Vassar College Digital Library

Vassar College Archives Film and Video Collection

The Vassar College Film and Video Collection is part of the holdings of the College Archives. It consists of several thousand items in a variety of formats which together provide important documentation for the history of the college in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The examples available here date from the 1920s to the 1990s. Topics include the campus, reunion, commencement, inauguration, lectures, events, and other aspects of life at Vassar.
Digital Library

Vassar College Archives Film and Video Collection

The Vassar College Film and Video Collection is part of the holdings of the College Archives.  It consists of several thousand items in a variety of formats which together provide important documentation for the history of the college in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  The examples available here date from the 1920s to the 1990s.  Topics include the campus, reunion, commencement, inauguration, lectures, events, and other aspects of life at Vassar.

Vassar

Image
Vassar
Date
1973
Description

Promotional film featuring Michael McCarthy, Vassar Professor of Philosophy. McCarthy discusses James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with students in the classroom, then in a less formal session. His voice-over outlines some of his thoughts about the Vassar campus, its students and

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Vassar

Image
Vassar
Date
1984
Description

Promotional slideshow film produced by Seven Seas Cinema, Inc. for the Vassar Press and Information Office. The soundtrack consists of short statements and opinions about the college by faculty, administrators and students. Written and produced by Valerie O'Brien, directed by Michael Elwin Smith

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Vassar at 75

Image
Vassar at 75
Date
1940 May-June
Description

Professionally edited film commemorating the 75th anniversary of Vassar College. The bulk of the film centers on the weekend of commencement, but it begins with the dedication of Baldwin Infirmary. People visible at the dedication include President Henry Noble MacCracken and Jane North Baldwin

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Vassar Collage

Image
Vassar Collage
Date
1973 or 1974
Content Warning
The Vassar College Archives within the Digital Library include some images, texts, and material items that are racist, xenophobic, or otherwise harmful. The Vassar Libraries have provided descriptive text and additional notes whenever possible to alert Digital Library users to these items. The Engaged Pluralism Initiative Race and Racism in Historical Collections Project Group is working with the library on contextualizing and facilitating community conversations about these materials. For more information see: https://library.vassar.edu/rrhc
Description

Roughly chronological series of historical images and film clips set to music from the respective eras of Vassar College history. The soundtrack also includes readings from early Vassar letters. Many or most of the clips came from other films available in the Digital Library. The film was made by

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Vassar College Archives Film and Video Collection

Image
Vassar College Archives Film and Video Collection
Abstract

The Vassar College Film and Video Collection is part of the holdings of the College Archives. It consists of several thousand items in a variety of formats which together provide important documentation for the history of the college in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The examples

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Vassar Commencement, June 1933

Image
Vassar Commencement, June 1933
Date
1933
Description

Silent film with title cards featuring members of the Class of 1915 at their 18th reunion. Events featured include the Alumnae Parade and Class Day exercises. The Class of 1873 lead the parade from Rockfeller Hall to the President's House where President H. N. MacCracken and his wife Marjorie Dodd

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Vassar Today

Image
Vassar Today
Date
1971
Description

Panel discussion interspersed with clips of interviews with faculty, administrators, and students. The film was produced by Management Television Services (MTS) for Vassar two years after the college became coeducational. It was broadcast on October 4, 1971, to Vassar Clubs across the country via

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1934
Description

Personal camera footage of campus and the academic processional on commencement day, 1934, followed by scenes of a senior and her family. The family could be the Pogues of Cincinnati, Ohio. Virginia Pogue Weinland graduated in 1934, and her sister, Margaret Pogue Macneale, graduated in 1936

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1930-1932
Content Warning
The Vassar College Archives within the Digital Library include some images, texts, and material items that are racist, xenophobic, or otherwise harmful. The Vassar Libraries have provided descriptive text and additional notes whenever possible to alert Digital Library users to these items. The Engaged Pluralism Initiative Race and Racism in Historical Collections Project Group is working with the library on contextualizing and facilitating community conversations about these materials. For more information see: https://library.vassar.edu/rrhc
Description

Personal camera footage from Founder's Day 1931 and 1932 as well as Class Day 1932. Scenes from Founder's Day 1931 begin with a treasure hunt, followed by the faculty-student baseball game, the hoop-rolling contest (won by Marcia Wheelock, VC 1931), and dancing the Virginia Reel to a performance by

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
approximately 1938-1940
Description

Personal camera footage likely taken by a member of the Class of 1940. The original film was transferred to cassette before being gifted to the library; thus, the image quality is poor. Includes scenes of the college in winter and spring, the Athletic Circle gardens, Sunset Lake, the Shakespeare

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1939
Description

Personal camera footage taken by Margaret (Loose) Krell, Class of 1939, and her friends and family. There are many scenes of campus during winter, including Taylor Gate, Thompson Library, Sunset Lake, Skinner Hall, the Vassar Chapel, Main Building, the Residential Quad, and Alumnae House, as well as

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1935-1936
Description

Personal camera footage shot by Frances White Field (VC 1936) including winter scenes of the college, students smoking, convocation, an anti-war protest, and the 1936 commencement

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1931-1935
Description

Archival footage taken by Elizabeth S. Brooks (VC 1935). The first 2.5 minutes is footage of the Vassar campus from approximately 1931-1933, including a trolley running on Raymond Avenue, Vassar Lake, and views of the exteriors of various college buildings. The following 30 seconds are likely Brooks

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1935
Description

Archival footage taken by Elizabeth S. Brooks (VC 1935) and her family. Begins with the Class of 1935 walking in the commencement processional, followed by a brief clip of Brooks feeding goldfish with a Vassar friend. Next is footage of the 1935 Alumnae Parade beginning with the Class of 1885 and

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[Home movie]

Image
[Home movie]
Date
1949 May
Description

Personal camera footage of Vassar campus in spring 1949. Includes footage of Skinner Hall, the Shakespeare Garden, and Class of 1951 Daisy Chain

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