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

The Art of Lifting Luggage

Life Magazine calls a “luggage lifting” class at Smith in the 50s one of the strangest courses ever.

  • 150th Anniversary
  • March 21, 2025
Smith students practicing their luggage lifting skills on a train in the 1950s.
150th Anniversary

All the Smith News Fit to Print

Smith’s first student newspaper was published in 1911. Read about the periodical’s evolution.

  • 150th Anniversary
  • March 21, 2025
The Smith College student newspaper in 1940

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.

Catharine MacKinnon ’69

Feminist legal scholar, writer, and activist Catharine MacKinnon ’69 broke new ground when she established in the late 1970s a legitimate legal basis for sexual harassment claims. She also worked with feminist Andrea Dworkin to create ordinances recognizing pornography as a civil rights violation and the Swedish model (Equality Model) for abolishing prostitution by putting criminal penalties on the purchaser. In the late 1990s, she successfully filed suit on behalf of Bosnian women survivors of Serbian genocidal sexual atrocities against Radovan Karadzic, former president of the Republika Srpska, and received $745 million in damages. This was the first time rape was legally acknowledged as an act of genocide. MacKinnon is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School and the long-term James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Her most recent book is Butterfly Politics: Changing the World for Women (2019).

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