From the first Flower Sunday to the College Hall fire to the creation of Ethos to the COVID pandemic, these are some of the moments that tested and built Wellesley. In the photo above from May 1914, the sophomore class forms the senior class numerals with College Hall ruins in the background.
#15-30
15
Wellesley co-founder Henry Durant gave the Flower Sunday sermon in 1877, in which he famously asserted, “The higher education of women is one of the great world battle-cries for freedom; for right against might.” (Illustration by Chris Wormell.)
16
In the summer of 1893, Katharine Lee Bates, class of 1880 and professor of English, took a prairie-wagon excursion to the top of Colorado’s Pikes Peak for “one ecstatic gaze,” which inspired her to write the poem “America the Beautiful.” (Photo of Bates in Seville, Spain, courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
17
On March 17, 1914, College Hall burned to the ground. That day, Wellesley College President Ellen Fitz Pendleton, class of 1886, announced that the College would reopen in three weeks. And it did. (Image Courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
18
Emily Greene Balch, professor of economics and sociology, took leave in 1915 to join Jane Addams and other activists at The Hague for an international conference of women opposed to the ongoing world war. Balch was denied reappointment by the Wellesley College Board of Trustees in 1919; decades later, President Mildred McAfee supported Balch’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, which she received in 1946. (Delegates aboard the Noordam heading to the International Congress of Women at The Hague. Balch is standing behind the final “E." Image Courtesy of Library of Congress.)
19
On her 1943 U.S. tour, Mayling Soong Chiang, class of 1917, the first lady of the Republic of China, addressed a joint meeting of Congress and, one month later, the Wellesley com-munity in Alumnae Hall. (Image Courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
20
During World War II, President Mildred McAfee made history when she took a leave of absence to become the first director of the U.S. Naval Women’s Reserve (WAVES: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). (Image Courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
21
In 1966, five Wellesley students pledged to change the Black experience at the College, and Ethos was born. As a result of the group’s efforts, the College removed questions about race and racial preference from its housing forms; created Harambee House; established Black studies as an inter-departmental major; and appointed its first Black member to the board of trustees. In 1969, the College welcomed a record 57 Black students to the incoming freshman class. (Members of Ethos in 2001 courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
22
In 1971, the Commission on the Future of the College, comprising administrators, alumnae, faculty, students, and trustees, recommended that Wellesley admit men. The full board of trustees rejected the idea, reaffirming Wellesley’s commitment to educating women—and prompting mixed reactions from the Wellesley community that evolved into renewed support for women’s colleges. (Photo of members of the Commission on the Future of the College meeting over a meal in 1969 courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
23
Endowed in 1973, the Barbara Barnes Hauptfuhrer Physical Education Fund launched Wellesley’s varsity athletics program. Hauptfuhrer, class of 1949, pictured above, served as a trustee of the College and was among the nation’s first female directors of major corporations—and also competed in basketball, crew, and golf. (Image Courtesy of the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics.)
24
Wellesley became one of few colleges with a need-blind admission policy when it admitted the class of 1977. “We are realizing the desire of the founders of Wellesley College to make education accessible to an ever broader segment of women regardless of economic circumstances,” Barbara W. Newell wrote in her 1974 Report of the President. Thanks to generous alumnae and friends, Wellesley continues to meet 100% of calculated need for all admitted students. (Mary Ellen Crawford Ames ’40 was Wellesley’s director of admission from 1969 to 1985 and oversaw the move to need-blind admissions. Photo courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
25
First Lady Barbara Bush’s selection as the 1990 commencement speaker sparked student protest and attracted national media attention. Her joint appearance on campus with Raisa Gorbachev, wife of then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, gave what President Nannerl Overholser Keohane ’61 called a “stirring sense” that Wellesley was connected to the era’s sweeping global changes. (President Nannerl Overholser Keohane ’61, first ladies Barbara Bush and Raisa Gorbachev, and Luella Gross Goldberg ’58, chair of the board of trustees, courtesy of Wellesley College Archives.)
26
In 1993, Wellesley moved from a Protestant-centered chaplaincy to a multifaith model led by the dean of religious and spiritual life, reflecting its commitment to serving the spiritual needs of all students. This change was embodied in the 2008 opening of the Multifaith Center, pictured above with members of the Multifaith Council in 2008. (Photo by Richard Howard.)
27
In 2015, Wellesley announced an admission policy to include “any applicant who lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman.” Davis Scholar Ninotska Love ’20 (pictured above at Stepsinging in 2017, second from right) was the first openly transgender woman graduate.
28
On Nov. 8, 2016, some 3,000 people gathered at the Keohane Sports Center and cheered for Hillary Rodham Clinton ’69 as the presidential election results rolled in, then wept when it became clear that the highest, hardest glass ceiling hadn’t been broken—yet. (Photo by Joel Haskell.)
29
On March 14, 2020, the class of 2020 held a “fauxmencement” ceremony in Hay Amphitheatre, two days after the College announced it was moving to remote instruction due to COVID-19. On May 23, 2025, more than 300 members of the class returned to Wellesley for their long-awaited commencement celebration, kicking off their five-year reunion. (Photo by Joel Haskell.)
30
President Paula A. Johnson led the Wellesley community in the creation of the College’s first strategic plan, announced in 2021. “Ultimately, our strategic plan is a call to action. If we are to live our motto, Non Ministrari sed Ministrare, we must focus on preparing young women to counteract the glaring systemic problems in our world,” Johnson wrote in this magazine.
Post a Comment
We ask that those who engage in Wellesley magazine's online community act with honesty, integrity, and respect. (Remember the honor code, alums?) We reserve the right to remove comments by impersonators or comments that are not civil and relevant to the subject at hand. By posting here, you are permitting Wellesley magazine to edit and republish your comment in all media. Please remember that all posts are public.