As part of Smith College’s sesquicentennial celebration, the Libraries are excited to share exhibits, initiatives, and online resources that tell Smith’s stories through a number of ways.

Exhibits

Smithies! Celebrating 150 Years of Student Life
Neilson Library ground floor gallery wall
On display through 2025

This exhibit is a compilation of photos curated from the Smith College Archives. The sixteen photos chosen for the exhibit give viewers a glimpse of just a few of the thousands of Smithies through time, both at work and at play. Smithies! spans the 1880s through 2018 and includes moments such as dorm life, campus protests, astronomy classes, and even one of the world’s first women’s basketball games.

Neilson: An Evolution
Neilson Library second floor exhibition gallery

Neilson Library’s inaugural exhibit focuses on the history of the building through the people and materials that defined it. The exhibit includes an expansive timeline covering 112 years, illustrated by photographs from the College Archives and following each architectural addition that culminates with Maya Lin’s transcendent design. 

Initiatives

Women’s History Matters — Support for Special Collections

Smith College Special Collections’ focus on documenting the lives and experiences of women and gender minorities has never been more important. We are not just reflecting on the past—we are building on it and putting it into action.

View the gallery below to see Special Collections’ impact on students, researchers, and the greater community. 

Visit the Special Collections support page to learn more about how you can help us ensure our collections continue to reach a global research audience, now and in the future.

Online Resources

Digitized Student Publications

After more than two years of extensive work by Smith College Special Collections staff and students, nearly 56,000 pages of student publications and records spanning from 1880 through the present day have been digitized and made available to the public to view.

This particular effort has focused heavily on the student experience, and includes publications such as The Sophian, student handbooks, Smith College Associated News, Information for Entering Students, and much more.

Learn more about the digitization project, or explore The Sophian!

Smith 150 Beyond the Libraries

For all events and content related to the college’s 150th celebration, visit Smith’s 150th website.