Poet Robert Frost visits BSTC, 1959Explore selected multi-media items from the archival and special collections of Bridgewater State University’s Maxwell Library. These unique items help document the rich history of Bridgewater State University and the lives and contributions of its alumni.
Other BSU archival collections available online include:
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Robert Frost Lecture at Bridgewater Teachers College
Robert Frost
Length: 01:14:58
Robert Frost visited the Bridgewater Teachers College campus on December 1, 1959. That evening he gave a lecture for the campus community in the Horace Mann Auditorium. Frost spoke for over an hour, commenting on poetry and the teaching and appreciation of poetry. He recited and commented upon several of his own poems, including “Acquainted with the Night,” “Dust of Snow,” “The Tuft of Flowers,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” “The Road Not Taken,” “One More Brevity,” “Mending Wall,” “A Leaf Treader,” “The Night Light,” “The Objection to Being Stepped On,” “Departmental,” “Away!” and “A Considerable Speck.”
The recording abruptly stops during the sustained applause after Frost finished the lecture. The recording begins again in the middle of a sentence as Frost had resumed speaking after the applause.
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Some Thoughts on Dickens
Clement C. Maxwell
Length of Recording: 0:46:30. Recorded by Henry Rosen, director of the Audiovisual Department, Bridgewater State Teachers College
While a professor, Clement C. Maxwell specialized in English literature and was a noted Dickens scholar. Maxwell’s lecture on Dickens covers what he identifies as the major theme throughout the writer’s work: “to strike a blow for the poor” by drawing attention to the dire conditions of the underprivileged during the Victorian age. Maxwell describes Dickens childhood and how that shaped his mission to improve the living conditions of London’s underclasses. The lecture draws upon examples from several of Dicken’s novels to illustrate the horrors of debtors’ prisons, the unfairness in the court system, and the sub-standard quality of education in England in his day. Despite the bleak depictions of life in London, Dickens’ sense of humor and optimism is emphasized. Maxwell also notes Dickens’ inclusion of children as frequent and often major characters in his novels. Maxwell credits the inclusion of children as characters to the development of increased sympathy for children and children’s rights.
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Following the Gleam
Clement C. Maxwell
Length: 0:31:29
On November 21, 1952, Clement C. Maxwell was formally inaugurated as the seventh President of the Bridgewater State Teachers College. Director of the Massachusetts State Teachers Colleges, Dr. Patrick J. Sullivan, presided over the Exercises. Speakers included representatives from the other State Teachers Colleges, the State Board of Education, alumni and student groups, and the Town of Bridgewater. Dr. John J. Desmond, Jr., Commissioner of Education, performed the installation of Maxwell as President.
Maxwell’s Inaugural address “Following the Gleam,” begins with a brief history of the state Normal School movement in Massachusetts and the vital role played by Horace Mann in its founding. Maxwell then provides short descriptions of the tenures and accomplishments of the six men who preceded him as either principal or president. The speech then outlines Maxwell’s vision and motivation for his incoming administration. He calls on the inspirations dating back to the founding of the Normal Schools to guide the college in its future growth and mission – the education of the whole man. Maxwell extols education that not only trains, but teaches “the values that constitute the good man, the good citizen, the good teacher, the teacher who goes into his profession with a deeply serious sense of purpose and a full, rich, appreciation of the good and the true.” He describes the Bridgewater purpose and ideal as “the shaper of the teaching mind and heart, as the creator of the teaching attitude.”
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Bridgewater State Teachers College Seniors and Faculty, 1940
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 01:28
Color, SilentBridgewater State Teachers College faculty exit the front entrance of the Administration Building (now known as Boyden Hall) and congregate on the steps of the building. The faculty stand in small groups, talking among themselves. Though the title card reads “Seniors ’40 and Faculty,” students are not easily identified in this clip.
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State Teachers College at Bridgewater, Massachusetts Commencement, June 1940
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 03:22
Color, SilentThe first 39 seconds show Governor Saltonstall and his entourage, limo, and State Police motorcycle escort. Footage of the academic procession follows, showing the new graduates, faculty, and guests leaving the Horace Mann Auditorium to take their places outside the Administration Building. From 01:07 to 01:14, college President John J. Kelly is standing on the right of a group of four men. A trumpet call from the entrance doors of the Administration Building precedes a procession of members of the Junior Class down the steps of the building. A second trumpet call precedes the procession of the 1940 graduates, who take their position standing in rows on the steps of the Administration Building. The graduates are conducted in a song, which is followed by several unidentified speakers. The final footage is of the graduates arrayed in a circle on the quadrangle, surrounded by a larger circle of members of the Junior Class, followed by graduates, friends, family, and spectators intermingling.
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Greenhouse Tour, 1939
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 00:55
Color, SilentStudents walk along the paths in the gardens surrounding the Greenhouse. Students are shown looking at the plants (maybe picking some vegetables) directly next to the building. Students walk through the gardens, looking at some plants.
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Great Hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938 Clean-Up
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 02:41
Black & White, SilentThe title card reads: “The Great Hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938. The Clean-Up begins the morning after.” Footage shows downed tree limbs and branches on the Bridgewater State Teachers College campus and on neighboring properties. Students are seen walking though the campus, followed by footage of students helping to clear the fallen trees and branches from the campus quadrangle and “lower campus” (east of Summer Street). Students with axes chop the largest tree branches into smaller sections for removal while other students form piles from the smaller limbs and leaves.
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January 1938 Snow
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 02:44
Black & White, SilentTitle card reads: “Snowy days on the campus, January, 1938.” Students and/or staff are shown shoveling snow from campus walkways. Students are seen walking outside, throwing snow at each other, and seemingly enjoying what looks to be a significant snowfall on the ground.
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State Teachers College at Bridgewater, Massachusetts Commencement, June 1938
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 03:42
Black & White, SilentGraduates file from Horace Mann Auditorium (and turn to walk onto the steps of the Administration Building). Faculty and guests fill seats placed at the bottom of the stairs in front of the building. Class President George F. Johnson and the Guard of Honor plant an ivy vine along the foundation on the north side of the Administration Building and then return to the formation on the stairs in front of the building. The Ivy Oration is delivered by an unidentified speaker, followed by a trumpet call. The graduates proceed down the Administration Building steps and then form a ring in the quadrangle, surrounded by a ring of Juniors, and an outermost ring of spectators. The graduates then sing the Alma Mater, which is shown on a title card:
O Alma Mater, thy children strive
To keep thy faith alive
O Alma Mater, we sing for thee
This song of loyalty.
O Alma Mater, they voice alone
Will guide in paths unknown.The graduates link hands in a circle on the quadrangle, each holding an ivy vine. At the end, the graduates and spectators intermingle.
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Inauguration of President Kelly, December 1937
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 00:35
Black & White, SilentAcademic procession of officials and representatives of the State Department of Education, Presidents of other State Teachers Colleges, invited guests, members of the clergy, and members of the Bridgewater College faculty walking towards the entrance of the Horace Mann Auditorium for the Inauguration of John J. Kelly as president of the college on December 14, 1937. At 00:17, Kelly is visible at the rear of the procession, on the left. The final two seconds show President Kelly standing in his office.
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State Teachers College at Bridgewater, Massachusetts Commencement, June 1935
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 02:24
Black & White, SilentThe Commencement Procession shows the graduating seniors walking towards Horace Mann Auditorium in the Administration Building (now known as Boyden Hall). The Ivy Exercises include the procession of the junior class out of the Administration Building and forming a perimeter around the quadrangle. The graduating seniors walk from Horace Mann Auditorium and form rows on the step of the Administration Building. The Senior Class President plants a vine of ivy along the foundation of a side of the Administration Building, then rejoins his class on the steps of the building. Unidentified speakers address the assembled. After the ceremony, the seniors walk in formation from the stairs and form an inner ring in the quadrangle. At the end, the seniors, juniors and assembled audience intermingle.
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A Day in the Sixth Grade of the Training School
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Length: 03:27
Black & White, SilentThis short 16mm was shot sometime in 1933 and features very short segments showcasing aspects of the Training School administered by the Bridgewater State Teachers College. Segments include student teachers leading grade school students in Arithmetic, Geography, History, Music, and Physical Education lessons or activities. Grade school students are also seen in their reading groups and playing a popular board game of that time, “The Wide World: A Parker Game by Henrik Willem van Loon.” At the beginning of the film, Martha Burnell, principal of the Training School, appears (at 00:18) – she is the older woman on the right, wearing a dark hat. At the end of the film, the school’s faculty appears, walking out of the Training School building’s south entrance. The final shot is of the Massachusetts state flag.