Vassar Yesterday

Vassar Yesterday

By Thomas Hopkins

 The gentleman standing here on the landing of the stairs of New England building, according to the notes we have for this photograph, is “John Hennessy, amateur archaeologist of Poughkeepsie.” Are he and his three companions analyzing the heel of an ancient shoe? Apparently not; Mr. Hennessy, the note continues, is “showing an Indian axe head found in the vicinity to three Vassar students who will participate in the excavation in the Hudson Valley this summer.” His fellow archaeology enthusiasts are Louette Steeves Per-Lee ’39, Martha Getty Wallender ’41, and Eleanor Livingston ’41. Unfortunately, we don’t have a date for the photograph, but logically, the summer excavation must have been in either 1938 or 1939. (Vassar’s natural history collection — which dates back to the founding of the college — was housed in New England from 1918 until the late seventies.) Where in the Hudson Valley were these intrepid young scientists heading? And what did they find there? If you happen to know, please drop us a line.T.H.