Vassar College Digital Library
Genre

Sound films

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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Ceremony for a New Planet

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Ceremony for a New Planet
Date
1972
Description

Short film directed by James B. Steerman. Includes images from "Time Paintings," a series of scroll paintings by Lewis W. Rubenstein, and poems by Nancy Willard Lindbloom. Music, composed by Alexander Scriabin, was performed by Todd Crow. Additional footage of Rubenstein sketching water plants was

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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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One Night At Vassar

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One Night At Vassar
Date
1990
Description

Promotional film produced for the Admissions Office. The narrator portrays a student writing a description of the college over the course of one evening. Themes include student life, friendship, intellectual rigor and curiosity, diversity, and open-mindedness. Spaces featured include the All Campus

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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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Reflections For Tomorrow

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Reflections For Tomorrow
Date
1977
Description

TIAA-CREF informational film. Includes faculty and staff interviews and campus footage from Cooper Union, New York University, Rockefeller University, and Vassar College. Produced by Peter Rosen Productions

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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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The Inauguration of Virginia B. Smith as President of Vassar College

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The Inauguration of Virginia B. Smith as President of Vassar College
Date
1978
Description

Narrated film offering an overview and highlights of the inauguration of Virginia B. Smith. Featured speakers include Barbara Austin Foote (VC 1940), Winifred Asprey (VC 1938 and faculty), Barbara W. Newell (VC 1951 and Wellesley College), Martin Meyerson (University of Pennsylvania), and Elizabeth

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The Vassar Girl, 1933-1974

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The Vassar Girl, 1933-1974
Date
1974
Description

Mary McCarthy (VC 1933) describes the college as it was when she was a student in contrast to Vassar in 1974. Includes a discussion with a group of students about the social and political climate of the 1960s and 1970s as well as McCarthy's analysis of Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Vietnam War

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Time Painting

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Time Painting
Date
1956
Description

Filmed description and display of Vassar professor Lewis Rubenstein's "time painting" technique which is centered around long horizontal scrolled pieces meant to be viewed in a special rolling frame. The artist shows students a number of paintings while demonstrating the process of creating and

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Vassar

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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

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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 Collage

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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 Today

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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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