Vassar College Digital Library
Genre

Black-and-white films (visual works)

A Vassar Notebook, 1970

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A Vassar Notebook, 1970
Date
1970
Description

Made by professor and founder of the Film Department James Steerman and his students, "A Vassar Notebook" comprises a series of twelve student pieces on life at Vassar in 1970. The pieces are: (1) "Remedial Film Making 1A" - students setting up and using a movie camera in front of Main Building with

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Commencement Weekend, 1930

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Commencement Weekend, 1930
Date
1930 June
Description

Personal camera footage taken the weekend of commencement, 1930. Consists mostly the Alumnae Parade but also includes graduates exiting the chapel after Commencement, as well as a survey of buildings and grounds, including Cushing, Taylor, Kendrick, Vassar Lake, Main Building, the Library

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Endless Bummer: VC Student Sit-in, part 1

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Endless Bummer: VC Student Sit-in, part 1
Date
1971-1972
Description

Silent, personal camera footage of scenes from the two-week sit-in in Main Building, a protest against the termination of several faculty members' contracts as well as general questions about academic freedom. Begins with a protest-related musical event in front of Main Building, students coming and

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Endless Bummer: VC Student Sit-in, part 2

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Endless Bummer: VC Student Sit-in, part 2
Date
1971-1972
Description

Silent, personal camera footage of scenes from the two-week sit-in in Main Building, a protest against the termination of several faculty members' contracts as well as general questions about academic freedom. Begins with students registering for classes, followed by a protest-related event in

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Meeting Emotional Needs in Childhood: The Groundwork of Democracy, part 1

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Meeting Emotional Needs in Childhood: The Groundwork of Democracy, part 1
Date
1947
Description

Part one of the fifth film in the Vassar College Child Study Department series, "Studies of Normal Personality Development." This installment tracks the evolution of personality development through favorable and unfavorable interpersonal relationships in the home, school, and neighborhood. The

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Meeting Emotional Needs in Childhood: The Groundwork of Democracy, part 2

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Meeting Emotional Needs in Childhood: The Groundwork of Democracy, part 2
Date
1947
Description

Part two of the fifth film in the Vassar College Child Study Department series, "Studies of Normal Personality Development." This installment tracks the evolution of personality development through favorable and unfavorable interpersonal relationships in the home, school, and neighborhood. The

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Brecht and Piscator

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Brecht and Piscator
Date
1959
Description

Norris Houghton speaking on "Playwrights in the Contemporary Theater," a television program produced by New York's Metropolitan Educational Television Association (META) in conjunction with Hunter College and the Phoenix Theatre. Additional credits include Amram Nowak (producer); Frank Jacoby

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Introductory Lecture

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Introductory Lecture
Date
1959
Description

Norris Houghton speaking on "Playwrights in the Contemporary Theater," a television program produced by New York's Metropolitan Educational Television Association (META) in conjunction with Hunter College and the Phoenix Theatre. Additional credits include Amram Nowak (producer); Frank Jacoby

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Miller, Odets

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Playwrights In The Contemporary Theatre: Miller, Odets
Date
1959
Description

Norris Houghton speaking on "Playwrights in the Contemporary Theater," a television program produced by New York's Metropolitan Educational Television Association (META) in conjunction with Hunter College and the Phoenix Theatre. Additional credits include Amram Nowak (producer); Frank Jacoby

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Sarah Gibson Blanding Person to Person Interview

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Sarah Gibson Blanding Person to Person Interview
Date
1959
Description

President Sarah Gibson Blanding on Edward R. Murrow's CBS news program "Person to Person." The scripted interview includes Blanding's comments on women's colleges, secondary education, and the liberal arts tradition. Includes an appearance by Blanding's sister Ellen (known as "Miss Ellen"), and a

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She Goes to Vassar

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She Goes to Vassar
Date
1961
Description

1961 revision of the silent film written, directed, and shot in 1931 by Vassar graduate Marvin Breckinridge (VC 1927), a self-taught filmmaker. The original "She Goes to Vassar" was a silent film, following a freshman (Shirley Ewald, VC 1933) through the course of her first year at the college

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Vassar at 75

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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 Commencement, June 1933

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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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[Home movie]

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[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]

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[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]

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[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]

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[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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