Let’s keep these memories alive! This is a page for throwback fun, where we can reflect on our lives as students at Smith, and how people, events, and artifacts of those days helped shape who we are today. As our 50th Reunion approaches, we probably will solicit classmate input through surveys or polls.
Davis Center Centennial Concert President Mendenhall’s Welcome Our Freshman Handbook Rotary Phones Billie Jean King Energy Crisis
Members of the Class of 1977 share refreshments in Davis Center.
Do you remember Davis Center? When we were students, it was the on-campus place to go to share a pitcher of beer with friends, or to take a short study break and eat. East of Elm Street (which Smith now calls “the Mountain Neighborhood“) housemates had easy access to Davis. The main level’s “Tinker Toy” open design provided flexible space for live or recorded music, student art exhibits, and communal snacking. The snack bar offered a new concoction, “Frogurt,” as well as bagels, pizzas, grinders, and ice cream cones. (Massachusetts dairy H.P. Hood Inc. invented Frogurt, the first frozen yogurt in the U.S. based on a request for a low-fat frozen dessert from Bloomingdale’s department stores in 1972.)
The large building originally was the gymnasium for Miss Capen’s School; Smith acquired the property in 1921. Renamed The Davis Center in honor of Smith’s 4th president, the location served as a campus center until 2005, when the more centrally located Campus Center opened. Davis now is called Davis Hall, and it is the home of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Mwangi Cultural Center; it also provides space for other affinity groups, as does Unity House on Bedford Terrace. The upstairs ballroom, which once featured a mirrored disco ball overhead, may be used for large gatherings such as Reunion class dinners.
The entire campus celebrated Smith’s Centennial during the 1974-75 academic year. In October, 1974, many of us took part in the special Centennial concert in John M. Greene. Faculty performed, some of us sang, some of us were the “bouncing words” during the sing-along numbers. Click here to see the special edition of The Sophian, which includes the complete concert program.
Images below, left-right: 1. Were you one of the “bouncing words?” 2. Special edition of The Sophian, 10/21/1974; 3. Music faculty Eloise Finardi and Iva Dee Hiatt perform “Glühwürmchen” (“Glow Worm”); 4. English Professor William Van Voris performs “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo;” 5. Val Eley ’75 sang two Billie Holiday songs.
Most of us arrived on campus in September, 1973. At the opening convocation, President Mendenhall welcomed the Class of 1977 with these words:
In welcoming you to the Smith Community may I express the hope that each of you will grow here in knowledge, learning, and wisdom. May you acquire a better understanding of yourself and your world, the moral courage to act on intelligence, and a greater sensitivity to the demands of community living which characterize the thinking person in a free society.
Freshman Handbook
Holy cow, it’s our Freshman Handbook! Back in 1973, when first-years still were called Freshmen, the College sent us this handy-dandy orientation volume. It includes a welcome letter from President Mendenhall, a glossary of campus terms (“rope test,” “watch,” etc.), information about extracurricular activities, and paid ads from some of our favorite Northampton shops. Remember Angotti on Green Street and The Cedar Chest on Main? The handbook is available to peruse digitally in the College Archives. Click the image at right to see the handbook there.
Today we can unlock our phones with our faces, but do you recognize this item? Hallmates often shared a rotary phone with a long cord and a dial lock like the one depicted here. Many of us had to wait until Ma Bell’s long distance rates went down at 11:00pm before calling our parents.
We only had been on campus a couple of weeks when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in Houston’s Astrodome. Following King’s historic victory, Franklin King House residents hung a banner renaming the residence “Billie Jean King House,” and students paraded joyfully through campus and Green Street. Click the image at left to read The Sophian’s account of the campus reaction.
The energy crisis of the mid-1970s meant we encountered fuel shortages and long lines at gas stations. Thermostats were turned down and many of us slept in heavy socks and Lanz flannel nightgowns. The ubiquitous Lanz nightgowns were the subject of a 1977 Sophian student survey; click the picture to read the article.