The Education of Sylvia Plath, Smith College, 1950-1951

Sylvia Plath's education was impressive. She attended grade schools in Winthrop and Wellesley, Massachusetts before matriculating with the class of 1954 at Smith College in Northampton. I have always wanted a single easy way to see which courses Plath was taking and when so as such I have made a series of blog posts on the subject of "The Education of Sylvia Plath". This is the first part, for her first year at Smith College, 1950-1951. Perhaps in time I can go a little further and do something like this for Plath's junior high and high school if the record is complete enough to reconstruct something meaningful.

Using the Smith College course catalogs both in person and via the Archive.org, I have transcribed the courses from these sources that Plath herself would have read. They give an overview of the subject, but to read her notes and syllabi and papers would require traveling to the Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington which holds the greatest number of these materials. Smith College itself may have some syllabi in the College Archives.

During her first year at Smith, Plath resided in the ever-yellow Haven House and made much use of the Neilson Library, pictured here. Under English 11 and History 11, I have added the dated papers Plath wrote for the course based on information from the Plath mss II finding aid held by the Lilly Library. Papers are held, along with Plath's notebook for Art 13, are held by the Lilly Library.

Art: Art 13, Basic Design. From the course catalog: "The visual properties of color, light, volume, space, shape, line, texture through study of simple problems dealing with the nature of these elements, the use of materials and their creative application. For Freshman, Sophomores, and Junior transfer students. M 9; eight studio hours of which four must be T W 2-4, Th F 10-12, 2-4. Director, Mr Jules" (51).

Botany 11: General Botany. From the course catalog: "A study of the life processes and structure of seed plants with emphasis upon their relationship to the needs of man. A survey of representative types of other green and nongreen plants; reproduction, heredity, evolution. Two lectures and two two-hour laboratory periods. Lee. Th F 12. Lab. A, M T 9; Lab. B, M T 1 1 ; Lab. C, M T 2; Lab. D, Th F 9; Lab. E, Th F 2. Miss Kemp, Mr Wright (Director), Miss Donahue" (55).

English: English 11, Freshman English. From the course catalog: "Practice in expository and critical writing in connection with the study of selected literary forms. Members of the Department. Director, Miss Chase; Assistant Director, Miss Williams" (71). Plath's letters seem to indicate her teacher was Mr. Albert Madeira. 

"The Golden Season", 16 October 1950;
"Atmosphere in the Short Story", 6 November 1950;
"Character is Fate", 22 November 1950;
"The Agony of the Will", 18 December 1950
"The Dualism of Thomas Mann", 17 January 1951;
"Modern Tragedy in the Classic Tradition", 26 February 1951;
"The Tragedy of Progress", 19 March 1951;
"The Imagery in Patterns", 18 April 1951; and
"A New Idiom", 9 May 1951

French 16: Introduction to French Literature. From the course catalog: "Introduction to French Literature. Choice of representative texts; literary, historical, and cultural background. Prerequisite, three units in French, 12, or 11d. M T W 9, 10, 11, 12; Th F S 9, 10, 11, 12. Members of the Department. (L)" (76).

Plath had first registered for French 13 which was a course in "Reading, Grammar, and Composition. From the course catalog: "Prerequisite, three units in French, 12, or 11D. M T W 9, 12; TH F S 9, 10, 11. Members of the Department" (76).

History: History 11, General European History. From the course catalog: "A survey of the history of Europe from the decline of the Roman Empire to the present. One lecture and two recitations. Lec. M 2. Rec. T W 10, 11, 12, 2; Th F 9, 10, 11, 12. Members of the Department. Director, Mr von Klemperer" (87). Plath was largely History taught by Mrs. Koffka.

"Darwin, Marx, Wagner", 1951

Physical Education 1a, 1b: Body Mechanics, Dance, and Sports.1 From the course catalog: "Three periods of one hour each. Required for Freshman.

1.A fee is charged for golf, riding, campcraft, and winter sports.

Fall Term. One period, body mechanics; two periods, swimming for those who have not passed the test, for others a choice of the following:

Archery, canoeing, crew, golf, hockey, riding, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball.
Individual Gymnastics. Miss Ryder, Miss Eddy.
The Dance, modern and folk. Mrs Myers, Miss Horning.

Winter Term. One period, fundamental movement; two periods, a choice of:

Badminton, basketball, bowling, children's games, fencing, riding, squash, swimming.
Individual Gymnatics [sic.]. Miss Ryder, Miss Jennings, Miss Eddy.
The Dance, continuing the fall course and new sections. Mrs Myers, Miss Horning.

Spring Term. One period, rhythmic work or body mechanics; two periods, beginning swimming for those who have not passed the test, for others a choice of:

Archery, campcraft, canoeing, children's rhythms, crew, golf, lacrosse, riding, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball.
Individual Gymnastics. Miss Ryder, Miss Eddy.
The Dance, continuing the fall and winter courses and new sections. Mrs Myers, Miss Horning" (111).


See the other posts in the Education of Sylvia Plath series: 1951-1952; 1952-1953; 1954; and 1954-1955.

All links accessed 19 June 2017, 31 July, and 7 December 2017.