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Sometimes change needs to start with something small. Perhaps even a tiny butterfly the size of your thumbnail. “I realized if I could convince people to just plant a plant that a butterfly might visit, that starts them on the road to becoming nurturers of nature,” says Mary Benton ’80, founder of Bound by Beauty and president of GROW (Gardeners Restoring Our World) Miami.
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For Sidney Aldridge Bonnet ’75, a retired pediatric hospitalist turned artist, landscape painting is more than a creative outlet—it is her way to give back to a deeply personal cause. For 22 years, Sidney’s son John, who has cerebral palsy and developmental delays, has lived at Marbridge, a nonprofit residential community in Manchaca, Texas. Since 1953, Marbridge has offered transitional and lifetime care for adults with developmental disabilities. John moved there right after high school. “The community is extraordinary,” Sidney says. “I have never seen a culture that is so beautiful and accepting.”
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As the College celebrates its sesquicentennial, we offer 150 glimpses into Wellesley’s inspiring story. Together, they illuminate the corners of campus, brilliant scholars, trailblazing alumnae, and moments of joy that have shaped this extraordinary community and proved the wisdom of our founders’ radical idea: Educating women leads to progress for everyone.
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The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, celebrating 100 years, foster both scientific and humanistic engagement with plants.
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In September 1875, Wellesley College welcomed its first incoming class. More than 300 students showed up, along with mountains of luggage—and concerned family members. For a young woman to go off to college at the time was a break with the past. Imagine the courage they must have possessed!
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The Friday of reunion weekend, while friends were boarding flights and getting in cars to make their way to Wellesley, I was also heading to campus—but I was wrestling my 16-month-old into his car seat before rushing to the Wellesley Community Children’s Center and then my office in Green Hall. For me, May 2025 marked two Wellesley milestones: my 15th reunion as an alum and my four-year anniversary as an employee.
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At Wellesley, Jocelyn Benson ’99 says, she learned the importance of women having each other’s backs. It’s the kind of support she has given and received in the past several years as Michigan’s secretary of state.
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In 2011, Karen Grigsby Bates ’73 traveled to Orlando, Fla., microphone in hand, and did what she does best: She listened carefully, then masterfully shared a story.
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Sue Wagner ’82 was just 26 when she took a life-changing risk: She left a stable Wall Street job as a vice president at major investment bank Lehman Brothers to co-found BlackRock.