Founder's Day

President MacCracken at Georgia A. Kendrick's grave in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery
President MacCracken at Georgia A. Kendrick's grave in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery
The Class of 1920 leading the march away from song contest
Song contest
Class of 1920 lined up for the song contest
Class of 1922 performing at the song contest
Members of the Class of 1920 and others at the song contest
Class of 1920 performing in the song contest
Class of 1920 marching to the song contest
Class of 1920 marching to the song contest
Faculty-student baseball game
Student dressed in costume at the faculty-student baseball game
Student dressed as a pirate at the faculty-student baseball game
Student dressed as a pirate at the faculty-student baseball game
Student baseball team at the faculty-student baseball game
Student at bat in the faculty-student baseball game
President MacCracken dressed in a stereotypical Middle Eastern costume and a student at the festivities after the Founder's Day parade
Students in costume for the Founder's Day parade, one dressed as Charlie Chaplin
Dean C. Mildred Thompson dressed in wings and a halo at the festivities after the Founder's Day parade
Students in costume for the Founder's Day parade
Professor Lucy Maynard Salmon's grave, Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery
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
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.