Celebrating Smith’s 150th

In September of 1875, Smith College opened its doors to 14 students and six faculty members. Ever since then, we’ve been pushing the world forward in profound ways. Smith—and Smithies—have been a force for change, transforming our society, our history, and the lives and leadership of women. Smith’s impact on the greater good has been undeniable.

Read President Sarah’s letter to the community launching our sesquicentennial. 

A Look Back at 150 Years

 

150 Years, 150 Stories

Smith College has an inspiring and complex story. Over the course of the year, we collected stories of the people, places, ideas, and initiatives—some new, some taken from our archives—that provide a rich, nuanced portrait of Smith’s place in the world, its influence on culture, and the powerful ways it has evolved and responded to the big issues of the day.

150th Anniversary

1991: To Quash a Lie

Feminist scholar Catharine A. MacKinnon ’69 says women resisting silence is essential to equality.

  • 150th Anniversary
  • June 30, 2025
Little Love Stories

Time Well Spent in the Boathouse

Aimie Smith Chapple ’91 traces the origin of her lasting friendship with staffer Micky Finn.

  • Little Love Stories
  • June 5, 2025
150th Anniversary

1999: The Art of Engineering

Former physics professor Malgorzata Pfabé on the significance of the Picker Engineering Program.

  • 150th Anniversary
  • April 23, 2025
Ford Hall

Lessons in History

Events throughout our sesquicentennial year offered unique looks into Smith’s long history. Dive into a couple that take you all the way back to the beginning.

150 Years of Smith College & Northampton

Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton and Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra ’96 hosted “150 years later—Smith + Northampton: A History of the College’s Founding” on Saturday, March 8—International Women’s Day and the college’s first Founder’s Day.

Laurie Sanders, Historic Northampton’s co-director and Smith College alumna ’88, took a closer look at the important connections between Northampton history and Smith College’s founding. Watch the recording.

Celebrating 150 Years of Student Life

On display on the ground floor of Neilson Library throughout 2025, this exhibit offered a glimpse into the social, academic, and athletic lives of Smithies over the last 150 years. Check out an astronomy class from the 1800s, a protest in 1956, a dance rehearsal from 1990, and more in this exhibit curated from the Smith College Archives.

Learn more about the display.

A group of Smithies walking away from the Grécourt Gates, smiling

1968 September
Washington, D.C.-area Smith students in front of the Grécourt Gates.
Grounds subject files, CA-MS-00137, box 264.1, folder 23

Game Changer

Smith has always been a place for “Game Changers”—people who challenge the status quo and make a real difference in the world. Their stories show how one person can spark big change.

Explore more profiles of Smith’s Game Changers.

Sylvia Plath ’55

Sylvia Plath has had an indelible impact on confessional poetry and the written word. Her contributions include poetry collections The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel, as well as the semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. At eight years old, she had her first poem published in the children’s section of the Boston Herald and went on to have her first national publication in The Christian Science Monitor in 1950. Plath battled clinical depression for most of her adult life. While studying at Smith, she took a six-month leave of absence to receive psychiatric care before returning to complete her degree and graduate summa cum laude. She also earned the Glascock Poetry Prize in 1955 before being awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at Newnham College in Cambridge, England. Plath took her own life in 1963. After the publication of The Collected Poems in 1982, Plath was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, making her the fourth to posthumously receive the honor.

Celebrate in Style

In honor of our sesquicentennial, we’ve put together a collection of gear ranging from mugs to T-shirts to notebooks. Let everyone know you’re proud to celebrate 150 years of Smithie magic.

Shop the 150th Collection