A Comparison of Mount Holyoke College’s Academic Calendar in 1948 vs. 2004

Sara M. Belding

In a series of letters written home to her mother throughout the 1947- 48 school year, Mary Elizabeth Browning describes her experiences as a member of the Mount Holyoke College community. The collection of her letters illustrates all of the expectations, traditions, privileges, and hardships that were part of being a member of the Mount Holyoke community at that time. The community depicted in Mary’s letters, however, differs in many ways from the community that is represented at present in the year 2004. Although there are numerous differences between the Mount Holyoke community of 1948 and the community of 2004, one notable distinction is in the academic calendar. The events noted on the academic calendar for the 1947-48 school year are not all events that were announced on the academic calendar in 2003-04. In addition, the dates in which certain events occurred during the ‘47-‘48 school year were notably much later than indicated on the ‘03-‘04 calendar.

First of all, the date of the first day of classes for the fall semester was two weeks later in September for the ‘47-‘48 school year than in ‘03-‘04. Mary’s letter to her parents in mid-September 1947 indicates that classes had just begun for her: “I thought I would drop you a line now that I’ve been to all of my classes” . The academic calendar for ‘47-‘48 indicates that classes began on September 20th, 1947 (Mount Holyoke College, 1948). In contrast, the academic calendar for ‘03-‘04 reveals that fall semester classes began on September 4th, 2003 (Mount Holyoke College, 2003). Thus, the student population of the Mount Holyoke community of 1947 was not responsible for returning to campus until mid-September, while a great portion of the student population of the ‘03-‘04 community returned to campus at the very beginning of the September.

In addition, for the ‘47-‘48 school year final examinations for the fall semester were held at the end of January rather than in mid December as they were in ‘03-‘04. Mary reports the approximate time of final exams when she writes in a letter home dated January 28th, 1948, “My exams are all over now and I certainly am relieved” . Hence, on the 28th of January, Mary had very recently finished her exams. The ‘47-‘48 academic calendar states that final examinations for the fall semester were held from Wednesday, January 21st through Friday, January 30th, 1948 (Mount Holyoke College, 1948), while the academic calendar for ‘03-‘04 declares that final examinations were held from Saturday, December 13th through Thursday, December 18th, 2003 (Mount Holyoke College, 2003). It can then be inferred that in 1948 January Term did not exist, as the month of January consisted of the closing of fall semester classes and final examinations. Further, not only were the final examinations for the fall semester held nearly a month earlier in ‘03-‘04, but the length of time allotted for completion of the exams was truncated by four days. Thus, in ’47-‘48, the fall semester extended into January for Mount Holyoke students, and the students were given ten days in which to complete their examinations rather than the six days designated for final exams in the fall of 2003. Therefore, the students of the Mount Holyoke community of 1947- 48 were not liberated from the stress of homework during the winter recess, a perk that was enjoyed by students enrolled for the ‘03-’04 academic year since their examinations were completed just in time for the recess.

Furthermore, the spring final examinations also took place later in May for the ‘47-‘48 school year than for the ‘03-‘04 school year. In fact, the start of the spring final examinations period in 1948 occurred at a later date than the closing of the exam period in 2004. A letter written from Mary to her mother in late May indicates that she was in the process of completing her final exams at that time: “Well, now I have had three of my finals, so I am having a little breathing space between now and my last two” . Certainly, Mary’s letter demonstrates that even on May 26th she was not yet finished with her exams, while if she had been a student in 2004, she would have most likely moved out and begun her summer plans by that date. The ‘47-‘48 academic calendar confirms that spring final examinations were held from Monday, May 24th through Wednesday, June 2nd, 1948 (MHC, 1948). On the other hand, the ‘03-‘04 academic calendar reports that final examinations for the spring semester will take place from Friday, May 7th through Thursday, May 13th, 2004 (MHC, 2003). Therefore, final exams were again held later in the ‘47-‘48 school year for the spring semester just as they were for the fall semester. Also, the students of the ‘47-’48 school year were allowed an extra three days to complete their exams during the spring examination period than were the students of 2004.

As a result of later exams, Commencement was also held two weeks later in 1948 than it will be in 2004 (Monday, June 7th vs. Sunday, May 23rd respectively). Thus, it can be noted that the academic year was pushed back in its entirety a few weeks in ‘47-‘48 in relation to the time-line of events posted on the academic calendar of ‘03-’04. This difference in scheduling results in significant differences between the Mount Holyoke community of 1948 and the community of 2004, as the schedule of events for an academic year serves to shape the experience of the participating community by thereby affecting the conditions present at each event. For example, the conditions related to the final examinations for the fall semester are very distinct between the ’47-’48 school year and the ’03-’04 school year, as in ’47-’48 students were taking exams after a long winter recess, while in ’03-’04 the students took exams with the anticipation of the winter recess ahead.

There are also some very interesting differences in what events actually are printed in the academic calendars for the two school years, as it can be assumed that if an event is marked as part of the academic calendar, it must hold some significance for the community. For instance, “Examinations for the removal of conditions” are posted approximately in the middle of each semester in the ‘47-‘48 academic calendar, however, no such examinations are found on the academic calendar of ‘03-‘04, and in fact, no such examinations even still exist at the college in 2004. Thus, it can be inferred that these “examinations for the removal of conditions” were an event that held some significance in ‘47-‘48, however are of no importance in ‘03-‘04. Also noteworthy on the academic calendar for ‘47-‘48 is the “General examinations for seniors”, which were exams pertaining to a specific field of study that a senior must pass in order to receive a degree in that particular subject (MHC, 1948). Again, these examinations were not present on the ‘03-‘04 academic calendar, and no longer are mandated by the college for the seniors of the Mount Holyoke community of 2004.

On the flip side, there are of course events that are printed on the academic calendar of ‘03-‘04 that simply are not found on the calendar of ‘47- ‘48. A few such occasions are the “Last day to add classes/ Last day to drop classes without ‘DR’/ Last day to drop classes with ‘DR’ ”(MHC, 2003). The academic calendar of ‘47-‘48 contained no information about dates for the last day that a student could add or drop a course. This difference in the posting of adding and dropping dates on the calendar suggests that this particular information is more pertinent and important to the Mount Holyoke community of 2004, as it is highlighted on the academic calendar. At the same time, it also could suggest that perhaps, in ‘47-‘48, not as many students were frequently rearranging their schedules or dropping classes, so there was not as great a need to print adding and dropping dates on the academic calendar. Whatever the case, it is clear that events printed on an academic calendar hold some significance for the community, and therefore a change in what is printed on the calendar indicates a shift in what events are important for the college community.

In closing, there are many differences between the information contained on the Mount Holyoke College academic calendar for the ’47-’48 school year and the calendar for the ’03-’04 school year. Some of the differences are due to the fact that certain events are now extinct at the college; other differences reflect a transition as to what events are important enough to be noted on such a calendar. Dissimilarity between the exact dates in which certain events were held, such as final examinations, were also observed and served to contribute, in some sense, to the differentiation between the Mount Holyoke community illustrated in Mary Browning’s letters and the Mount Holyoke community of 2004.

Bibliography

South Hadley, Massachusetts.  Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College.  Mary B. Nelson Papers.

Mount Holyoke College.   Mount Holyoke College Bulletin, The Catalogue Number. Bulletin Series 41, No. 4.   South Hadley, MA.  Janurary 1948.

Mount Holyoke College.   Mount Holyoke Bulletin and Course Catalogue 2003-2004.   South Hadley, MA.  2003.