Holiday Vesper Services at Smith

This weekend the College will hold its annual Christmas Vespers service in John M. Green Hall (Dec 7, 2008 4:00pm and 7:30pm). Did you know that the Vesper services were held from early in the College’s history?

An entry in the diary of Lydia Kendall, Class of 1895 for December 1892 describes then-president, L. Clark Seelye “His face fairly shown with the joy that he felt…He spoke to us very tenderly and very sweetly and left us with many lovely thoughts.” The musical portion of the service had a soloist, organ music, a violinist, and the choir.

Christmas Vesper Service 1892

Antiphonal singing between the choir and congregation began in the early 1900s. This program documents the songs and verse used in the 1906 service:

Christmas Vesper Service program 1906

Once John M. Greene Hall was completed in 1909, the service was opened up to members of the Northampton and surrounding communities. If you attend this weekend’s services, you may see scenes similar to these from 1947:

Smith-Amherst Glee Club performance, 1947

Audience at Christmas Vespers in John M. Greene Hall, n.d.

Buildings at Smith College

This spring the Princeton Architectural Press rolled out, “Smith College: The Campus Guide”  as part of its on-going campus guide series.  Author Margaret Vickery spent a lot of time working in the College Archives collecting information and stories about the buildings that remain on campus, some that no longer exisit, and still others that never had the chance of making it from conceptual design to ‘real life.’  This guide is an important work for people interested in learning more about the surroundings of the place we live in and come to work in everyday. 

At the Archives Vickery worked with many collections and sources that document the growth of campus.  The following three collections were a wealth of information for her book, and you too can come and conduct research in them:

Smith College Buildings Files, A-Z: http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/smitharchives/manosca104_main.html  Click on ‘view entire finding aid’ on the left-hand side bar for the complete listing. 

Smith College Grounds Collection, A-Z:  http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/smitharchives/manosca137_main.html  ‘Grounds’ at Smith include landscape design documents, Botanical Garden records, as well as photographs for sections of campus.

Office of the President Records, 1872-present:  http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/smitharchives/list  Every president dealt in some form or other with the expansion of campus, whether through acquisition of land, or purchase of pre-existing buildings.  For the tenure of most presidents, there are files specifically relating to the Buildings & Grounds department, that document these changes.  There may also be correspondence with donors, architects, constructions firms, as well as subject files for specific projects around campus.

These are but 3 of the collections that Vickery used in her research.  Biographical files, official publications, as well as photographic evidence all offer additional pieces to the story of Smith’s campus. 

If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to come to the Archives to review our sources, or contact us for more information.  Our website at www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/archives is a useful first step to learning about us.