Call number

RG 11.8

Extent

1 and a third shelves of bound volumes; additional magazines; 4.83 linear feet

Abstract

The Barnard Magazine consists of magazines compiled into bound volumes until 1959.  More recent issues exist in magazine form and are not bound.  The publication is arranged chronologically.  Content includes articles, letters to the magazine, advertisements, and documentation of Barnard events.  There are two bound volumes of indexes for the magazines dating from 1912 to 1959.

History of the Barnard College Alumnae Magazine

The Barnard Magazine provided a way for alumnae to stay in touch with each other and to learn about developments in the Barnard community.  The magazine was first published in 1912 by the Barnard Alumnae Association.  The name of the publication changed sporadically.  Originally called the Bulletin of the Associate Alumnae, it became the Barnard College Alumnae Monthly, the Barnard College Alumnae Magazine, and finally Barnard Magazine.  Initially the Magazine was published once a year; today it is published monthly.  The magazine is run by a committee of Barnard alumnae.  Initial issues were helmed by Dean Gildersleeve, who wrote most of the material.  Advertisements were introduced in 1921, and photographs in 1922.  The first color in the Barnard College Magazine was used in the full page advertisements for cigarettes that appeared in 1930.  Initially, lists were published of marriages, moves, and divorces.  Later issues saw each class assigned a ‘correspondent’ who published news of class members in personal columns.  Alumnae were asked to write in with personal news, which was published in the back pages of the magazine.  This practice was abandoned during the 1970s, when the magazine’s focus became more general, with articles being written about the state of the world from the perspective of Barnard alumnae, rather than focusing merely on College activities.  The Barnard Magazine was originally sent out to paying members of the Alumnae Association, but is now sent to all Barnard alumnae.

Description

The Barnard Magazine is published by the alumnae of Barnard College as a means of maintaining a connection between graduates of Barnard and the College.  The Magazine contains photographs of faculty, staff, and alumnae; advertisements for books published by Barnard professors and alumnae; lists of alumnae; calendars of events; business and professional directories for alumnae; correspondence from overseas alumnae; and articles detailing changes in faculty, programs, and campus structure at Barnard.  The magazine strengthens the connections between Barnard graduates, each other, and their college.  Early features of the publication are columns about developments in personal lives, reprints of commencement programs, and paraphrases of material discussed at informal alumnae teas and luncheons.  The publication details a shift away from a focus on Barnard and personal life during wartime: alumnae living abroad and in occupied countries became informal foreign correspondents, sending in columns detailing life on the front lines and under changing regimes for the edification of the alumnae in America.  The publication also contains histories of college institutions, such as Holly House and the Barnard College Thrift Store; these histories are particularly useful research tools because they contain quotes from people (many now deceased) who were directly involved in the institutions.  Content of the publication is also deeply personal, as in “My Daughter who Will Never Go to Barnard” by Joan Sobel, class of 1947, which chronicles the author’s struggles with raising a mentally retarded child.  Also of note are articles on changing standards in higher education, such as the 1962 “Could I get into Barnard Today? And If I Could, Would I Like it?”

Dean Gildersleeve (center) with leaders of the various branches of Service Women at the Assembly in Honor of the Women in the Services of the United States held in Barnard Hall on November 30th, 1943. From the Barnard College Alumnae Magazine, December 1943, Vol. XXXIII No.2. Image courtesy of the Barnard College Archives.

Access
More recent issues of the Barnard Magazine are available online.
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located on-site.

Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes.  Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Barnard College Archives.  The Barnard College Archives approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Location
Barnard College Archives
Lehman Hall Room 19
3009 Broadway
New York, NY  10027