Smith College Class of 1977

Smith’s 150th birthday provides a special reason to explore and enjoy some of its historical tidbits. Classmate and retired librarian Nan Smith Stifel has been digging through the Smith Archives and old issues of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly for interesting items. For instance, did you know Smith had a booth at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago? Learn how the booth, designed by a Smith senior, came together at this page, also accessible from the Fun Stuff/Learn section. Classmates who lived in Franklin King House will get a kick out of the article!

This year marks the 150th year of Smith’s existence as a woman’s college! In 1875, the first fourteen students enrolled in the new college. This milestone event, along with other historical firsts, will be highlighted throughout the year. You can explore the College’s current and planned sesquicentennial celebrations at a special page on the college’s website. Don’t miss the interactive timeline, which includes the hiring of Jill Conway as the first woman president while we were students. As you scroll down that page, you can learn how you can write a love letter to Smith! Click the special logo on the left or go to https://smith.edu/150 to learn more.

posted 01/15/2025 by Nan Smith Stifel ’77

We are excited to inform you that 135 classmates made gifts to Smith by 12/31/2024, the halfway point in the college’s fiscal year. We exceeded our goal by 35%! That means a small group is kicking in an additional $5,000! The purpose of this challenge was to increase our participation percentage as we approach our 50th Reunion; several new donors rose to the challenge, as well as long-time givers.

Would you like to go ahead and make a Smith Fund gift for calendar year 2025? If so, CLICK HERE. You can learn about gift designations on our main Smith Fund page.

updated 01/28/2025. Thermometer: Getty Images.

We are excited to inform you that several of our Class of ’77 classmates have issued a year-end challenge: collectively they will donate a total of $5,000 if we have 100 donors by December 31, 2024, the halfway point of fiscal giving year ’24-’25. This challenge seeks to support the continuing goal of increasing our participation percentage leading up to the 50th Reunion. In December, 2023, we had 93 donors, hence the goal of 100 for December, 2024. The thermometer will track our progress. Can we count on you to make this challenge a success? If so, just CLICK HERE or on the blue graphic. You can learn about gift designations on our main Smith Fund page.  Thermometer updated 12/29/2024.

A longtime attraction of the Smith Botanic Garden, the Fall Mum Show, bids farewell this year. The annual November show, popular with the local community and alumnae, is making its last appearance. The show will be replaced with different exhibits the Botanic Garden will plan and implement as it redevelops its offerings in a “profound new direction.” You may learn more about the rationale behind the decision to end the Mum Show here.  Fortunately, two of our classmates were able to attend the Mum Show’s final fling, and shared the photos that appear in this post. 

Our honorary classmate and President Emerita, Kathleen McCartney, was back on campus in mid-October for the unveiling of her official portrait. The portrait, by artist Ying-He Liu, will hang in the Browsing Room in Neilson Library with the portraits of her 10 predecessors. President McCartney started college (Tufts) in the fall of 1973 — when most of us began our Smith journeys. She was elected honorary member of our class at our Class Meeting at our 40th Reunion. For more information about the portrait, see this article on the college website.   — Nan Smith Stifel

As noted in the previous post, alumnae in their 50th Reunion cycle were invited to attend join a special online presentation in April, 2024. In case you missed the presentation by Associate Professor Colin Hoag and students who curated ‘The Bell Jars: Lyman Conservatory and Sylvia Plath’s Botanical Imagination’ exhibit, it is available on YouTube, and will be repeated on May 22nd at noon ET. Click here to register for the May 22nd event.

Related student work: in a Spring 2023  Anthropology course, Smith College students majoring in Biological Science, English, Environmental Science and Policy, Computer Science, Anthropology, Government, and more gathered together to investigate the possibility that conservatories are relevant to our understanding of the human condition, focusing on Sylvia Plath’s (‘55) botanical encounters at Lyman in the 1950s. Student essays examine one plant species that features in Plath’s work, accounting for its ecology, geography, and taxonomy; the symbolic work it does in Plath’s writing; and the historical context in which Plath came to know it. Collectively, they demonstrate how Plath’s education in botanical science helped her to theorize the human experience, particularly for women living under the oppressive atmospheres of 1950s USA patriarchy. (The Plath Conservatory. https://sites.smith.edu/the-plath-conservatory/  Accessed 05/03/2024)

During the January interterm, Smith Dining Services staff developed new, tasty vegan and vegetarian breakfast options. See the article written by Rachael Haney Hagerstrom ’02 on the college’s website to learn more.  The article includes links to the recipes, student and staff responses to the new offerings, and a reminder that the changes support the college’s sustainability pledge.

from Fund Chair Gwen Mattleman: 

January 2024:

We have very good news. Thanks to your positive response and generosity, we exceeded our class Financial Aid Campaign challenge! According to GiveCampus, we had 41 donors who gave a total of $28,433—we were the second highest in total participation out of all classes back to the class of ‘29!

For myself and on behalf of Adele, Vanessa, and all of our class officers, heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave in this campaign, including those whose non-GiveCampus gifts are still being counted. This is a MAJOR accomplishment for the class of 1977, and you should all be very proud. KUDOS to everyone who participated. We’ll update when we have final totals from Smith reflecting nonGiveCampus gift sources. Meantime, here’s to all of you and to our class in the coming year! Cheers!