smith college

Notes for episodes 7 and 8
American College and University Campus

In episodes 7 and 8, we look at the history of the American college and university campus from the commencement of British American settlement through modern times. The open and public spaces of campuses, as well as the design of buildings and overall layouts, reflect societal trends, philosophies, and prejudices as much as the changing purpose of higher education itself. We explore starting with the first colleges, their charters and founding as institutions meant to educate upper class white men through the post World War II period that has seen a democratization of higher education.  

Our moments in equity for these two episodes look at how college establishment and funding were intimately connected to the slave trade, slave labor, and the profits from the sale of slaves in the British colonies and in the pre-Civil War United States.

Resources

Paul Venable Turner, Campus: An American planning tradition (MIT Press 1987)

A History of Stanford, Stanford University (Undated) – https://www.stanford.edu/about/history/ 

College of William & Mary, Wikipedia (Updated Feb. 17, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_William_%26_Mary 

Royal Charter (Feb. 8, 1693) [posted on Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Updated Mar. 26, 2012) – https://web.archive.org/web/20120529035803/http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Charter#Transcription_of_the_Royal_Charter]

History, Columbia University in the City of New York (Undated) – https://www.columbia.edu/content/history 

Frederick Law Olmsted: College and School Campuses, National Park Service (undated) –  https://www.nps.gov/frla/learn/historyculture/college-campuses.htm 

Judith Schiff, Resources on Yale History: A Brief History of Yale, Yale University Library (Updated June 22, 2021) – https://guides.library.yale.edu/yalehistory 

Rebecca Woodham, David J. Trowbridge, and Clio Admin, Nott Memorial, Union College, Clio: Your Guide to History (August 1, 2021, accessed Mar. 15, 2022) – https://theclio.com/entry/6225 

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections (2005) – https://archives.dickinson.edu/people/benjamin-henry-latrobe-1764-1820 

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 23, 2021) –  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Henry_Latrobe 

Lisa Chase, Imagining Utopia: Landscape Design at Smith College, 1871-1910, 65 New England Quarterly no. 4, p. 560 (Dec. 1992) – https://garden.smith.edu/sites/garden/files/imagining-utopia-lisa-chase.pdf 

Jim McCarthy, Spotlight on…Gallaudet University, National Association for Olmsted Parks (Mar. 14, 2022) – https://olmsted200.org/spotlight-on-gallaudet-university/ 

Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, History of Massachusetts Blog (May 30, 2021) – https://historyofmassachusetts.org/cambridge-ma-history/ 

Brief History of Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge Historical Commission (undated) – https://www.cambridgema.gov/historic/cambridgehistory 

Harvard Square is famous for a lot of things, History, Harvard Square Business Association – https://www.harvardsquare.com/history/ 

John Harvard (clergyman), Wikipedia (Updated July 28, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvard_(clergyman) 

Michael Johnson, 94 University Place: Old Mill, Burlington 1830 (Undated) – https://www.uvm.edu/histpres/HPJ/burl1830/streets/university/oldmill.html 

Prof. Thomas Visser, Old Mill, University of Vermont (Undated; based on a professional report on the history of Old Mill prepared in 1988 by Thomas Visser and MaryJo Llewellyn of the UVM Historic Preservation Program's Architectural Conservation and Education Service.) – https://www.uvm.edu/~campus/oldmill/oldmillhistory.html 

Vassar College, Wikipedia (Updated July 5, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_College#History 

Historic Horseshoe, South Carolina, University History, University of South Carolina (Undated) – https://www.sc.edu/about/our_history/university_history/historic_horseshoe/index.php 

Lydia Brandt, University of Virginia, Architecture of the, Encyclopedia Virginia (Dec. 14, 2020) – https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/university-of-virginia-the-architecture-of-the/ 

History and Traditions, Washington University in St. Louis (Undated) – https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/#:~:text=In%201853%2C%20prominent%20St.,of%20immigrants%20flooded%20into%20St. 

Smith College, Wikipedia (Updated Aug. 4, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_College 

Smith History, Smith College (Undated) – https://www.smith.edu/about-smith/smith-history 

Moments in Equity

Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis, Shackled Legacy – History shows slavery helped build many U.S. colleges and universities, American Public Media Reports (Sept. 4, 2017) – https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2017/09/04/shackled-legacy 

Yoruhu Williams, Why Thomas Jefferson’s Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence, History.com (June 29, 2020) –

Notes - Episodes 5 and 6

Colleges and common space

In episodes 5 and 6, we look at the history of the American college and university campus from the commencement of British American settlement through modern times. The open and public spaces of campuses, as well as the design of buildings and overall layouts, reflect societal trends, philosophies, and prejudices as much as the changing purpose of higher education itself. We explore starting with the first colleges, their charters and founding as institutions meant to educate upper class white men through the post World War II period that has seen a democratization of higher education.  

Our moments in equity for these two episodes look at how college establishment and funding were intimately connected to the slave trade, slave labor, and the profits from the sale of slaves in the British colonies and in the pre-Civil War United States.

Resources

Paul Venable Turner, Campus: An American planning tradition (MIT Press 1987)

A History of Stanford, Stanford University (Undated) – https://www.stanford.edu/about/history/ 

College of William & Mary, Wikipedia (Updated Feb. 17, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_William_%26_Mary 

Royal Charter (Feb. 8, 1693) [posted on Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Updated Mar. 26, 2012) – https://web.archive.org/web/20120529035803/http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Charter#Transcription_of_the_Royal_Charter]

History, Columbia University in the City of New York (Undated) – https://www.columbia.edu/content/history 

Frederick Law Olmsted: College and School Campuses, National Park Service (undated) –  https://www.nps.gov/frla/learn/historyculture/college-campuses.htm 

Judith Schiff, Resources on Yale History: A Brief History of Yale, Yale University Library (Updated June 22, 2021) – https://guides.library.yale.edu/yalehistory 

Rebecca Woodham, David J. Trowbridge, and Clio Admin, Nott Memorial, Union College, Clio: Your Guide to History (August 1, 2021, accessed Mar. 15, 2022) – https://theclio.com/entry/6225 

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections (2005) – https://archives.dickinson.edu/people/benjamin-henry-latrobe-1764-1820 

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 23, 2021) –  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Henry_Latrobe 

Lisa Chase, Imagining Utopia: Landscape Design at Smith College, 1871-1910, 65 New England Quarterly no. 4, p. 560 (Dec. 1992) – https://garden.smith.edu/sites/garden/files/imagining-utopia-lisa-chase.pdf 

Jim McCarthy, Spotlight on…Gallaudet University, National Association for Olmsted Parks (Mar. 14, 2022) – https://olmsted200.org/spotlight-on-gallaudet-university/ 

Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, History of Massachusetts Blog (May 30, 2021) – https://historyofmassachusetts.org/cambridge-ma-history/ 

Brief History of Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge Historical Commission (undated) – https://www.cambridgema.gov/historic/cambridgehistory 

Harvard Square is famous for a lot of things, History, Harvard Square Business Association – https://www.harvardsquare.com/history/ 

John Harvard (clergyman), Wikipedia (Updated July 28, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvard_(clergyman) 

Michael Johnson, 94 University Place: Old Mill, Burlington 1830 (Undated) – https://www.uvm.edu/histpres/HPJ/burl1830/streets/university/oldmill.html 

Prof. Thomas Visser, Old Mill, University of Vermont (Undated; based on a professional report on the history of Old Mill prepared in 1988 by Thomas Visser and MaryJo Llewellyn of the UVM Historic Preservation Program's Architectural Conservation and Education Service.) – https://www.uvm.edu/~campus/oldmill/oldmillhistory.html 

Vassar College, Wikipedia (Updated July 5, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_College#History 

Historic Horseshoe, South Carolina, University History, University of South Carolina (Undated) – https://www.sc.edu/about/our_history/university_history/historic_horseshoe/index.php 

Lydia Brandt, University of Virginia, Architecture of the, Encyclopedia Virginia (Dec. 14, 2020) – https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/university-of-virginia-the-architecture-of-the/ 

History and Traditions, Washington University in St. Louis (Undated) – https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/#:~:text=In%201853%2C%20prominent%20St.,of%20immigrants%20flooded%20into%20St. 

Smith College, Wikipedia (Updated Aug. 4, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_College 

Smith History, Smith College (Undated) – https://www.smith.edu/about-smith/smith-history 

Moments in Equity

Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis, Shackled Legacy – History shows slavery helped build many U.S. colleges and universities, American Public Media Reports (Sept. 4, 2017) – https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2017/09/04/shackled-legacy 

Yoruhu Williams, Why Thomas Jefferson’s Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence, History.com (June 29, 2020) –

The Big Themes:

• Looking beyond the walls of IT: As the CIO and VP of IT, Samantha obviously fills a specialized role at Smith, but she says that her "team" is everyone at the college, and that achieving the IT department's goals requires input from many other departments.
• Continuous iteration as a North Star: Samantha shares a favorite quote of hers, which comes from the center for teaching and learning on campus but that she applies to IT: "There are many ways to teach well, and all teaching is improvable."
• Prioritizing user experience with Workday: Students today have high expectations for digital experiences, and many academic platforms do not meet those expectations. Samantha talks about how Workday's UX tools are helping her deliver for Smith students.

The Big Quote: "I think I and my team are seen as partners in a much stronger way. Partnership isn't just delivering utilities. Partnership is being in conversations, it's bringing people together. It's calibrating, is this a big problem or a small problem? Will this solve something that's been bothering us for three years? So I think that has helped me be positioned as a strategic partner."

This episode is sponsored by Workday.

JEFF CLARK SPILLS THE BEANS

A BLOCK (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: The would-be Attorney General, Jeffrey Clark, inadvertently reveals the Justice Department is pursuing Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy, and False Statement charges over the Eastman-Trump Fake Electors Scheme (3:30) NINE phones now seized, including Mike Lindell's. We'll get his nitwitted update on the worst crime since the crucifixion (7:30) It's confirmed: Monday's Trump "Golf Course Meeting" was actually...a golf course meeting, about sprucing it up for the Saudi Arabian Blood Money Golf Tour stop there next spring (9:00) Surprisingly, Trump declares himself Antifa (9:20) The Durham bull is over as the 'Deep State Investigation' ends in shallow waters (10:10) And in an unrelated headline: Queen Elizabeth is still dead. Seriously: British TV coverage gives one reason to worry about our UK cousins. PTSD seems to be settling in, and now they're claiming Elizabeth will be missed as much here in the US as there in the UK.

B BLOCK (16:50) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The NBC News affiliate in Tampa kisses up to Ron DeSantis, Republicans attack Lindsey Graham for telling the truth about their secret abortion ban plan, and Etsy gets the message but a new sponsor steps up for Steve Bannon's Fascist Disco Party - and they compete for today's honors. (20:55) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL PART 1: The death of Ken Starr recalls his pollution of American news, especially cable TV, and I'll take you back to June 5, 1998, when I tried to quit as the anchor of MSNBC's top Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr show, two NBC News executives asked me to see an NBC official as part of a process to leave the network - except she turned out to be their leg-breaker and told me NBC versus me would be "David and Goliath" and NBC would crush me.

C BLOCK (34:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL PART 2: But it was even worse: she promised that if I quit, NBC would put my parents "out on the street." That's how closely Ken Starr forged the link between his live made-for-tv political reality show and the profits at all the networks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Hewitt covers the Smith College story that was broken in the New York Times entitled, "Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College." 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Hewitt covers the Smith College story that was broken in the New York Times entitled, "Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College." 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Townhall Review for February 27, 2021

Hugh Hewitt talks with Texas Senator Ted Cruz about the Democrats $1.9 trillion dollar so-called relief package.

Bob Frantz and Jerry Bowyer talk about the COVID-19 relief package.

Hugh Hewitt talks with columnist Selena Zito about Joe Biden working to enact what he calls “common sense gun laws.”

Larry Elder talks about Jodi Shaw, a recent graduate and staffer at Smith College in Pine Grove, MA about how being white caused her to resign.

Mike Gallagher talks about Naomi Wolf, liberal feminist author, who is speaking out against the alarmingly heavy-handed moves of the current administration.

Seth Leibsohn and David Harsanyi, of National Review, talk about the impact the pandemic restrictions have had on Americans.

Hugh Hewitt talks with Texas Senator Ted Cruz about the media fixation regarding his family trip to Cancun during the once-in-a-lifetime winter storm in Texas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Townhall Review for February 27, 2021

Hugh Hewitt talks with Texas Senator Ted Cruz about the Democrats $1.9 trillion dollar so-called relief package.

Bob Frantz and Jerry Bowyer talk about the COVID-19 relief package.

Hugh Hewitt talks with columnist Selena Zito about Joe Biden working to enact what he calls “common sense gun laws.”

Larry Elder talks about Jodi Shaw, a recent graduate and staffer at Smith College in Pine Grove, MA about how being white caused her to resign.

Mike Gallagher talks about Naomi Wolf, liberal feminist author, who is speaking out against the alarmingly heavy-handed moves of the current administration.

Seth Leibsohn and David Harsanyi, of National Review, talk about the impact the pandemic restrictions have had on Americans.

Hugh Hewitt talks with Texas Senator Ted Cruz about the media fixation regarding his family trip to Cancun during the once-in-a-lifetime winter storm in Texas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 2008, Margaret Edson delivered a brilliant commencement at Smith College  dedicated to the glory of classroom teaching.

She is a teacher herself, for many years teaching kindergarten (prep grade) in Washington DC and Atlanta, and now teaching sixth grade social studies at Inman Middle School.

She's also a Pulitzer Prize winner. Her play, 'Wit', written in 1991, debuted in theatres in 1995, had a run in Connecticut and then off-Broadway in 1997-8, and then ran for 545 performances at the Union Square Theatre between December 1998 and April 2000. Wit won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999, and the New York Critics' Circle Prize for Best New Play the same year. In 2001, it was made into an Emmy award winning HBO telemovie starring Emma Thompson, and when it re-ran on Broadway in 2012 it won two Tony Awards. 

Throughout it all Margaret Edson remained Maggie Edson, classroom teacher. She still is, although she plans to retire in two years.

I discovered this speech on a site called The Eloquent Woman, and I think of it as one of the truly great commencement speeches. Structure, delivery, emotion, love, and originality.  The most beautiful tribute to the classroom teacher ever delivered.

"This day is a day of love. It’s not a day of achievement, really.  It’s a day of your family’s love for you, your love for each other and your teachers, and your teachers’ love for you."

Send it on to a teacher you love.

Episode supported by GreenSkin™ and PurpleSkin™ avocados at http://lovemyavocados.com.au. 

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