For Class History Talk – May 2023 – Class of 1971

Instead of the usual mentioning of anecdotes and events which happened during our years at Mount Holyoke, I will talk about a project which some members our Class of 1971 decided to undertake before our 50th reunion. The result is a 22-page document called 50th Reunion Project: Remembering Our Past, Exploring Its Meaning. It’s a thorough history of our class, and it was meant, quoting from the Introduction, “to encourage classmates to reflect upon their time at Mount Holyoke and the impact that experience has had on their lives.” It is well and interestingly written and so consistent in style that a reader would be surprised that seven classmates collaborated to produce it.

Quoting again, “This document summarizes the major activities and events at Mount Holyoke and beyond its gates from 1967 to 1971.” It was emailed to classmates in four installments, one each week, so people wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. Each section covered one of our years at Mount Holyoke. Demographic facts about our class are included along with accounts of actions and prevalent undercurrents, in just the right amount of detail. The document really does reflect an excellent combination of what we went through at Mount Holyoke socially and academically as well as what was going on in the rest of the country.

All of my classmates with whom I have spoken about the project agree that we had forgotten so many of the details of the happenings that we were aware of then. This Remembering and Reflecting project is one that has more than just jogged our memories.

Click HERE for the Remembering and Reflecting Project page.