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How Well Do You Know Lasell?

By Samantha Mocle

In its 175-year history, Lasell has hosted famous luminaries, launched new initiatives, and participated in historic global and national events. These milestones, some little-known and others common knowledge, highlight the profound impact that the institution has had on the course of women’s history, higher education, and the world at large. How many do you know?

This story was made possible by the Brennan Library’s Winslow Archives and Donald J. Winslow’s Lasell: A History of the First Junior College for Women. All images and quoted material are via those sources.

Lasell Female Seminary

The original Lasell Seminary was founded as a first-of-its-kind learning environment for women in 1851—several decades before the nationwide movement for the advancement of women’s education took hold.

"Reform had been in the air long before the Civil War, and Edward Lasell was consciously putting a new idea into practice [with the founding of his seminary].”

Pictured left: An early sketch of the Lasell Seminary. Inset: Founder Edward Lasell.

Dress Reform

Suffragists and advocates for women’s dress reform were frequent visitors at the turn of the 20th century.

Visiting lecturers included Mary Ashton Livermore, Susan B. Anthony, and Jennie June, “an early advocate of reforming women’s dress, protesting long skirts that swept the street and other bizarre aspects of costume….”

Pictured left: A sketch and written description of “suitable” dress options for Lasell Female Seminary students in the early 20th century, compared to long dresses worn in the 19th century (photo).

Lasell at the World's Fair

Lasell hosted a booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair).

“Most colleges from various parts of the country had their exhibits in their own state buildings, but Lasell Seminary was chosen to be in the Women’s Building rather than in the Massachusetts building, because of its important contribution to the education of young women in America.”

Pictured left: A photo of the Lasell Seminary booth at the 1893 World’s Fair; a sketch of the Fair from the Class of 1895 Allerlei; and Lasell's medallion for Fair participation.

The Legacy of Torchlight

The annual Torchlight Parade for seniors once included a ceremony called “The Flames.” Students would cast out “various irritating objects of the past school year” into a bonfire on the Bragdon lawn (now Arnow Quad). The objects were often symbolic of their frustrations from the year.

“One year a can of beans was tossed on the fire, since food was often a source of complaint, and to the amusement of those standing far away and to the fright of those nearby, it exploded during the continuing ceremonies.”

Pictured left: An early Lasell torch; a sketch of “The Flames” in The Lamp 1915; a “Song to the Flames” from the 1914 ceremony; and a photo of the 1940 Torchlight Parade.

The Woodland Park School

Lifelong learning at Lasell began long before the Village was built.

The Woodland Park School was established as the “Junior Department of Lasell Seminary,” with primary and grammar school classes taught up to the first two years of high school. Day and boarding pupils, both boys and girls, took classes taught by faculty at the Seminary (also referred to as the senior school), including spelling, Bible, handicrafts, geography, arithmetic, hygiene, and physical training. The school ran from 1918-1934 and served as a pipeline for girls to enter the Seminary.

Pictured left: The Woodland Park School building and its students; the 1933 Woodland Park
School directory and guidebook.

Forever (Fashion) Forward

Boston-area retailers Jordan Marsh and Filene’s were early partners of the school’s retailing and merchandising program.

“From the beginning the main feature of this program was practical training and service in the leading Boston stores […] so that students had experience not only in salesmanship but in all fields relating to merchandising.”

Pictured left: Lasell fashion students at work in the 1950s.

Famous Faces at Lasell

Guest speakers to campus have included then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, civil rights leader Julian Bond, and poet Robert Frost. Frost visited campus as a guest speaker and reader in 1941; he and Principal Guy Winslow connected over their love for the Vermont woods. Frost subsequently wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection The Witness Tree, inspired by his visit to Winslow’s property (called the “Lasell Forest”).

Pictured left: The Class of 1941’s tribute to their honorary classmate, Robert Frost (left) and a signed original copy of In the Clearing; guest speaker Julian Bond with students; then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy with Lasell President Raymond Wass (right).

Intergenerational Learning

Lasell Village was the first senior living community in the United States with an educational mandate for its residents.

Pictured left: Lasell President Tom de Witt H’07 (second from right) originated the idea for Lasell Village, which received national press coverage. Today, Villagers are part of the University community.