Special Days A-Z Files, 1884-[ongoing]
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Smith College Archives Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-06-10
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
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Special Days A-Z Files
Smith College.
Biographical History for: Special Days A-Z Files
Historical Note As an institution Smith College has many traditions, some with history since its inception. One of the earliest special days celebrated at Smith College was Ivy Day. Still celebrated, Ivy Day is a day in which departing seniors plant ivy cuts on the Smith grounds, symbolizing their seed of knowledge, in hopes that it will flourish. Today, cuts are taken from vines around campus and given to first-year students in anticipation of their own Ivy Day celebration. Many of those traditions include Special Day celebrations for students, staff, faculty, and parents. Included in the Special Days boxes are the Father's Day folders containing programs, POPS! concert programs, photographs, letters, and newspaper clippings. The change from Father's Weekend to Parent's Weekend and then Family Weekend is documented with the information contained in these folders. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, Float Night are special days included within the folders. And the repertoire of special days continues to grow as Smith College adds new special day traditions to its old ones: Celebration of Sisterhood and Otelia Cromwell Day. Each celebration seeks to acknowledge and diversify, celebrating what is present and what is to come. Smith College, having a history of celebrating, embracing, renewing and creating traditions, will carry several of them into the future and create several more.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The degree to which folders contain information varies. For some special days the only recognition of its existence is the presence of the folders, perhaps containing as little as a single photograph or a single event program. In such case, the Sophian may be a good place to look for further information. However, other folders contain records of the special day's beginnings on campus. The Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving Day folders contain information about past celebrations with newspaper clippings and reports, photographs, and memorabilia. In general, information for present day special day celebrations is not as complete as those of earlier celebratory years. For instance, though the Celebration of Sisterhood still takes place, the documents contain information for only 2 years. Similarly, Float Night is a continued Tradition that is documented for only 2 individual years. Additional files on Float Night are available in 80. Athletics Records. The folders are arranged alphabetically. Two special days, Christmas and Mountain Day have their own boxes. These have separate finding aids.
Women college students--Massachusetts--Northampton--Social life and customs.
lcsh
Smith College--History--Sources.
Smith College--Students--Social life and customs.
Africa Day 1994
All College Picnic 1986-1994
April Fool's Day 1981
Armistice Day 1935-1940
Celebration of Sisterhood 1993-1995
Commencement, general 1896-1987
Convocation, Barbara Bush recieves Honorary Degree 1989
Easter 1889-1952
Environmental Events 1968-1970
Family Weekend 1992-2000
Fathers Weekend, implementation 1949
Father's Weekend 1951
Father's Weekend 1952
Father's Weekend 1953
Father's Weekend 1954
Father's Weekend 1955
Father's Weekend 1956
Father's Weekend 1957
Father's Weekend 1958
Father's Weekend 1959
Father's Weekend 1960
Father's Weekend 1961
Father's Weekend 1962
Father's Weekend 1963
Father's Weekend 1964
Father's Weekend 1965
Father's Weekend 1966
Father's Weekend 1967
Father's Weekend 1968
Father's Weekend 1969
Father's Weekend 1970
Father's Weekend 1971
Father's Weekend 1972
Father's Weekend 1973
Father's Weekend Miscellaneous Photographs n.d.
Float Night 1952-1998
Freshman Day 1967-1982
Halloween 1890-1951
Halloween Photographs 1888-1994
Harvest Weekend 1979-1989
Homecoming 1990-1992
Hoop Rolling 1914
Illumination 1995-1996
Ivy Day 1884-1984
May Day 1884-1951
Memorial Day 1882-1940
No Diet Day 1994
Octoberfest 1994-1995
Opening Convocation (September), All College Meeting (January) 1949
Otelia Cromwell Day 1989-2002
Parent's Weekend 1974-1991
Pre College Day 1967-1970
Sophomore Carnival n.d.
Spirit Week 1982
Spring Weekend 1988
Thanksgiving 1880-1942
Turkey Trot 1987
Valentine's Day 1895-1951
Week of Prayer 1916
Winter Weekend 1987-1992
Women's Week 1982-1985
Women's Weekend 1972-1980