A Mount Holyoke Winter

Kristin S. Raines

People often talk about the weather when they have nothing else to say, but does this make the weather any less significant than other aspects of their lives? The weather is a source of ever changing climates which are somewhat predictable, but yet still seem to excite and upset us. When a young woman writes home to her mother that the weather is dreary and she expects snow soon, perhaps she is not only trying to fill space before hitting on a more personal topic, perhaps she is participating in a tradition which has been maintained for hundreds of years by the community in which she lives.

There are few commonalities which every person who has lived and worked at Mount Holyoke share, but the weather is one of them. The bitter cold winds and icy snowstorms of a New England winter are as much of a tradition at the college as fall Mountain Day or Laurel Parade in May. Those who live at Mount Holyoke grow to expect that an overnight seven inch snowfall can come at any time between November and March. The cold weather has been a common source of wonder—and complaint—for generations of Mount Holyoke students, staff, and faculty alike.

Though it may not usually be thought of as a relevant subject which connects the Mount Holyoke community together, one can find evidence that the weather is a source of commonality between every person who has lived on the campus. Winter climate varies in severity from year to year, but during her four years at the college, every Mount Holyoke woman is sure to experience the biting January winds and seemingly endless amounts of snowfall. The weather is such a common factor, in fact, that it is probably overlooked as a source of mutual experience because it is so obvious. There are references to the winter climate in letters written to friends and family over the decades and it remains a topic for spirited discussion among students even today.

As a Mount Holyoke student in the late 1940's, Mary Elizabeth Browning wrote letters to her mother detailing her social and academic experiences. In 1947 and '48, Mary wrote to her parents some thirty odd times between November and February of her first year. She mentioned the weather specifically in nearly twenty of these letters, usually recounting that it was cold, windy, and snowy. A letter written on Hazing Day of 1947 (early November), describes how Mary was not appreciative of the current climate, and expected only worse in the coming days:

At present we are having very cold weather and it is raining. It is awfully nasty outside. The people around here don't seem to think it would be surprising if we wouldn't have snow. It is awfully chilly and windy outdoors. Just a little ways north of us they are having snow.[1]

In a letter mailed in January, Mary writes more about the sever weather conditions and their effect on the students' everyday lives:

"This weekend we had a snow storm which lasted all night and we now have another foot on the ground. Did you know it was 4 below the other day? When we plowed out to class Friday morning it was two above. The lake is frozen solidly and the dean of residence has announced that the Mandelle people may use it safely as a short cut."[2]

This event was something novel and exhilarating for Mary and perhaps the other students as well.

When the river froze over in 1875, it was an event worth mentioning more than once in the winter entries of the Mount Holyoke Journal Memorandum notebook. The author recorded only a few mentions for each day, usually an academic visitor, event or lecture on campus, but in a handful of cases the weather conditions were noted in addition or alone. For November 23rd the notebook remarks, "weather cold and disagreeable with rain [...] and the river frozen just enough to prevent crossing in the afternoon."[3] Then the next day's entry states "weather improved, and the river passable again."[4] For Thursday December 2, the recording notes that "some days of very cold weather had frozen the river sufficiently to permit walking across,"[5] an event which, when it occurs at least seventy years later, will spark some joy in Mary Browning.

In The Mount Holyoke News for 1948, the January 9 edition referred to a recent winter storm in the New York area as "the Snow Storm, and the subsequent Ice Storm,"[6] revealing that a great deal of emphasis was placed upon these events. The deliberate capitalization of snow storm and ice storm reveal that though bad weather was a common winter occurrence in that area, some weather events require more recognition and deference than others. In fact, the college newspaper chose to publish that story even though the storms had little to do with the campus or the region in general.

Blizzards and ice storms may be newsworthy events and topics of general excitement, but smaller and more common weather patterns seem to agitate the general campus as well. Examples of this in the present day are evident in topics students choose to post on MHC.chat, a campus wide internet discussion board. Beginning in December students post messages of pleasure or contempt concerning the bad weather with subject lines like "Urrggghhhh! SNOW!"[7] A student replying to this particular line of discussion tries to cheer up her snow-resentful peers by pointing out that "if it's going to be cold, at least the snow makes everything pretty. mount holyoke [sic] seriously looks ridiculously fairy-tale-ish [sic] when it's blanketed in snow. especially [sic] with the christmas [sic] lights up now."[8]

The observation made by this student is one which is extremely relevant to the idea that the winter weather is one of the few shared experiences within the Mount Holyoke community. The college realizes the potential of the snow-covered campus to impress people, and it uses it to the school's advantage. By arranging lights in the bare trees and along the campus gates, Mount Holyoke is enhancing the attractiveness of its physical environment, and drawing attention to features which have remained the same over generations. The college's sense of community thrives upon the commonalities of the Mount Holyoke woman's experience.

The actual commonalities between every generation of students may be difficult to find, because each woman who graduates possesses a unique set of experiences and memories of Mount Holyoke college. Certain factors, however, do remain constant over time. The winter weather of New England is one of these few experiences which each and every member of the Mount Holyoke community shares.

[1] Mary B. Nelson Papers, Correspondence 1934-1983, Letter to her mother, ca. November 9, 1947, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

[2] Mary B. Nelson Papers, Correspondence 1934-1983, Letter to her mother, January 18, 1948, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

[3] Mount Holyoke College Journal Memoranda 1862-1877, Notebook VIII 1875 May-1877 Dec., November 23, page 19, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

[4] Mount Holyoke College Journal Memoranda 1862-1877, Notebook VIII 1875 May-1877 Dec., November 24, page 19, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

[5] Mount Holyoke College Journal Memoranda 1862-1877, Notebook VIII 1875 May-1877 Dec., December 2, page 19, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

[6] The Mount Holyoke News, 1947 Sept. 20 – 1950 June 12, Friday, January 9, 1948 edition, page 2, "Cold Facts"

[7] MHC.chat, December 2, 2003

[8] MHC.chat, December 2, 2003

Bibliography

Mary B. Nelson Papers, Correspondence 1934-1983, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Mount Holyoke College Journal Memoranda 1862-1877, Notebook VIII 1875 May-1877 Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

The Mount Holyoke News, 1947 Sept. 20 – 1950 June 12, Friday, January 9, 1948 edition, page 2, "Cold Facts"

MHC.chat, December 2, 2003