Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon, courtesy of NASA.
When astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first human steps on the moon on July 20, 1969, Armstrong famously uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
On that same day, 47 years later, Special Collections & Archives launched ArchivesSpace (go/aspace), a search tool that organizes the diverse and unique archival and manuscript collections stored in the Davis Family Library on the Lower Level.
The Bread Loaf Summer School of English was founded in 1919 in an effort to provide a graduate curriculum similar to the then-fledgling Summer Language Programs which would focus on the study of English literature. Poet Robert Frost became involved with the school in 1921, and over the next 42 years, was influential in its development and the creation of the annual Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. He purchased a 150-acre farm near Bread Loaf in 1939 and stayed there every summer.
Poet Robert Frost hits a groundstroke on the Bread Loaf tennis court.
The Writers’ Conference has been described as combining “a frantic amount of business with an equally frantic amount of fraternizing, revel, and emotional release.” Some of those latter elements were captured in recently rediscovered 16mm film footage from the College archives. Originally split onto two reels, the footage below shows Robert Frost socializing with colleagues on the tennis court sidelines (including his assistant Kay Morrison and writers Louis Untermeyer and Fletcher Pratt) before playing a game against conference director Ted Morrison.
Only a moment of action from the Pulitzer Prize winner is included, but we hope there may be more footage of Frost’s Bread Loaf revelry that still lies undiscovered in the archives like this one, available on our YouTube page.
In the 1940s, a revival in interest in Gamaliel Painter, one of Middlebury’s founders and early benefactors, saw the birth of a new graduation tradition. During convocation ceremonies at Middlebury’s former Women’s College, graduates began passing down replicas of Painter’s cane to the junior class. Today, every Middlebury graduate receives such a replica to keep as a symbol of their alma mater and with which to tap along when “Gamaliel Painter’s Cane” is sung at reunion.
This compilation of 16mm film footage from the college archives shows the cane-passing ceremony as part of convocation processions in the 1940s held behind Forest Hall.
Find out more about the story of Painter’s cane and its place in Middlebury history in The Story of Middlebury’s Cane Tradition a video created by the College’s own Chris Spencer, Stephen Diehl, Benjamin Savard ’14, and Matthew Lennon ’13.
Just as coming across full page ads for Chesterfield cigarettes used to be part and parcel of reading the latest edition of The Campus, pipe smoking was once a traditional part of Middlebury’s graduation festivities. Dating back to at least the 1920s during the “Class Day” activities that preceded commencement, graduates would gather outside to take puffs on long white pipes (sometimes lit by proud parents) before heading off to the alumni barbecue.
Pipe-smoking graduates in 1942
This compilation of 16mm film footage from the College Archives captures the pipe smoking tradition from the late 1920s to mid-40s. Although even those graduates who coughed through the smoke appear to have had a swell time, the annual tradition eventually ended in what we can only assume was the interest of public health, since everyone was trying to maintain a good health, with a good nutrition, training with yoga balls and quitting bad habits as this one.
[In the fall of 2021, Middlebury College removed the name of John A. Mead (1841-1920) Class of 1864 from the Chapel, due to his role in the eugenics movement in the state of Vermont.]
In celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the completion of Mead Chapel and Hepburn Hall, Special Collections presents a series of posts featuring interactive before-and-after imagery of these Middlebury icons.
Below is an interactive slider with images of Mead from the archives (tap or drag the bar to the right and left to slide between images). The before image was taken in 1942 while the after image shows the chapel and the surrounding (or should we say obscuring) landscape as it looks today.
A new 48-rank chamber organ was installed in Mead Chapel in 1970 after the condition of the original had deteriorated beyond repair. Music director Emory Fanning recalled that at the start of one performance on the dilapidated instrument, 12-inch blue flames had shot out of the motor before it was turned off, a prayer for the dead was recited, and it was turned back on for the remainder of the performance — which continued without a hitch.
The interactive slider below shows the dramatic presence that the new organ holds in Mead, having covered up the window above the altar. The before image is a 1919 postcard showing the interior of the chapel while the after image shows how it looks today. Other changes include balcony seating and updated lighting fixtures.
Sources “The Organ in the Chapel.” Middlebury College News Letter, July 1, 1969. A12 PF Mead 1942 02, Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College A12 PF Mead 1919 01, Special Collections & Archives, Middlebury College
Currently populating the glass cases of Davis Family Library are Margaret Armstrong book covers and historic postcards. Don’t miss the chance to see them before heading out for the summer!
As part of American Studies professor Ellery Foutch’s AMST 101 course, American Holidays, students researched holiday postcards from our collection, exploring how symbols and themes reflect the cultural mores of turn-of-the-century American life.
The postcards they studied and their comments are on display in the library atrium.
To compliment this exhibit, college archivist Danielle Rougeau curated and designed an exhibit featuring postcards and scrapbooks from the archives. The postcards capture Middlebury College’s landscape and characters as well as the role of postcard correspondence through history.
Postcard from Marjorie Phelps, class of 1917, to her mother. As she mentions, she and her roommate are pictured on the reverse.
Rounding out our summer exhibits is a tribute to Margaret Armstrong, curated by Joseph Watson and designed by Danielle Rougeau. Margaret Armstrong (1867-1944), one of the most accomplished book cover designers of the early twentieth century, produced cover art and illustrations for over 270 books.
Come to Special Collections to see a selection of her cover designs and learn more about her life!
Can you tell which cover Margaret Armstrong didn’t design? Come to Special Collections for a closer look and the answer!
As part of SC&A’s latest guerrilla advertising campaign, we infiltrated the Senior tradition of posting crush lists on the bulletin boards outside of the dining halls in the hopes of garnering submissions to the Web Archive.
The College’s new ArchiveIt subscription allows us to collect and store Web-based projects created by faculty and students, notable blogs and social media by members of the Midd community, student organization websites, and materials donated to Special Collections and Archives.
Crush lists in Proctor dining hall, with Web Archive’s Crush List in bottom left corner
This advertisement aims to target online presences related to campus culture but not directly affiliated with or endorsed by the College in order to create a more comprehensive view of student life for future generations to look back on.
The Middlebury College Community Web Archive, a transinstitutional collection, is intended to document life at Middlebury outside the official channels of communication, to archive diverse points of view and student activities, and to create a historical record of dynamic and engaging discussions that define our collective experience at Middlebury College. We hope our crush list conveys the spirit of the submissions we wish to receive!
[In the fall of 2021, Middlebury College removed the name of John A. Mead (1841-1920) Class of 1864 from the Chapel, due to his role in the eugenics movement in the state of Vermont.]
In celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the completion of Mead Chapel and Hepburn Hall, Special Collections presents a series of posts featuring interactive before-and-after imagery of these Middlebury icons.
Built with the help of a $60,000 donation from former governor Dr. John Mead to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his graduation from Middlebury in 1864, Mead Chapel was dedicated on June 18th, 1916 and marked “the completion of two years’ work and its entrance into the history of Middlebury as a meeting place for religious worship by faculty and students.”
Below is an interactive slider with images of Mead from the archives (tap or drag the bar to the right and left to slide between images). The before image comes from the scrapbook of Arthur Thomas Vaughn, Class of 1917, and shows scaffolding around the spire. The after image is a 1916 postcard marking the completion of the chapel.
Sources:
Stameshkin, David M. 1985. The Town’s College: Middlebury College, 1800-1915. Middlebury, VT: Middlebury College Press.
While our February Folio fever has passed, the Shakespeare celebration continues with the theater department’s upcoming production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Come watch the latest show in the long legacy of Shakespeare at Middlebury with performances at 7:30pm Thursday-Saturday, May 5-7 and 2pm Sunday, May 8th in Wright Theater!
And be sure to catch Special Collections’ archival exhibit featuring historic costume and set designs of past Middlebury Shakespeare productions! On display for a limited time in the atrium of Davis Family Library.
Middlebury’s 1971 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Original watercolor costume design by legendary Middlebury costume and set designer Capp Potter for the 1978 production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
The Middlebury College Observatory, GIF-ified here by Special Collections Film Preservation Assistant Sam Cartwright, opened in 1937 and was torn down to make way for the construction of McCardell Bicentennial Hall. Read Sam’s blog post, Romance of the Skies to learn more.
Then, get your celestial body to the new Middlebury College Observatory during one of their Open House Nights. The first is scheduled forFriday, April 29th from 9:00 pm-10:30 pm.
Can’t wait that long to howl at the moon? Tune in to WRMC this Wednesday, 12 pm-1 pm for Stacks and Tracks, the Special Collections radio show. We’ll share historical tidbits and play music with celestial themes. With special guest DJ, Sam Cartwright.
