(Elizabeth Cutter Morrow was the first actual president of Smith College and the first female head of the college, she did not use the title of president), who came to Smith from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
by way of Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. Since President Conway's term, all Smith presidents have been women, with the exception of John M. Connolly's one-year term as acting president in the interim after President Simmons left to lead Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
.
- Laurenus Clark SeelyeLaurenus Clark SeelyeLaurenus Clark Seelye , known as L. Clark Seelye, was the first president of Smith College, serving from 1873-1910. He graduated from Union College in 1857 with Phi Beta Kappa honors and membership in The Kappa Alpha Society. Seelye later studied at Andover Theological Seminary and the...
1875–1910 - Marion LeRoy BurtonMarion LeRoy BurtonMarion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920....
1910–1917 - William Allan NeilsonWilliam Allan NeilsonWilliam Allan Neilson was a Scottish-American educator, writer and lexicographer. He was president of Smith College between 1917 and 1939....
1917–1939 - Elizabeth Cutter MorrowElizabeth Cutter MorrowElizabeth Cutter Morrow, born Elizabeth Reeve Cutter was an American poet in the early 20th century, and became the first female head of Smith College, acting as college president from 1939 to 1940 . She was the wife of U.S...
1939–1940 (acting president) - Herbert DavisHerbert DavisHerbert Davis was the fourth official president of Smith College, serving from 1940 to 1949, succeeding acting president Elizabeth Cutter Morrow. During World War II, he presided over the creation of America's first Officers' Training Unit of the Women's Reserve .- References :...
1940–1949 - Benjamin Fletcher Wright 1949–1959
- Thomas Corwin MendenhallThomas C. Mendenhall (historian)Thomas Corwin Mendenhall II was a professor of history at Yale University, the sixth President of Smith College, and the leading authority on the history of collegiate rowing in the United States.-Early life and education:The grandson and namesake of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall ,...
1959–1975 - Jill Ker ConwayJill Ker ConwayJill Ker Conway is an Australian-American author. Well known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoir, The Road from Coorain. She was also Smith College's first woman president, from 1975–1985, and now serves as a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
1975–1985 - Mary Maples DunnMary Maples DunnMary Maples Dunn is a historian who earned her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College, where she taught and served as Dean. She served as the eighth president of Smith College, for ten years beginning in 1985; in 2001 the college dedicated the Mary Maples Dunn Garden in recognition of her service and...
1985–1995 - Ruth Simmons 1995–2001
- John M. Connolly 2001–2002 (acting president)
- Carol T. ChristCarol T. ChristCarol Tecla Christ is the president of Smith College. Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is a liberal arts college and one of the Seven Sisters colleges....
2002–present
Academics and educational programs
Smith College has 285 professors in 41 academic departments and programs, for a faculty:student ratio of 1:9. It is the first and only women's college in the United States to grant its own undergraduate degrees in engineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. The Picker Engineering Program offers a single ABET
Abet
Abet may refer to:* Abet Guidaben , former Philippine Basketball Association basketball player* ABET, Inc., a non-profit organization that accredits higher education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology....
accredited Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in engineering science, combining the fundamentals of multiple engineering disciplines.
Smith recently joined the SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission.
Smith runs its own junior year abroad (JYA) programs in four European cities: Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. These programs are notable for requiring all studies to be conducted in the language of the host country (with both Paris and Geneva programs conducted in French). In some cases students live in homestays with local families. Nearly half of Smith's juniors study overseas, either through Smith JYA programs or at more than 40 other locations around the world.
Junior math majors from other undergraduate institutions are invited to study at Smith College for one year through the Center for Women in Mathematics
Center for Women in Mathematics
The Center for Women in Mathematics, a part of the Smith College Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is an educational program founded in 2007 to increase the involvement of women in mathematics...
. Established in the fall of 2007 by Professors Ruth Haas and Jim Henle, the program aims to allow young women to improve their mathematical abilities through classwork, research and involvement in a department centered on women. The Center
Center for Women in Mathematics
The Center for Women in Mathematics, a part of the Smith College Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is an educational program founded in 2007 to increase the involvement of women in mathematics...
also offers a post-baccalaureate year of math study to women who either did not major in mathematics as undergraduates or whose mathematics major was not strong.
The Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute supports collaborative research without regard to the traditional boundaries of academic departments and programs. Each year the Institute supports long-term and short-term projects proposed, planned and organized by members of the Smith College faculty. By becoming Kahn Fellows, students get involved in interdisciplinary research projects and work alongside faculty and visiting scholars for a year.
Students can develop leadership skills through Smith's two-year Phoebe Reese Lewis Leadership Program. Participants train in public speaking, analytical thinking, teamwork strategies and the philosophical aspects of leadership.
Through Smith's internship program, "Praxis: The Liberal Arts at Work," every undergraduate is guaranteed access to one college funded internship during her years at the college. This program enables students to access interesting self-generated internship positions in social welfare and human services, the arts, media, health, education, and other fields.
The Ada Comstock
Ada Comstock
Ada Comstock was an American women's education pioneer. She served as the first dean of women at the University of Minnesota and later as the first full-time president of Radcliffe College.-Early life and education:...
Scholars Program is a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
program for non-traditional students
Non-traditional students
Non-traditional student is an American English term referring to some students at tertiary educational institutions. The National Center for Education Statistics acknowledges there is no precise definition for non-traditional student, but suggests that part-time status and age are common elements...
.
Graduate degrees and study options
Smith offers men and women graduate work leading to the degrees of master of arts in teaching (elementary, middle or high school), master of fine arts, master of education of the deaf, master of science in biological sciences, master of science in exercise and sport studies and master and Ph.D. in social work. In special one-year programs, international students may qualify for a certificate of graduate studies or a diploma in American studies. Each year approximately 100 men and women pursue advanced graduate work at Smith.Also offered in a non-degree studies program is the Diploma in American Studies. This is a highly competitive one-year program open only to international students of advanced undergraduate or graduate standing. It is designed primarily, although not exclusively, for those who are teaching or who plan to teach some aspect of American culture and institutions.
The Smith College master of social work (M.S.W.) degree is nationally recognized for its specialization in clinical social work and puts a heavy emphasis on direct field work practice. The program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education
Council on Social Work Education
The Council on Social Work Education is the national association for social work education in the United States of America.The CSWE sets and maintains standards of courses and accreditation of bachelor's degree's and Master's degree programs in social work.The CSWE specifies foundation social work...
. The school also offers a Ph.D. program designed to prepare MSWs for leadership positions in clinical research education and practice.
The college has a limited number of other programs leading to Ph.D.s, and is part of a cooperative doctoral program co-administered by Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
.
Houses
Smith College has many different houses serving as dormitories. Each house is self-governing and collects its own dues. While many students remain in the same house for the entirety of their four years at Smith, they are not obligated to do so, and may move to different houses on campus as space allows.Houses are found in three main regions of campus: Upper and Lower Elm Street, Green Street/Center Campus, and the Quadrangle. Each region can, in turn, be divided into smaller areas to more precisely provide the location of the house in question.
Green Street houses
- Chapin House
- Hubbard House
- Lawrence House
- Morris House
- Tyler House
- Washburn House
Center Campus houses
- Cutter/Ziskind Houses
- Friedman Apartments
- Haven/Wesley Houses
- Hopkins House
- Park Complex
- Sessions Complex
- Tenney House
Upper Elm Street houses
- Capen House
- Dawes House
- Lamont House
- Northrop House
- Parsons Complex
- Talbot House
Lower Elm Street houses
- Albright House
- Baldwin House
- Chase House
- Conway House
- Duckett House
- Gillett House
- 150 Elm Street
- 12 Bedford Terrace
- 26 Bedford Terrace
East Quadrangle houses
- Cushing House
- Emerson House
- Jordan House
- King House
- Scales House
West Quadrangle houses
- Comstock House
- Gardiner House
- Morrow House
- Wilder House
- Wilson House
Colors and mascot
A new spirit mark was unveiled to the Smith community in December 2008. The new visual identity for Smith's sports teams marks the culmination of a yearlong project to promote visibility and enthusiasm for Smith's intercollegiate and club teams—and to generate school spirit broadly. It will be used for athletics uniforms, casual apparel and promotional items for clubs and organizations. As Smith was the first women’s college to join the NCAA, the new mark is seen as linking the college’s pioneering alumnae athletes to their equally determined and competitive counterparts today. http://www.smith.edu/spirit/
Smith College does not have college colors in the usual sense. Its official color is white, trimmed with gold, but the official college logo is currently blue and yellow (a previous logo was burgundy and white). NCAA athletic teams have competed in blue and white (or blue and yellow, in the case of the soccer, crew, swimming, and squash teams) uniforms since the 1970s, and selected Pioneers as the official name and mascot in 1986. Popular club sports are free to choose their own colors and mascot; both Rugby and Fencing have chosen red and black.
Smith has a rotating system of class colors dating back to the 1880s, when intramural athletics and other campus competitions were usually held by class. Today, class colors are yellow, red, blue and green, with incoming first-year classes assigned the color of the previous year's graduating class; their color then "follows" them through to graduation. Alumnae classes, particularly at reunion, continue to identify with and use their class color thereafter.
Residential culture and student life
Smith requires all first-year undergraduate students, as well as most other undergraduates, to live in on-campus houses unless they reside locally with their family. This policy is intended to add to the camaraderie and social cohesion of its students. Unlike most institutions of its type, Smith College does not have dorms, but rather 36 separate houses, ranging in style from 18th-century to contemporary architecture. (A popular rumor perpetuated by students is that Sophia Smith stated in her will that each house be constructed in the style of the period; this is, however, only an urban legend).Two recent additions to the campus, both of which enhance its sense of community, are the architecturally dramatic Campus Center and the state-of-the-art Olin Fitness Center.
In 2009, construction was also completed on Ford Hall, a new science and engineering facility. According to the Smith College website, Ford Hall is a "...facility that will intentionally blur the boundaries between traditional disciplines, creating an optimum environment for students and faculty to address key scientific and technological developments of our time." The building was officially dedicated on October 16, 2009.
The campus also boasts a botanic garden that includes a Japanese tea house, a variety of specialty gardens including a rock garden, and historic glass greenhouses dating back to 1895. It is rumored that the architecture of Chapin House was the inspiration for the one in Tara in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
. (Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
went to Smith for one year.)
A novelty of Smith's homelike atmosphere is the continuing popularity of Sophia Smith's recipe for molasses cookies. These are often served at the traditional Friday afternoon tea held in each house, where students, faculty and staff members and alumnae socialize.
Smith offers "panel discussions and seminars for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students on subjects such as coming out as transgender at work." In 2003, Smith students voted to remove pronouns from the language of the Student Government Association constitution, in order to make that document inclusive of transgendered students who don't identify with the female pronouns "she" and "her."
Academic year events
ConvocationConvocation
A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
signals the start of the fall semester. For new students it is the first chance to experience Smith College's tradition and spirit. Likewise, for some returning students, the annual event is like a big, welcome-home party as well as an occasion for celebration and an opportunity for creative attire. House communities develop imaginative themes for group fashion, and Smith seniors put special touches on favorite hats to create their own unique "senior hats," to be worn for the first time at Convocation.
Mountain Day
Mountain Day
Mountain Day is a traditional student celebration in which classes are cancelled without prior notice, and the student body heads to the mountains or a park.The day chosen is often a beautiful, crisp day when the fall foliage is in full color...
is observed early in the fall semester. The President of the College selects a crisp, sunny, beautiful autumn day when the leaves are in full color, and announces the cancellation of classes by having bells rung on campus at 7:15 AM on the chosen day. The eager anticipation of Mountain Day leads to intense speculation meteorology by students in the weeks leading up to the surprise announcement. Traditional observance of Mountain Day by students might involve New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
road trips or outdoor pursuits, and college dining services provides box lunches to be taken off-campus.
Otelia Cromwell
Otelia Cromwell
Otelia Cromwell is the first African-American graduate of Smith College. The college later began the tradition of canceling afternoon and evening classes in her honor every November as a venue to talk about race and diversity....
Day, named for Smith's first African-American student, began in 1989 to provide students with an in-depth program specifically addressing issues of racism and diversity. Afternoon classes are cancelled, and students are invited to participate in lectures, workshops, symposia and cultural events focused on a different theme each year.
Rally Day In February 1876, the College began an annual observance of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's birthday. In 1894, a rally became part of the day's events, and the focus of the celebration became primarily patriotic rather than exclusively social—though always with a women's college twist. Students that year staged a mock debate on the subject, "Does Higher Education Unfit a Man for Domestic Life?" In 1906 the celebration was first referred to as Rally Day (although the name was not used officially by the College until 1992). In 1944, seniors made Rally Day the first public wearing of their graduation caps and gowns; since then, mortarboards have been replaced by wacky, often homemade hats. Today, the Rally Day Convocation is centered around a historical theme, and features a distinguished keynote speaker and the awarding of Smith College Medals to accomplished alumnae.
Reunions and Commencement events
The Alumnae Association of Smith College hosts official class reunions every five years, plus a special two-year reunion. All alumnae from all classes are welcome to return in any year; "off-year" alumnae attend campus-wide events as the "Class of 1776."Traditional reunion and Commencement events are linked, and celebrate the close ties between Smith's alumnae and its graduating seniors and their families. At the conclusion of final exams, most underclasswomen leave the campus, while seniors remain in their houses for a week to celebrate and prepare for Commencement. Alumnae arrive for reunions later in the week, and many alumnae arrange for official accommodations in the campus houses, right alongside senior residents.
Ivy Day
Ivy Day
Ivy Day was formerly observed on October 6 in Ireland, in memory of the prominent nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell . James Joyce's short story, "Ivy Day in the Committee Room", features several Irish politicians who fail to live up to Parnell's memory...
, the day before Commencement, is the high point of reunion and a significant event for seniors as well. Junior ushers lead a parade through campus, carrying vines of ivy to be planted by the departing seniors as a symbol of their lifelong connection to the college. Alumnae (and, often, their children), dressed in white and wearing sashes in their class color, line up in reverse order by class along both sides of the route. Seniors line up nearest the end of the parade route, wearing traditional white outfits and each carrying a single red rose. All cheer each alumnae class as it marches past, then fall in to join the end of the parade. Many alumnae classes carry signs with humorous poems or slogans, or hold balloons or wear hats in their class color. Ivy Day festivities conclude in the Quad, where the seniors plant their ivy and speakers address alumnae on the progress of fundraising and the state of the college.
Illumination Night, beginning at dusk on the Saturday evening before Commencement, is a celebration of the campus and a send-off of sorts for graduating seniors. Throughout central campus, electric street lights are replaced for one night by multicolored Japanese-style paper lanterns, lit with real candles. These hang on both sides of every walking path and cast a soft glow over the buildings and lawns. Student a cappella singing groups and improv comedy troupes roam the campus, stopping occasionally to entertain the crowds. A jazz band, hired by the college, turns the science buildings' courtyard into a dance floor. Seniors, alumnae, faculty and their families spend the evening on walking tours of the illuminated campus and Botanic Gardens
The Botanic Garden of Smith College
The Botanic Garden of Smith College is located on the campus of Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of a fine selection of woody trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and an excellent collection of warm-weather plants in a set of historic conservatories...
. The major official event of the night is the Senior Step Sing: seniors gather on the steps of Neilson Library, where they are serenaded by members of the Sophomore Push committee, then are physically pushed off the stairs and "into the real world."
Until the early 1990s, all alumnae reunions were held during Commencement weekend. However, as the number of returning alumnae grew beyond the capacity of the campus, reunions were split into Reunion I/Commencement Weekend and Reunion II, held the following weekend. "Significant" reunions (50-, 25- and 10- year, but also 2-year) and the earliest reunion classes (65-year and prior) are assigned to Reunion I; other reunions (5-, 15-, 20-, 30-year, and so on) are assigned to Reunion II.
Campus folklore
Smith has numerous folk tales and ghost stories that emerge from the histories of some of its historic buildings. One such tale holds that Sessions House is inhabited by the ghost of Lucy Hunt, who died of a broken heart after being separated from her lover, General Burgoyne. Reports of a ghost in Sessions House predate its history as a campus house. Built in 1751 by the Hunt family, the house has a secret staircase where, according to legend, the Hunt's eldest daughter Lucy would rendezvous with her lover, General Burgoyne. The two were ultimately driven apart, and in the 1880s it was believed that the ghost of a heartbroken Burgoyne haunted the staircase. Since Sessions House became part of college housing in the 1900s, the specter has taken on a decidedly feminine identity, and some former residents of Sessions claim to have seen Lucy's ghost in the stairwell.Environmental Sustainability at Smith
Smith has taken numerous steps toward environmental sustainability, including a 30% reduction in energy use. Also, through a contract with Zipcar, the college has reduced the need for individually owned cars on campus. Complimenting this effort, the college has also promoted sustainability through academics and through the arts. In Spring 2009, the campus actively participated in Earth Hour, an effort to shut off lights around the world.In keeping with its sustainability efforts, all Smith dining locations have discontinued the use of "to-go" supplies which included paper cups and plates, as well as plastic utensils. They now encourage students to bring their own, reusable containers and utensils if they wish to bring food back to their rooms. To further decrease use of disposable cups, Smith College provides all students with a reusable drink container at the beginning of each academic year. In past years, these containers have been variations on travel mugs, Sigg bottles, and nalgenes. Nalgenes, in particular, have achieved an almost trend-like status at Smith since the popularization of sustainability and reusability.
Those dining halls that still offer "To-Go" options no longer provide paper bags, and instead use wax paper bags, biodegradable plastic, and recyclable utensils made of vegetable cellulose.
For Smith's efforts regarding sustainability, the institution earned a grade of "A-" on the "College Sustainability Report Card 2010" administered by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Smith was lauded for many of the indicator categories, including student involvement, green building, and transportation, but was marked down for endowment transparency.
Notable alumnae
A number of Smith alumnae have gone on to become notable in their respective fields and endeavors. Some examples include:Dorothy Canning Miller, Museum curator
- Barbara AdamsBarbara Adams (General Counsel of Pennsylvania)Barbara Adams was appointed General Counsel of Pennsylvania on June 1, 2005 by Governor Edward G. Rendell. Adams, who was raised in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, had been a partner with Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia since 1986, a firm she joined originally as a summer associate in 1977.Adams...
, General CounselGeneral CounselA general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
of PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to... - Mary Adah Curbera, founder of American School of Madrid in the year 1961
- Tammy BaldwinTammy BaldwinTammy Suzanne Green Baldwin is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, serving since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In September 2011, Baldwin announced she would be a candidate in the 2012 U.S...
, Congresswoman, D-Wisconsin - Barbara Bush, former First Lady of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Ernestine Gilbreth CareyErnestine Gilbreth CareyErnestine Moller Gilbreth Carey was an American author.-Biography:Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Lillian Moller Gilbreth and Frank Bunker Gilbreth, early 20th-century pioneers of time and motion study and what would now be called organizational behavior...
, author - Penny CheneryPenny CheneryHelen Bates "Penny" Chenery Tweedy is an American sportswoman who bred and raced Secretariat, the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown...
, recipient of the Smith College Medal, owner/breeder of SecretariatSecretariat (horse)Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold... - Julia ChildJulia ChildJulia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
, chef and author - Barbara CooneyBarbara CooneyBarbara Cooney was an American children's author and illustrator of more than 200 books and double Caldecott Medalist. She has written books for six decades...
, author and award-winning illustrator - Margaret EdsonMargaret EdsonMargaret Edson is an American playwright. She graduated with a B.A. in Renaissance History from Smith College, and received a master's in English literature from Georgetown University...
, award-winning playwright - Julie Nixon EisenhowerJulie Nixon EisenhowerJulie Nixon Eisenhower is the younger daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, and sister to Patricia Nixon Cox....
, former First daughter - Margaret FarrarMargaret FarrarMargaret Petherbridge Farrar was an American journalist and the first crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, from 1942 to 1968...
, crossword puzzle editor - Janet FishJanet FishJanet Fish is a contemporary American artist. She paints still life paintings, some of light bouncing off reflective surfaces, such as plastic wrap containing solid objects and empty or partially filled glassware....
, artist - Mary Louise Foster,(BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Mass. 1865 - PembrokePembrokePembroke is a town in Wales which has given its name to many things. Its name is used for the following:-United Kingdom:*Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, a town in West Wales*Pembroke Dock, a town in West Wales*Pembrokeshire, a county in Wales-Australia:...
, Mass. 21 June 1960, aged 95), closely inspired by IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
born and 1931 Nobel Prize of Peace Jane AddamsJane AddamsJane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
, (1860 - 1935). Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
Grad.1891, and at MIT with Ellen Swallow RichardsEllen Swallow RichardsEllen Henrietta Swallow Richards was the foremost female industrial and environmental chemist in the United States in the 19th century, pioneering the field of home economics. Richards graduated from Westford Academy...
, (1842 - 1911), BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Mass. Ph.D. Chemistry 1914 Univ. of Chicago, Industrial chemical labs staff at MaplewoodMaplewoodMaplewood may refer to:Cities, towns, etc.* Maplewood, Indiana* Maplewood, Minnesota* Maplewood, Missouri* Maplewood, New Jersey* Maplewood, Ohio* Maplewood, Portland, Oregon, a neighborhood* Maplewood, Houston, Texas, a neighborhood...
, NJ, , Lab. Director in Chemistry for Women at MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, 1921 and 1922 and at SantiagoSantiagoSantiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
in the 1940's after retiring in the USA, Historian and Translator of Medieval Spanish-Arabic Science. - Bonnie FranklinBonnie FranklinBonnie Gail Franklin is an American actress, best known for her starring role in the television series One Day at a Time.-Personal life:...
, actress - Betty FriedanBetty FriedanBetty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
, feminist, activist, author - Sara HainesSara HainesSara Hilary Haines is a web correspondent at NBC's Today Show, a position she has held since May 2009....
, Online Correspondent, NBC News TODAY Show - Jane Lakes Harman, Congresswoman, D-California
- Molly IvinsMolly IvinsMary Tyler "Molly" Ivins was an American newspaper columnist, populist, political commentator, humorist and author.-Early life and education:Ivins was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Houston, Texas...
, columnist and author - Yolanda KingYolanda KingYolanda Denise King was the first-born child of Coretta Scott King and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
, actress, activist daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
and Coretta Scott KingCoretta Scott KingCoretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs... - Carol Herselle KrinskyCarol Herselle KrinskyCarol Herselle Krinsky Architectural historian, born in New York City, New York, USA. She studied at Smith College New York University, Krinsky is a professor of twentieth-century architectural history at New York University...
, architectural historian - Tosca LeeTosca LeeTosca Lee is a critically acclaimed American novelist of speculative fiction. Her sometimes controversial books are best known for their lyrical prose, extensive research, and vivid imagery....
, author - Madeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
, award-winning author - Anne Morrow LindberghAnne Morrow LindberghAnne Morrow Lindbergh was an American author, aviator, and the spouse of fellow aviator Charles Lindbergh.She was an acclaimed author whose books and articles spanned the genres of poetry to non-fiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and...
, author and aviator - Catharine MacKinnonCatharine MacKinnonCatharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist, scholar, lawyer, teacher and activist.- Biography :MacKinnon was born in Minnesota. Her mother is Elizabeth Valentine Davis; her father, George E. MacKinnon was a lawyer, congressman , and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit...
, feminist, activist, lawyer - Sarah MacLeanSarah MacLeanSarah MacLean is a best-selling American author of young adult novels and romance novels. Her first adult romance novel, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, where it stayed for four weeks.-Biography:MacLean was born in Lincoln, Rhode Island to...
, bestselling author - Tori Murden McClure, first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean
- Kathleen MarshallKathleen MarshallKathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...
, choreographer - Ann M. Martin, author
- Joan MitchellJoan MitchellJoan Mitchell was a "second generation" abstract expressionist painter. She was an essential member of the American Abstract expressionist movement, even though much of her career took place in France. Along with Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, and Helen Frankenthaler she was one of her era's few...
, painter - Margaret MitchellMargaret MitchellMargaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, award-winning author - Sharmeen Obaid-ChinoySharmeen Obaid-ChinaySharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a Pakistani journalist and documentarian. She is the first Pakistani to win an Emmy award, which she won for her documentary, Pakistan: Children of the Taliban in 2010...
, journalist and documentarian - Sylvia PlathSylvia PlathSylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
, poet and author - Halina PoświatowskaHalina PoswiatowskaHalina Poświatowska - Polish poet and writer, one of the most important figures in modern Polish literature....
, poet - Nancy ReaganNancy ReaganNancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, former First Lady of the United States - Sherry Rehman, former Minister of Information, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
- Eleanor SangerEleanor SangerEleanor Sanger was a 7-time Emmy-award winning television writer and producer, who was the first woman Network Sports Producer....
, first women's sports producer - Gloria SteinemGloria SteinemGloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, feminist, activist, journalist (Class of 1956) - Niki TsongasNiki TsongasNicola Dickson "Niki" Sauvage Tsongas is the U.S. Representative for , serving since a special election in 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.She is the widow of U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas, who represented the 5th district in the 1970s...
, Congresswoman, D-Massachusetts - Laura Tyson,Chairperson, National Economic Council under President Clinton
- Cynthia VoigtCynthia VoigtCynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse. Her first book in the Tillerman family series, Homecoming, was nominated for several international prizes and made into a 1996 film...
, award-winning author - J.R. WardJ.R. WardJessica Rowley Pell Bird is an American novelist. Under her maiden name, Jessica Bird, she writes contemporary romance novels, and as J.R. Ward, she writes paranormal romance. She has received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.-Biography:Born Jessica Rowley Pell Bird on 1969 in...
, bestselling author - Virginia Euwer WolffVirginia Euwer WolffVirginia Euwer Wolff is a prize-winning American author of children's literature, born in Portland, Oregon 25 Aug 1937. She attended an all-girls' school called St. Helen's Hall , before attending Smith College. She married Arthur Richard Wolff in 1959...
, award-winning author - Jane YolenJane YolenJane Hyatt Yolen is an American author and editor of almost 300 books. These include folklore, fantasy, science fiction, and children's books...
, award-winning author - Frances MossikerFrances MossikerFrances Sanger Mossiker is an American author best known for her historical novels. Her works include, Pocahontas: The Life and the Legend, The Queen's Necklace, and Madame de Sevigne...
, author - Rose JangRose JangRose Jang is an acclaimed Korean-American pop opera artist who is well-known for singing operatic arias, musical and classic pop songs. She is the first Korean to release an album comprising operatic arias as well as hit musical songs. Her album is distributed by Mnet. Jang is PR ambassador for...
, pop opera singer and PR ambassador for South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and New7Wonders of Nature.
The Alumnae Association of Smith College considers all former students to be members, whether they graduated or not, and does not generally differentiate between graduates and non-graduates when identifying Smith alumnae.
Smith College in popular culture
References to Smith abound in literature. In Sylvia PlathSylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
's novel The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar is American writer and poet Sylvia Plath's only novel, which was originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of places and people changed...
, the protagonist Esther Greenwood attends Smith College. In Running With Scissors, a memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Xon Burroughs is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors .- Life :...
, the author details how he and his foster-sister, Natalie, took walks together on the campus. The fictional Catamount College in the novella Beasts
Beasts (novella)
Beasts is a novella by Joyce Carol Oates and was originally published in 2001.-Plot summary:Set in an apparently idyllic New England college town in the 1970s, Beasts is the story of Gillian Brauer, a talented young student obsessed with her charismatic anti-establishment English professor Andre...
by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...
is based on Smith College. The character Chenault in The Rum Diary
The Rum Diary (novel)
-External links:* Totally Gonzo – The Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo Journalism Community* at the Internet Movie Database*...
by Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
went to Smith College. Commencement, a novel by J. Courtney Sullivan was published in 2009 and recounts the friendship of four Smith College classmates.
Smith has its place in films as well. The 1954 film White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
referenced Smith. Jean Simmons plays a recent Smith grad in 1957's "This Could Be the Night
This Could Be the Night (film)
This Could Be the Night is a 1957 MGM comedy-drama film directed by Robert Wise. The movie is based on the short stories by Cornelia Baird Gross and stars Jean Simmons and Paul Douglas. Actor Anthony Franciosa made his debut in this film.-Plot:...
". The 1966 movie Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...
and the 1993 movie Malice
Malice (film)
Malice is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and Scott Frank is based on a story by Jonas McCord.-Plot:...
were both filmed on the Smith campus. In the 1971 film Carnal Knowledge
Carnal knowledge
Carnal knowledge is an archaic or legal euphemism for sexual intercourse. The term derives from the Biblical usage of the verb know/knew, as in the King James and other versions, a euphemism for sexual conduct...
, Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
's character, Susan, is a Smith student, and portions of the film take place on the Smith campus. The character Joanna Kramer, played by Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son...
is a Smith College graduate. In the movie The Nanny Diaries
The Nanny Diaries
The Nanny Diaries is a 2002 novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, both of whom are former nannies. The book satirizes upper class Manhattan society as seen through the eyes of their children's caregivers....
Mrs. X is a Smith alumna. Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
also has a reference to a Smithie as a lesbian paying an ex-biotech exec to inseminate her and many other homosexual women in the movie She Hate Me
She Hate Me
She Hate Me is a 2004 independent comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling and John Turturro....
. Sadie (Nicole Vicius) from 2007 lesbian-comedy Itty Bitty Titty Committee
Itty Bitty Titty Committee
Itty Bitty Titty Committee is a feminist, lesbian-related comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit. It was released on 28 September 2007.The film had its premiere at the international film festival Berlinale on 9 February 2007, where it was nominated for a Teddy Award for Best Feature...
dropped out of the college after meeting her partner, a guest lecturer at Smith.
Well-known television shows integrate references to Smith into character plot lines. Charlotte York in the show Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
is a Smith College graduate. In an episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
—"I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. The episode aired on February 16, 2003. Twenty-two million people watched this episode, making it the second-most watched episode since 2002.-Plot:...
"—Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
is tempted by the Siren-like representatives of the Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (colleges)
The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and...
(and George Plimpton
George Plimpton
George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:...
), who offer a scholarship to the Sister school of her choice (and a George Plimpton hot plate) if she will throw a
Spelling Bee. Dr. Cristina Yang, a surgical resident played by Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
on Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
, graduated from Smith College with degrees in French Literature and Chemistry, and lived in Talbot House. Ainsley Hayes (played by Emily Procter
Emily Procter
-External links:...
), the conservative lawyer hired to work in the White House Counsel's Office on The West Wing, graduated from Smith. In an episode of Mad About You
Mad About You
Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
Paul's sister and her girlfriend are referred to as "The Fighting Lesbians." Paul (Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television personality, author, screenwriter and musician. He is most widely known for his role on the long-running television sitcom Mad About You.-Early life:...
) replies, "No, that would be the name of the Smith College Ice Hockey Team." Emily Gilmore in the show Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
went to Smith and majored in history. In season two of "Nip Tuck"- episode "Julia McNamara", Julia gets anesthesia before her facial surgery. One of the dreams she has is that Dr. Liz Cruz's made-up daughter will be attending Smith that coming fall. In the third season of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Dr. Doug Ross (played by George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
) mentions he is dating a Smith graduate. Nurse Carol Hathaway makes a joke about Dr. Ross's normal dates being unable to spell Smith. A very similar joke was made in the movie White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
, which starred George Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
.
In the 2009 Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
episode "A Clear and Present Danger
A Clear and Present Danger
"A Clear and Present Danger" is the fourteenth episode of the third season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes and forty-eighth episode overall. It aired on February 2, 2009. The episode is the beginning of Volume 4: Fugitives. It marks the first time a season of Heroes has contained...
", the Smith College viewbook is displayed prominently at the top of a stack of college materials Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis" on September 25, 2006...
is apparently reviewing. Angela Petrelli
Angela Petrelli
Angela Petrelli , portrayed by Cristine Rose, is a fictional character featured in the television show Heroes. She is the mother of Nathan and Peter Petrelli. The character is based upon the Angela Lansbury character Mrs. Iselin in the film The Manchurian Candidate...
asks Claire if she's found a favorite, to which Claire replies, "Hamilton, Smith, Georgetown, they're all the best schools in the country."
The webcomic Questionable Content
Questionable Content
Questionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...
mentions Smith College (usually referred to as "Smif" in the comic) as the place where one of the main characters, Marten, is employed as library staff, and several of the minor characters attend. Ellen, studies marine biology. Tai, Natasha and Cosette are also students. Jeph Jacques, the author, went to Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, one of the neighboring schools.
Some characters from the webcomic Minimalist Stick Figure Theatre, set primarily in Northampton, are students at Smith College.
In a recent Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...
original movie titled "Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith," Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
stars in a story about a woman in her 40s who returns to Smith College to finish her bachelor's degree. Smith alumna Susan Rice '63 wrote the script for the film, which aired August 1, 2009.
In the 1960 novel "The Tight White Collar" by Grace Metalious, the character Margery Cooper attends Smith College.
External links
- The Sophian, Smith's student newspaper
- Smith on Facebook
- http://www.smithpioneers.com Official Athletics Website