Jim Bridgman

50 Years Ago

  • Jill K. Conway was formally inaugurated yesterday as the seventh president of Smith College. The ceremony, rich in pomp and good humor, was attended by about 2,000 people, including other college presidents, alumnae of Smith, students, city officials, and assorted politicians. Ms. Conway, who is the college’s first woman president, has been president since the retirement of Thomas C. Mendenhall in July.
  • An early morning fire damaged or destroyed most of the 12,000 reference volumes at the Neilson Library at Smith College today, but other books and the 66-year-old building were left in good condition. The floor, ceiling and walls of the Seelye Reference Room were scorched by the fire. Tables, desks, bookshelves and microfilm reading machines were destroyed in the blaze.

25 Years Ago

  • The search for a “license express” office of the Registry of Motor Vehicles moved to Easthampton today after no Northampton landlord bid for the satellite office. The quest for a home for an office where most registry business can be handled took Registrar Daniel A. Grabauskas and state Rep. Nancy Flavin, D-Easthampton, on a tour of the Eastworks building on Pleasant Street in Easthampton.
  • Saying America needs more “good and decent” young people running for elected office, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigned Wednesday for 1st Congressional District candidate Peter Abair, in Westfield and Holyoke. Despite bone-chilling rain, 200 Abair supporters and the West Springfield High School marching band greeted McCain at the Westfield Airport.

10 Years Ago

  • School Local Northampton is a campaign started by parents to encourage city families to send their children to the Northampton Public Schools. Organizers say it is a community effort to promote public schools in an era where other options, such as private and charter schools, are able to afford the publicity.
  • All Things Local, a downtown Amherst market selling locally produced food and crafts that opened November 2013, closed Sunday. The cooperative at 104 North Pleasant St. announced through a letter posted to its mailing list that the closing was due to cash-flow problems.