Founder's Day

Students boxing at the "County Fair"
This collection includes more than 3,500 glass plate negatives created by photographer Edmund Wolven. Most of the images are of Vassar College people, events, buildings and grounds, but there is a subset that relates to other local educational institutions and Poughkeepsie. Wolven, born in Poughkeepsie in 1876, worked for many schools and colleges in the area. He began taking photos for Vassar College in the late 1890s, and became the official college photographer between approximately 1900 and 1910. The latest photographs in this collection are from the 1940s.
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
Students boxing at the "County Fair"
Class of 1924 at the song contest
Students in costume at the faculty-student baseball game. One is wearing a stereotypical Romani costume
Student players from the faculty-student baseball game
Spectators at the Founder's Day contests
Class of 1926 at the song contest
Students at the faculty-student baseball game
Student wearing dark makeup and dressed as a pirate at the faculty-student baseball game
Class of 1920 performing in the song contest
Students in costume at the faculty-student baseball game
An unidentified woman placing a wreath on Georgia A Kendrick's grave at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, which was visited by a contingent from Vassar on Founder's Day
Students in costume at the faculty-student baseball game
President MacCracken speaking at Matthew Vassar's grave at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, listened to by a contingent of visitors from Vassar
Students lined up for a bicycle contest
Class of 1925 at the song contest
President MacCracken giving the Founder's Day address on the steps of the President's House
Faculty-student baseball game. Geology professor Thomas M. Hills is at bat
Students dressed as pirates at the faculty-student baseball game
Class of 1920 marching to the song contest
Students in costume, two in stereotypical Native American dress, one in dark makeup
Here you will find digitized archival collections, oral histories, and more. We are continually expanding the collections and improving access. You may find additional digital resources that reside outside the digital library here, and a selection of Online Exhibitions here.
Collections Overview
The Archives & Special Collections Library is part of the Vassar College Libraries system. It holds the rare book, manuscript, and archival collections of the college. It collects, preserves, and makes available rare and unique collections, and also engages in teaching and outreach activities. This collection of finding aids describe items in both the Virginia B. Smith Memorial Manuscript Collection and the College Archives.
The Vassar College herbarium holds over 8,000 specimens of vascular plants, bryophytes, and algae. Holdings are primarily from northeastern North America, and include collections made by several notable 19th century botanists. To learn more about this project visit the website here.
Vassar College's institutional repository reflects the research and scholarly output of the Vassar College community. It provides access to senior theses, peer reviewed open access articles, and projects from a wide range of disciplines.