Violinist, Alice Smiley, 'cellist, Sterling Hunkins, and pianist Robert Guralnik, performed in the Philharmonic Chamber Music Concert at Vassar.
A conference was held at Vassar in which sociologists, physiologists, and educators, gathered to discuss the newly published book The American College: A Psychological and Social Interpretation of Higher Learning. At the conference the social scientists, psychologists and educators challenged the "new findings about intellectual and personality development during the college years", which the book discussed. A panel and general discussion was held entitled " The Social Scientists Challenge the Educators: A Joint Look at Liberal Arts Education in America Today."
Dr. George Wald, co-author of "A General Education in a Free Society" and professor of biology at Harvard University, lectured on "The Origin of Life."
Dr. Robert Mentor, a sociology professor at Columbia University, lectured on "The State of the Social Sciences in the Soviet Union."
Fred M. Hechinger, education editor of the New York Times, spoke in Students' Building on "Changing Patterns in Education."
Pete Seeger performed at Vassar College for Freshman week despite many local protests from the American Legion and other organizations. The college responded to the controversy by explaining that it was the freshman class, not the college, that was sponsoring Seeger's appearance.
Dr. David B. Langmuir, associate director of the physical research division, Space and Technology laboratories in Los Angeles, lectured on "The Astounding and Prosaic in Space Research."
Maynard Mack, English Professor at Yale University, lectured on "The Last and the Greatest Art: Some Observations on Shaping of Pope's poems."
Students in the political science class "State and Local government" met with Governor Rockefeller in Albany.
Nadia Boulanger, French musician, visited Vassar to conduct a master class in harmonic analysis and give a lecture.
Richard C. Solomon, psychology professor of University of Pennsylvania, gave the Helen Gates Putnam Conservation Lecture on "Conscience and Resistance to Temptation in Dogs and Children."
Charlotte B. Winsor, director of the Division of Teacher Education of Bank Street College of Education lectured on "A Developmental Approach to Education."
A four day conference was held at Vassar to discuss the problem of urban growth decay. The opening address at the "Conference on the City" was given by William H. Whyte, editor of Fortune Magazine and author, who spoke about "The Politics of Open Space." Robert Lopez, history professor at Yale University, discussed "The City as a Business Affair." Two student panels met to discuss "The Image of the City" and "Problems of Urbanization." Professors from several colleges gathered in a Colloquium on "The City in History." Webb S. Fiser, associate political science professor at Syracuse University spoke about "Mastery of the Metropolis." Jane Jacobs gave the closing lecture on "The Citizen and Urban Renewal."
Anne-Marie Stokes, editor of the Catholic Worker, and a member on the Board of the American Committee on Africa, lectured on "Claudel", sponsored by the French Department.
Five Vassar College Seniors received the 1962-63 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship. The recipients were Catherine L. Aubin, Carolyn R. Francesconi, Barbara M. Kaplan, Marilyn L. Redfield, and Elizabeth A. Sussman. Five additional students received honorable mentions.
Jonathan B. Bingham, United States Representative to the President of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations, spoke on "The Free World's Take in the United Nation."
President Sarah Gibson Blanding, in an all campus meeting, told the 1,450 students of Vassar College that premarital sex, and excessive drinking would not be tolerated by the college. She explained that disciplinary action would be taken against those who did not follow the standard of the college, for she believed that sexual promiscuity was "indecent and immoral." President Blanding advised those students who could not follow the rules to withdraw voluntarily from Vassar. When a poll was taken regarding this announcement, 52% of the campus supported Blanding, 40% disagreed, and the remainder were undecided.
The Riverside Chamber Singers performed at Vassar.
The Vassar College Choir, conducted by Margaret E. Cawley, and the Wesleyan University Choral society, gave a concert in the Vassar College Chapel.
Dr. Hans E. Holthusen, German author, poet, and critic, lectured on "Crossing the Zero Point: German Literature Since World War II."
Professor R. C. Zachner, of Oxford University, lectured on "The Teaching of Zoroaster."
Lionel Trilling, author, editor, and literary critic, lectured on "The Anti-Heroic Principle in Literature and Morality."
Sarah Gibson Blanding, who became president of Vassar College in 1946, announced that she would retire in 1964.
James Joll, lecturer on modern history and politics at Oxford University, spoke on the subject of "Marinetti and Futurism."
Seven Vassar students participated in a Freedom Ride to La Plata, N.D. where three hundred participants conducted sit-ins and picketed local restaurants as part of the Northern Student Movement. Six of the participants were arrested. The Freedom Riders then picketed and sang songs outside of the jails in which the six were held.
Vassar students, faculty, and city housewives demonstrated against nuclear testing in front of the Poughkeepsie courthouse and city office building for one hour. A peace vigil was later held in the center of Poughkeepsie arranged by Dutchess County Women for Peace, Poughkeepsie SANE, and Vassar for Peace Committee.
Sarah Gibson Blanding, president of Vassar College, was one of the nine people appointed to a state advisory committee to study the state's 18 year minimum drinking age. The state advisory committee, along with the joint legislative committee, was formed in order to decide if the state should raise the minimum drinking age to 21.
A joint concert by the Vassar College Glee Club, conducted by Albert Van Ackere, and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Glee Club, under the direction of Klaus Liepman, was held in the Vassar Chapel.
Four hundred members of the Poughkeepsie Community attended the sixth annual "Community Day at Vassar." Vassar, with the help of the Poughkeepsie Area Vassar Club, invited citizens of the area to come to an open house, where they could learn about the academics and student life of Vassar.
Vassar President Sarah Gibson Blanding attended a dinner at the White House honoring Nobel Prize winners. The dinner was given by John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy. Sarah Gibson Blanding was seated with the First Lady.
Participants from the Walk for Peace from Hanover, New Hampshire, to Washington D.C., arrived in Poughkeepsie to take part in a public meeting held at Vassar. Two other groups were walking simultaneously in different parts of the country, in protest to the arms race.
Vassar College was one of the 56 Universities and Colleges to receive honors from the American Alumni council.
Advanced chemistry study was offered at Vassar for 15 high school students. The program was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
A six week earth science summer institute opened at Vassar for forty-two junior high and high school teachers from fifteen different states.
The American Public Relations Association awarded Vassar the 1962 award "for distinguished achievement in publicizing a special event," Vassar's centennial year activities. Seventy-five alumnae clubs were gathered to gain national and international recognition.
Sally Baker Stanton, Class of 1897, left a gift of $200,000 in her will to Vassar, to be used as scholarship funds for "white girls only." This caused a great controversy at the college, and among the Board of Trustees, who after much deliberation, authorized rejection of the gift. They also gave permission to the college officials to start legal proceedings in an attempt to eliminate the fund's restriction.
Paintings and drawings by nineteenth-century landscape painter Hubert Robert were on display as the first major loan exhibition of the 1962-63 season.
The Vassar-Mississippi Action Committee was formed in October over concerns for the safety of James Meredith, first black student to attend "Ole Miss" (The University of Mississippi) ,where rioting broke out as Meredith attempted to attend classes. Governor Barnett, 35 state senators, and Mississippi State Police barred Mr. Meredith from attending classes. The Vassar-Mississippi Action Committee sent a petition to Congress supporting President Kennedy's action in integration and urged more work in civil rights. The committee decided also to correspond with southern and "Ole Miss" students.
Sylvia Sidney starred in Vassar's production of Thorton Wilder's comedy "The Matchmaker."
Walter Trampler, viola and viola d'amore virtuoso, gave a concert consisting of a variety of works form seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century composers.
The Vassar Student Lecture Series opened with a lecture given by Dr. Sripati Chandra-Sekhar, Indian Authority on Asian foreign policy and demography.
Dr. Dietrich Goldschmidt, professor of Pedagogische Hochschule in West Berlin, lectured on "Anti-Semitism in Germany."
The Vassar Inter-Club council sponsored "A dialogue on the Vatican Council." The guest speakers were the Reverend James Hennesey and the Reverend Professor Albert C. Otler.
Dr. Jack Luin Hough, professor of Geology at the University of Illinois, was the guest lecturer at the Vassar College Sigma XI club. He lectured on "The Prehistoric Great Lakes of North America."
The Vassar College touch football team played a game against Sienna College, an all male college located in Loudonville, New York. Sienna's eight men defeated Vassar's eleven women, 14 to 6.
The National Civil Defense Agency, through the Army Corps of Engineers, conducted a survey of college buildings to determine buildings appropriate for fallout shelters. The Miscellany News stated "the signs [denoting the fallout shelters] mysteriously appeared on campus." President Blanding, commenting on the signs, stated that they "might do some psychological good.'"
Professor H. D. F. Kitto, classicist and author came to Vassar to give the 1962 Helen Kenyon Lecture, entitled "Greek and Shakespearean Historical Tragedy."
The Aeolian Chamber players performed a concert of twentieth century chamber music at Vassar College. Performing was Lewis Kaplan, violin; Harold Jones, flute; Robert Listckin, clarinet; and Gilbert Kalish, piano.
Carl B. Swisher, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, lectured on "The Supreme Court in its modern role."
Dr. Homer A. Jack, executive director of the National Committee for Sane Nuclear Policy, spoke at Vassar about "The Problem of Fall Out Shelters."
Dr. Ellis Waterhouse, director of the Barber Institute of Art, University of Birmingham, England, gave the 1962 Dorothy Rice Marks Memorial lecture on "Sir Joshua Reynolds."
Vivian Cadden '39, senior editor of Redbook Magazine spoke on "The Role of Independent School in Education."
The Julliard String Quartet presented a concert at Vassar College, sponsored by the Dutchess County Musical Association.
The Vassar Glee Club, directed by Albert Van Ackere, and the Franklin and Marshall College Glee Club, under the direction of Hugh Alan Cault, performed in a joint concert at Vassar.
The Vassar College Experimental Theater presented August Strindberg's comedy "Crimes and Crimes."
The Legislative Advisory Committee, of which President Sarah Gibson Blanding was a member, announced that they had voted six to three against raising the minimum drinking age form 18 to 21 in the State of New York. Ms. Blanding, who was opposed to raising the drinking age, said she was "fearful that to increase the minimum age for legal purchase of alcoholic beverages in New York, would only compound the problems that presently exist in this age group."
Carol Merritt '62 and other members of SNCC were arrested in Mississippi while working on a voter registration drive in Canton, Mississippi. President Blanding stated the college "cannot take an official stand on this issue" since "we have people in this college that are not in favor of integration." The President also commented that the administration will "strongly support any member of the community that speaks out on this situation."
Pianist Robert Guralnick performed in the second concert of the Philharmonic Chamber Music Series.
George Armitage Miller, Harvard University, lectured on "A Psychologist Looks at Language."
Professor Charles Siempan, chairman of the department of communications at New York University, lectured on "Public Opinion and Propaganda."
Dr. Otto Nathan, a German born economist, lectured at Vassar on "The Economies of Disarmament."
William Goldberg, English author of Lord of the Flies, spoke at Vassar under the auspices of the Vassar Student Lecture Series.
Robert Armstrong Pratt, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke at Vassar on "Jankyn's Book of Wikked Wyves: Medieval Antifeminist Propaganda and Chaucer."
Sir Ronald Syme spoke at Vassar on "Julius Caesar: Drama, Legend, Personality."
Faculty members of area elementary schools were guests of honor at President Sarah Gibson Blanding's home. Approximately one hundred people attended the tea that was given in recognition of teachers who supervised in the student teaching program at Vassar.
Twenty-eight Vassar students and six faculty members traveled to Italy for a two week "Renaissance Vacation." They were received by the United States Ambassador at his home, Villa Taverna, Rome. While abroad the members of the Vassar College Renaissance Seminar spent time in Rome, Florence, Perugia, Assisi, and Sienna, all important cities of the Renaissance period.
Dr. A. L. Rowse, fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, lectured on "The Personality of Elizabeth I."
Hermann von Baravalle, mathematician, educator, and author, lectured on "Dynamic Beauty of Geometric Forms."
Professor Leonard Machlis, chairman of the department of botany at the University of California at Berkeley, gave a the Helen Putnam Gates Lecture on "Fertilization Insurance in Plants."
Dr. Matthijs Jolles, professor of German literature at Cornell University, lectured on "Gott Natur und Mensch in Goëthe's Faust."
E-Tu-Zen-sun '44, Katherine Strelsky, of Vassar's Russian Department, and Ruth Stone, assistant professor of English form 1953-1959, were among 17 recently appointed members of the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study 1963-63.
Morris B. Abram, New York attorney, and first legal counsel to the Peace Corps, spoke at Vassar on "Reapportionment: The New Civil Right."
Dr. Robert Magidoff, chair of the New York University Slavic program, lectured at Vassar on Boris Pasternak and "Doctor Zhivago."
Poet Denise Levertov, author of "The Jacob's Ladder," as well as several other poetry collections, gave a reading of her work at Vassar.
Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, Under-Secretary for special Political Affairs in the United Nations, spoke on "Inside Views of the United Nations," under the auspices of the Vassar College Student Lecture Series.
Hugo Buchthal, professor of Byzantine art at the University of London, lectured on "The Miniatures of Vatican Vergil Manuscripts."
K. Shantha Rama Rao, Indian educator, social worker, and writer, gave the Martin H. Crego Lecture on "Education and Caste in India."
The Vassar College Choir and the Princeton University Chapel Choir, under the direction of Donald Pearson, gave a concert of sacred choral music.
Leon Edel, professor of English at New York University, and winner of the 1962 National Book Award for non fiction, lectured on "Some Aspects of Henry James."
Betty Friedan, clinical psychologist and author, spoke on "The Feminist Mystique."
The Vassar College Orchestra, conducted by Boris Koutzen and assisted by Claude Monteux, gave a concert in honor of Vassar's retiring faculty.
Dr. Salvador E. Luria, microbiologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gave a three day seminar at Marist, Vassar, and Dutchess Community College. On April 29th, he spoke at Marist on "Macromolecular Aspects of Biology." On April 30th, at Vassar, the topic of his lecture was "Genes and Viruses." On May 1st he lectured at Dutchess Community College on "Viruses and Abnormal Cell Functions."
The Vassar Experimental Theater performed Thorton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth."
The Vassar College Glee Club, directed by Albert Van Ackere, and the William's Glee Club, directed by Robert Barrow, gave a concert at Vassar College."
It was announced that Dr. Alan Simpson would replace Dr. Sarah Gibson Blanding on July 1, 1964, when she retires from the presidency of Vassar College. Dr. Simpson served as the dean of the Undergraduate College of the University of Chicago from 1946-1964.
The annual chemistry program for fifteen advanced high school students was given at Vassar. This program was sponsored by the National Science foundation.
An intensive six week Russian program sponsored by the State Education Department began on this date.
The 1963 International Summer School of the Nursery School Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was held at Vassar. In existence for eight summers, 1963 marked the first year that the school was held in the United States. The key note address on "Freedom and Education" was given R. W. Ferguson, chairman of the sponsoring association. A series of seminars were held on early childhood education, focusing on themes such as "Rearing children of Good Will" and "Teaching the Creative Arts." In addition to the seminars, the summer school included general lectures, panel discussions, and educational films and plays.
Dr. Mary Calderone '25, director of Planned Parenthood Federation of America lectured on "Introduction to Sex Patterns." The Miscellany News writes, "She urged the students to not 'rush into womanhood, but let nature take it's course.'" Calderone stated "Girls, keep your affections wrapped in cotton until Mr. Right comes along."
A symposium conducted by the Symposium Committee of the 175th Anniversary of the New York State Ratification of the Federal Constitution in Poughkeepsie was held at Vassar.
The Student Madrigal Choir of Muenster, West Germany, under the direction of Frau Herma Kramm, performed in the Vassar College Chapel.
Daniel S. Lehrman, professor of psychology at Rutgers University, lectured at Vassar on "Psychosomatic Influences in the Reproduction Cycles of Animals."
Members of the Claremont Quartet presented a concert at Vassar College.
Countess Tolstoy, youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy, lectured on "The Life and Philosophy of Tolstoy."
An information student civil rights program was held in the Aula. The Vassar Committee for Civil Rights sponsored this event, where different student organizations committed to civil rights were represented. Speaker at the meeting included Lee Webb, national secretary for Students for a Democratic Society; Dennis Schecter, northern student vice president of the National Student Association; Arthur Gorson, chairman of Campus Americans for Democratic Action; and Jim Monson, field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. 26 local colleges and high schools were invited to send representatives to this event.
The Vassar Experimental Theater presented Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer's Night."
Several student members of the Vassar Committee for Civil Rights went to the polls on election day and collected contributions that would be sent to the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee in an effort to aid voter registration in the south.
Vassar College, along with the New York State Council on the Arts, sponsored the New York Pro Musica Concert of Elizabethan Music in honor of William Shakespeare's 400th birthday.
Claudia A. Lopez, classicist and journalist, lectured at Vassar on "The Circle of Auteil and Benjamin Franklin's Last Love."
Frederick W. Steinman of the Board of the Faculty of Music at Oxford University, England, spoke on "Shakespeare and Music."
Lewis Hanke, professor of history at Columbia University, lectured at Vassar on "The Life and Works of Bartolome de Las Casas."
Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, professor of psychology at the College of the City of New York, gave the Helen Gates Putnam Lecture on "Personality and Prejudice."
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
Vassar College canceled classes. President Johnson declared this day a National Day of Mourning for President John F. Kennedy and his family.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, professor of genetics at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City spoke at Vassar on "Genetics and Equality."
Vassar College, along with Dutchess Community College, Marist College and the State University College at New Paltz sponsored a New Civil Rights Symposium on "The Negro Revolt: Contemporary Attitudes and Pressures." Several issues were discussed at the symposium including "The Church in the Civil Rights Movement; the possibility of achieving complete "civil rights" under our present economic and political system; and the influence of the present racial crisis in America's international image."
Christine Mitchell Havelock, associate professor of art at Vassar College, gave the Scholar's Lecture on the topic of "The Goddess Athena as Emblem of Athens."
The Vassar College Glee Club directed by Albert van Ackere, performed in a joint concert with the Union College Glee Club, directed by Hugh Allen Wilson.
A bongo group from Lincoln Center, led by Godwin Oywole of Nigeria of the State University of New Paltz, gave a concert at Vassar College.
The Lehigh University Glee Club and the Vassar College Choir performed in the annual Christmas Concert. The two groups sang works by 16th and 20th century composers.
Members of the German Club presented a German Medieval nativity play, "Ein
Deutsches Weihnachtsspiel," in the Vassar College Chapel.
Last updated: 10 November, 1999, by Jeremy R. Linden, '00.