By a Lady

Yesterday marked the last class visit to the Archives & Special Collections for the Spring 2016 semester. The class was “Early Women Writers” taught by Amherst English Professors Amelia Worsley and Ingrid Nelson, and it was a great excuse for me to dig into our collections to see what we have in this area.

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Amherst 120 years ago

Today we’re taking a quick peek at the Amherst of 120 years ago. William J. Newlin was a student at Amherst College from 1895 to 1899, he later returned as a Mathematics and Philosophy professor and taught here for nearly fifty years. We have a handful of glass plate negatives that Newlin took as a student and that now reside in our photograph collection. Followed by the photographs of Allan W. Forbes a mere ten years later, these images tell an interesting story about life at Amherst College a little more than 100 years ago.

click on an image to see it larger

The Octagon, 1896

Appleton Hall, 1896

Fayerweather Hall, known at the time as the Physics Lab, 1896

Inside of 30 South College, a student dormitory room, 1896

Inside of 30 South College, a student dormitory room, 1896

Inside of 30 South College, a student dormitory room, 1896

A view from the window of 30 South College, 1896

A view from the window of 30 South College, 1896

South College, 1897

Known at the time as College Grove, now known as the Freshman Quad, this image also shows the college well directly behind Johnson Chapel, 1896

Labeled “Three Jacks”, this image shows three students on the steps of a store, 1897

Members of Psi Upsilon prepared for a Mountain Day outing, 1897

Students in the parlor of an unidentified fraternity house, 1897

Walker Hall, 1898

Students on their way to the Amherst train station to see Doc Hitchcock off, January 25, 1898

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The Emily Dickinson Riots

Following the lamentable events in the town of Amherst last night, and as the community awaits an estimate of the damages and the full list of casualties, we felt that it would be appropriate to take a look back at the history of Emily Dickinson related violence in Amherst.

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