Commencement through the Years
From the first graduating class to those of more recent years, this gallery celebrates commencement through the years in honor of Swarthmore's sesquicentennial. Recognize anyone? Let us know!
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Six members of Swarthmore's first senior class received baccalaureate degrees on June 18, 1873. The graduates included President Edward Magill's daughter Helen (back row, far right), who later studied Greek at Boston University and became the first woman in the country to earn a Ph.D. Another graduate, Esther Townsend Moore (front row, third from left), joined the College's preparatory department and later served as registrar and secretary to the college president from 1889-1900.
The full list of graduates, as their names appeared in the commencement program: Sarah Hall Acton, Salem, New Jersey; Helen Magill, Swarthmore College; Elizabeth Clarke Miller, Morris, New York; Hetty Townsend Moore, Sandy Spring, Maryland; Lydia Maria Child Pierce, Pleasantville, New York; Lowndes Taylor, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
At the ceremony, Samuel Willets, chairman of the Board of Managers, addressed the graduates: "It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I meet you - the first graduating class of Swarthmore College. For years and years my co-workers and myself have striven to bring about what we now see, a class of graduates at Swarthmore. I am assured by the President of your good conduct during the years that you have been under his superintending care; and my own observation confirms me in the belief that you have endeavored conscientiously to discharge all your duties. The knowledge of this, combined with the general good conduct of your fellow students who are emulous to excel, has inspired my co-trustees and myself with a lively feeling of satisfaction. May God bless you all and us."
The Class of 1874
The Class of 1875
Commencement 1902. Second from left, President Joseph Swain.
President Joseph Swain leads the procession in front of Parrish Hall at Commencement 1908.
Commencement 1917
Commencement 1925
Commencement 1929
President Frank Aydelotte holds a new tree during a planting at the 1936 Commencement.
In his 1938 commencement address, Albert Einstein challenged America's isolationists, asking how anyone could "look on passively, or perhaps with indifference, when elsewhere in the world innocent people are being brutally persecuted, deprived of their rights, or even massacred." Einstein brought his violin to Swarthmore and played chamber music with members of the faculty the night before his address. Here, with President Frank Aydelotte. Over Aydelotte's shoulder, Eugene Lang '38.
Commencement 1942
Forty-nine Chinese naval officers, on campus as part of the U.S. Navy's V-12 training program, participated in the 1944 commencement ceremony, attended by Chinese Ambassador Wei and Admiral Liu of the Chinese Navy, and received certificates of English training completion. The College also unveiled a new fountain and staircase given in honor of the officers next to Wharton Hall, which was known as the "good ship Wharton" when they lived there. In front of Wharton, a Chinese stone lion guards a copper plaque on the ground, where all 49 officers' names are engraved in Chinese calligraphy.
Commencement 1951
President Courtney Smith, third from left, leads the procession during Commencement 1958.
President Lyndon Johnson's helicopters land on campus prior to Commencement 1964.
President Lyndon Johnson and President Courtney Smith at Swarthmore's Centennial Commencement in 1964.
President Lyndon Johnson addresses the graduates at Swarthmore's Centennial Commencement in 1964.
President Lyndon Johnson addresses the graduates at Swarthmore's Centennial Commencement in 1964.
Commencement 1968
Commencement 1970
Commencement 1971
Commencement 1973
Commencement 1973
Then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis '55 received an honorary doctor of laws degree at Commencement 1975.
Commencement 1978
Commencement 1981
Commencement 1981
A rare indoor commencement ceremony in 1983.
President David Fraser at Commencement 1985.
Commencement 1985
Commencement 1988
Commencement 1989, with Laura Augustine, Emily Aubrey, Elise Arle, and Patrick Awuah at the center of the front row and Claire Brill at far right.
President David Fraser hands a diploma to David Stokes at Commencement 1990.
Tom Borchert blows bubbles at Commencement 1992
Commencement 1995
Commencement 1996
Commencement 1996
Commencement 1999
Commencement 1999
Commencement 1999
Author and social activist Elizabeth Martinez '46 received a doctor of humane letters degree at Commencment 2000.
Sculptor Jake Beckman '05, who created (among other works) the giant Adirondack chair on Parrish lawn, left this parting note for his classmates "pinned" to the side of Parrish Hall on the day of their Commencement.
Romane Paul '10 addressed his fellow graduates at Commencement 2010.
President Rebecca Chopp presides at Commencement 2010
June Xie '11 photographed each of her 365 fellow graduates as they crossed the stage.
Commencement 2013