College Publications
Student publications and related records can be found in the Student publications and student publications records (CA-MS-01049). Publications produced by Smith College and related records can be found in the Smith College publications and publications records (CA-MS-01006). The titles are listed alphabetically in the navigation bar on the right of the page (or at the bottom if you are using a mobile device or have a small screen). Only select publications have been digitized, some in part and some in full.
Publications that have a significant number of issues digitized:
Student publications and student publications records (CA-MS-01049)
- SCAN (Smith College Associated News) - Coming soon!
- Smith College Monthly
Select issues of the Smith College Monthly from 1904-1925. The Monthly was ”conducted by the Senior Class.” It initially combined the functions of a literary journal, college newspaper, and alumnae magazine, but became purely literary when the Quarterly and the Weekly went into publication (ca. 1909). It features fiction, essays and poetry by students.
- Smith College Weekly - Coming soon!
- Yearbooks
Also known as Class Books, Hamper or Madeleine. Classes of 1897 through 1933 completely digitized, as well as select few other years. Click here for the list of digitized yearbooks on Internet Archive.
- The Sophian
Smith's independent, student-run newspaper
Smith College publications and publications records (CA-MS-01006)
- Catalogues and circulars
Currently known as the Smith College Bulletin. Catalog of courses and additional key information for student reference, including campus life, financial information and academic programs. Through the first several decades of Smith's history, every student who was in attendance was listed by Class each year they attended. This is particularly helpful to find the names of students who did not graduate or switched class years.
Digital Access:- 1872-2012
- Course Search (2003-Present)
- Catalogs & Schedules (last two years, includes Five College courses)
- College Handbook
- Customs and Regulations
- Information for Entering Students/Information for Freshmen
- President's Reports
The Presidents Reports are publications from the president of the college about the state of the college and happenings on campus. Fewer reports are published starting around the 1970's. The President's Reports are currently in the process of being digitized and will be available online in the near future.
- Smith College Weekly Bulletin - Coming soon!
- Smith Alumnae Quarterly Issue Archive
The Smith Alumnae Quarterly (SAQ) was established in 1909 and is published by College Relations four times each year. They include life updates submitted by alumnae, class notes, obituaries, reports on campus events (such as commencement), plus articles about alumnae, faculty, and more. The Smith Alumnae Quarterly Issue Archive allows you to search issues from October 1909 to the present.
How to search Smith Alumnae Quarterly
To begin, please read How to Use Our Digital Edition. If you click on any of the editions of SAQ, click on it again and then you will see a magnifying glass in the bottom right of the window (see image "SAQ search 1"). Then use the search bar on the right to search for a name or phrase. There are two circles at the top of that search, one that looks like a single book and one that looks like several books sitting side by side on a shelf (see image "SAQ search 2"). Make sure you click the one with multiple books so it will search all of the SAQ volumes.
Alpha Society records publications
(CA-MS-00406)
Smith College's first literary society, Alpha Society, was founded by the Class of 1881 in the winter of their freshman year. The Society soon gained much respect and admiration for its frequent productions of popular plays and its publication of its own newspaper, The Alpha. The meetings included entertainment such as plays, music, readings, recitations, and lectures on various topics of interest.
Alpha Society was such a success that in 1892 five members broke off to form a rival society, Phi Kappa Psi. Both societies flourished, selecting their members by careful consideration of artistic merit and creativity. By 1934 student interests had shifted away from the arts. The two societies elected to combine into the society known as Alpha-Phi Kappa Psi, thus allowing both to endure.
The earliest publications of the Society are included. Alpha Paper was the first. Its first volume began with The Chip Basket, papers originally read before the Society. The Alpha and the The Alpha Quarterly are represented as well, as are the words and music of the 1879 play "H.M.S. Pinafore".
Phi Kappa Psi Society records
CA-MS-00098
Phi Kappa Psi came into being in 1892 when five members of Alpha Society, Smith's first literary society, decided to form their own group. According to its constitution, Phi Kappa Psi's purpose was "1) to encourage and help maintain a high grade of scholarship, especially in literary lines, by its requirements for membership and by the literary character of its meetings, 2) by association to bring into more intimate and friendly relations girls who are congenial in aims and interests, and 3) by open meetings to contribute in a general way to the literary interests of Smith College."
Membership was based upon a young woman's scholarship, special talents, and her qualification as a "representative girl." In 1934 Alpha Society and Phi Kappa Psi elected to combine as student interests shifted away from the arts. The new organization, Alpha-Phi Kappa Psi, allowed both societies to endure.
Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture records
CA-MS-00078
The School was founded in 1915 as the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and was the first to produce women graduate training in these two professions, coordinated under a single faculty. In 1924 it was incorporated under Massachusetts law as an educational institution. In 1934 the School was affiliated with Smith College as a Graduate School, retaining its own name and independent organization, but with the privilege of recommending its students to the College for the graduate degrees of Master in Architecture and Master in Landscape Architecture. Two years later the graduate degrees of Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture were introduced, preceding the Master's degrees, which since that time have been granted for advanced work. In 1938 the School became actually a part of Smith College as its Graduate School in the two professions for which it prepares students, while the school itself was to remain in Cambridge.
College Publications in the Reading Room
- Smith College Circulars/Bulletins/Catalog
- Smith Alumnae Quarterly
- Smith College Yearbook
- Commencement Programs
- Smith College Weekly/SCAN/Sophian
- Smith College Monthly
- Reports of the President