Detail of the top of the Grecourt Gates in the winter

Founder’s Day

To mark the day Sophia Smith signed her will establishing Smith College and in recognition of International Women’s Day, Smith will celebrate Founder’s Day on Saturday, March 8.

Through free activities and programs across campus, we’ll come together to honor the spirit of generosity within the Smith community. Generosity takes many forms, from Sophia Smith’s original bequest to the exchange of knowledge that happens in classrooms every day, from our shared commitment to making Smith better to the countless ways alums use their education to lead change in the world.

We hope you will join us by attending an event on campus, volunteering through community service opportunities, or sharing your own story of Smithie generosity in a Little Love Story to Smith.

It is my wish that the institution be so conducted, that during all coming time it shall do the most good to the greatest number. I would have it a perennial blessing to the country and the world.

Sophia Smith

Activities

Check back soon, as more events and activities related to Founder’s Day will be added shortly.

All events and activities will take place on March 8 unless otherwise noted.

Explore Meridians in the Archives

March 7, 4–6 p.m.

Neilson Library, third floor atrium

Meridians Quigley Fellow Rinal Dahhan ’27 will present a number of archival materials selected to showcase the journal’s history and milestones.

Smith College Museum of Art

11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Explore and enjoy four floors of art (for free!), including a display of art entitled Women Artists in Europe: 16th–18th centuries on the second floor, as well as a contemporary artwork by Torkwase Dyson on the third floor. Plan your visit today!

Spring Bulb Show

10 a.m.–8 p.m.

Enjoy extended evening hours at the Botanic Garden of Smith College’s Spring Bulb Show on Saturday, March 8. Admission is free.

Smith College Bellringers

3–6 p.m.

Visitors are welcome to stop by the Mendenhall Bell Tower for an open house from 3–4 p.m. The bells will then be rung in quarter peals and other formats from 4–6 p.m. in recognition of Founder’s Day.

Enter Mendenhall Performing Arts Center at the Berenson Studio across from Sage Hall. Access to the ringing chamber requires climbing a short ladder.

150 Years of Smith College & Northampton

Alumnae House, 33 Elm Street

Lecture: 1–2 p.m. | Reception: 2–3 p.m.

Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton and Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra ’96 will host “150 years later—Smith + Northampton: A History of the College’s Founding.”

In 1869 Sophia Smith was committed to siting a future college for women in her hometown of Hatfield, but just three months before her death in 1870, she revised her will, shifting the location to Northampton. What had changed her mind? What were Northampton’s “superior advantages”? And what was Northampton like in the years after the Civil War and before the first class of Smith students entered in 1875? Join Laurie Sanders, Historic Northampton’s co-director and Smith College alumna ’88, for a closer look at the important connections between Northampton history and Smith College's founding.