Archiving Bennington: A Collaborative Project

How do we represent Bennington culture? By images? Founding documents? Submit any object, image or text that you feel represents your experience of Bennington Culture.

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Students skating on the pond, c1940. Find it here. 

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Discussion and Development of Governance Structures by students, 1933

"After discussing the whole question of rules, we felt that here we had the opportunity to try a more ideal system -- one based on the theory that most of us had learned to govern ourselves, and that those who hadn't could be taught, not by punishment, but by a process of individual treatment and help." 

Find the document here. 

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a double exposure ft. the sunset over kilpat and the floor of dewey haus / by abby mahler ‘16 

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Down Commons, 1940. Find it here. 

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A film made by Erika Lygren '16. Submitted by Jordan MacIntosh-Hougham '16. Watch all them here. 

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Archiving Bennington will be projected in the left stairs of Down Commons tonight from 5:00 - 7:00. Come ask questions, submit pieces! 

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The Bennington Prospectus. Written in 1928. The Ten Standards: 

1. Is the emphasis focussed on the individual student rather than on the administrator, the teacher or the curriculum?

2. Is instruction based on the student’s natural interests?

3. Are the lessons learned by living, or by learning?

4. Is the aim to develop independent reasoning, or to memorize the views and thoughts of other men?

5. Is the system static or dynamic?

6. Is the training designed for the whole body, or merely for the brain alone?

7. Is provision made of the development of character?

8. Is the student given a sound training in the skills, knowledge and abilities which are of lifelong value?

9. Is emphasis placed properly on the home and community?

10. And finally, is allowance made for the constructive and intelligent use of leisure time? 

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Traditional Bennington College commencement statement. Given at commencement in 1936. You can find the text in the student handbook and grab a copy from the Admissions Office. 

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An online timeline of Bennington College. A short, pretty summary. Check it out. What information do you know? What don't you know? What is the narrative? Are there any biases? 

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"The alum (Joanne Lembo '95) that I originally visited with had memories associated with the ladder back chair and now there are yikyaks about it." Submitted by Zadie Ross '18. 

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The Student Assembly obviously already knows how to navigate the archives. Here is the invitation they used as inspiration. Dated 1924, it's an invitation to one of the first planning meetings for Bennington College. 

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An invitation to one of the Student Assembly's meetings this fall. Submitted by Sarah Shames '17. 

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snapchats are one of my main modes of conversation at bennington (thanks verizon, i’ll stick to the wifi) / abby mahler ‘16

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For all you dancers: A bulletin of the 1934 summer dance program. Check out some other cool things about the “Bennington School of Dance” here! 

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Bennington College Propoganda Film (1951) 

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Full Title: A Curriculum to Build a Mental World, A Proposal for a College of Liberal Arts for Women. A thick read, but an interesting one. A study made “under the auspices of a group of men and women interested in the establishment of a new college of liberal arts fro women in Bennington, Vermont.” 

Read the whole thing here. 

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Bennington Graduation 2013. Pictured left to right: Maggie Ammons '15, Kenneth Olguin '14, Carina Dalzell '13 and Alana Cooper '15. Submitted by Alana Cooper '15.