Skip to main content
A May Pole celebration, c.1912. Read an excerpt about celebrating May from the May 1890 issue of the student publication, The Vassar Miscellany.
American poet Robert Frost talks with English majors during a visit to campus in 1959. Read more about the history of the English Department.
A student labors over an assignment, c.1940s. Maybe it was study week. These days, help can be found in the Writing Center.
Students study by gas light in their dorm room, c.1905. Read about when electricity came to campus in 1912.
The architectural style of Thompson Library is Perpendicular Gothic. Be sure to look up on your way in the front entrance next time. Photo by Tamar Thibodeau.
Seated at end of the table, Vassar’s first history professor, Lucy Maynard Salmon, with a class, c.1890s. Read more about Professor Salmon, who brought “go to the sources” to Vassar’s pedagogical approach in the 19th century.
The Juliet Theater, near Vassar, as it was in c.1939, showing a popular movie. See a “then and now” video of Arlington, the town adjoining campus.
In March, the Drama Department produced a new work called “Playground: The Hallie Flanagan Project” about the life of a legendary Vassar professor. See a video about the making of this commemorative play.
Students dressed for Class Day c.1890s. Class Day is no longer practiced, but formerly, it was the last time the senior class gathered before graduating. Read more about Vassar traditions…
Detail of Catskills in Spring (1861) by Charles Herbert Moore. This painting was part of Vassar’s founding art collection, which included contemporary art of the time. Read more about how Matthew Vassar acquired the collection for the college.
Maria Mitchell, the first faculty member to be hired at Vassar, seated with students, c.1886. See a video montage of many of Vassar's faculty over the last 150 years.
Gathering daisies, c.1920s, for the graduation daisy chain, one of Vassar's oldest commencement traditions. Today the African Violets join in leading the processional. Read more...
Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Vassar President Henry MacCracken, at commencement, 1931. FDR was the commencement speaker that year, and a Vassar trustee from 1923 until his death in 1945. Read more about FDR's connection to Vassar.
A fancifully designed ticket to Vassar's 1867 Commencement. In the previous year, 1866, The New York Times covered the college's first closing ceremonies in an entertaining article by a correspondent named Diabolus. Read more...
Last year's class of 2010 celebrated Vassar's 150th anniversary during graduation. This year's 147th Commencement ceremony is on Sunday, May 22, 2011. See details.
Commencement’s over, only one thing left to pack. Photo gift of Tim Davis©. Courtesy of Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, where this photograph and others were exhibited earlier this spring. See more…
Edna St. Vincent Millay, class of 1917, and one of Vassar’s more renowned literary alums. She was also a renowned campus rule-breaker who almost didn’t graduate. Read more…
We are all saddened by the death of Ben "the wonder dog" who was brought to campus in 2000 to help deal with geese around Sunset Lake. He performed his work with zeal and determination. Read about Ben's early days on campus.
“Votes for Women,” students march in the first suffrage assembly allowed on campus, 1912. Read the history of the suffrage movement at Vassar.
It's a beautiful time of year to take a walk along the Priscilla Bullitt Collins Trail near the Fonteyn creek. Read about plans for a nearby part of the creek, including the future 'bridge building' for the sciences.
A student production of Midsummer Night's Dream, 1914. Today, the Powerhouse Apprentice program produces outdoor theater every summer in the same location. Read more.
Weeding in the fields at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, 2009. The PFP is a remarkable community resource. Read more. Photo by Johanna DeKrey.