Middlebury College Special Collections

09/04/2026

Here’s a summertime film clip from the 1940s. The first part, taken from the top of Old Chapel, shows the green campus with Chipman Hill and the Green Mountains in the distance. And notice the lawn mowing equipment!

09/03/2026

We recently enjoyed sharing a few pages from artist Sylvia Ptak’s book “The Unicorn and the Date Palm” with new members of the faculty. As the catalog record says, “Gauze "page" from a hypothetical manuscript containing heat transfers of line drawings of plants copied from Renaissance Herbals as well as a purposefully illegible text created by the artist. Ptak creates this effect by snagging the gauze with a pin, pulling brown and red thread sideways to create loops emulating the appearance of handwritten text.”

09/02/2026

We recently received another image of Middlebury's first woman graduate, May Belle Chellis, Class of 1886, from a generous donor.

Chellis is pictured here with her husband, Joseph Andrew Doremus. We're not sure when this image was taken, but Chellis and Doremus were married in 1898.

09/01/2026

A post from 2016 that seems worth repeating!

Every day in the archives, we encounter pieces of history that remind us how our world has evolved over the years, and how some things remain the same through the cycle of seasons. For example, thi…

08/31/2026

There were so many comments on the ashtrays seen in the 1957 photos of the Stewart Hall lounge, we’re sharing an actual ashtray from the Archives objects collection. It's from the middle of the 20th century, and it's big! It was made by W. C. Bunting Co., which is still in business!
http://www.wcbunting.com/

08/27/2026

“Traite du Libre, et du Voluntaire” (Amsterdam, 1685) has been through a lot but persists. The armorial bookplate indicates it was part of the library of L’ Avacat Crest, likely Joseph Jean Baptiste Cresp, a lawyer who lived from 1750-1828. The circular plate on the free endpaper indicates it was part of the library at Residentia ISH Major Massiliensis, the major Jesuit residence in Marseille, France. The “annule” stamped in the middle means “cancelled”, or as we’d say, “withdrawn”. Who knows what the manuscript at the top of that page reads? It’s even been munched on by book worms! Most recently it was owned by Prof. Victor Nuovo who donated it to Middlebury Special Collections.

08/26/2026

One of the highlights of our recent tour of the newly renovated Stewart Hall was the official opening of the time capsule that was placed in the cornerstone of the building on May 18, 1957. Here’s a photo from the College Archives of Jessica Swift placing items in the copper box, along with Walter Brooker, class of 1937, then Director of Development. Also pictured are the box and its recently revealed contents.

08/25/2026

The Spring competition between the freshman and sophomore classes in the men's college included a tug-of-war, a three-legged obstacle race, and lots of mud! This 16mm film was taken in the late 1930s.

08/24/2026

Today Special Collections staff enjoyed a first glimpse at the newly renovated Stewart Hall. It was completed in 1957 and originally served as a men’s dormitory. Check out these “then and now” pics!

08/20/2026

What do an 18th century parchment scroll, a pillow, a 20th century miniature book on a wooden stand, and a straw hat have in common? They’re all difficult to put on a shelf! So, we put them in boxes that also keep them dust free and protected from degrading light.