Description
The official commemoration page for the 175th anniversary of the Classics Department at Queen's University. In 2016 and 2017 Queen's University and its Department of Classics will be officially celebrating their 175th anniversaries. Classics will be using this page to commemorate the achievements of the Queen's Classics Department and our alumni. Did you know that the 1st professor hired for Queen's (Peter Colin Campbell) taught classical literature or that he constituted the entire Arts Faculty when Queen's opened in 1842? Did you know that Queen’s 1st major benefactor (Robert Sutherland) graduated from Queen's with Honours in Classics and Math? Did you know that one of the first two women in Ontario to receive a university degree graduated with Queen's gold medal for Classics (Eliza Fitzgerald)? Or that Classics hired one of the first two female professors at Queen's (Mary L. MacDonnell)? Or that Queen's first Principal who was not a clergyman was a classical scholar (William Hamilton Fyfe)? These are but a few of the many stories we will be telling on this page. Queen's Classics Department is 175 years old and going strong. Follow us to learn more about our rich past and suggest your own memories, photos, and stories for positing here via our dedicated email: classics175@queensu.ca.
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RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS
facebook.comGuinness World Record Attempt
Today Queen's will attempt to get into the record books with the largest group of people forming a letter -- a Queen's "Q". Join the fun if you are in Kingston: https://www.facebook.com/events/154682154969601/
Classics Department Student Council
Classics students are getting psyched up for a new year!
Queen's University on Twitter
With great pride Queen's Classics welcomes in a new first year class for the amazing 175th time today!! We're delighted to see all the new students and their families on campus today! Hope to see many of you in our classes and at our 175th anniversary events! #queensu2020 #queensu175. https://twitter.com/queensu/status/772404073391726592
Timeline Photos
As this year's students begin to move in, it's interesting to think about where the students lived in Queen's early years. From 1841–1844 Kingston was the capital of Canada and affordable rental accommodations in the city were extremely difficult to obtain. Classics' first professor, Peter Colin Campbell, stepped up to offer students space in his own home. This newspaper ad from the August 23, 1843 issue of the Chronicle & Gazette states that Campbell had some spaces available to students of both Queen's College and Queen's College School (our Preparatory Establishment). Kudos to Professor Campbell for helping out our students!
Vintage Kingston
A Queen's welcoming committee from more than 50 years ago...soon after we'd celebrated our 125th anniversary!
Timeline Photos
Sorry dogs! We didn't post anything for National Dog Day on Friday! Here, belatedly, is an image of Dr. Cummings' dog considering some Augustine.
Queen’s Classics at 175 Reception | Queen’s Alumni
Are you coming to Homecoming 2016? The Classics Department is hosting two concurrent events on Saturday, October 15 from 9:45-11:45. The first is our Queen's Classics at 175 Reception in Watson 517 (http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/homecoming/homecoming-events/2016-10-15/queens-classics-at-175-reception). The second event, Classical Archaeology at Queen's, will be held in Watson 542 and will showcase many of the current and past archaeological projects carried out by our faculty, students, and alumni (http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/homecoming/homecoming-events/2016-10-15/classical-archaeology-at-queens). The Classical Archaeology event is being held on International Archaeology Day and will be open to the general public. For more information on these and other 2016 Homecoming events, see the Alumni website (http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/homecoming/homecoming-events). When you register there, please indicate also your interest in attending our events. #queenshomecoming #queensu175
W.D. Jordan Library on Twitter
Today many Classics faculty and students employ 3D imaging techniques to see artifacts and sites in greater detail. In the mid 19th and early 20th centuries 3D images were being created for the same reason. Queen's Special Collections Library has a large collection of stereo cards -- pairs of images which, when inserted into a stereoscope, allow the subject to be viewed in 3D. This early image from Queen's campus shows Classics' home from 1880 to 1903: https://mobile.twitter.com/jordan_library/status/766721134675001344
Queen's Classics at 175
From the 1880's until the early 1900's, Classics' home -- along with the rest of Arts and Science's -- was in the building now known as Theological Hall. In those days the ornate Norman Romanesque structure was known as "The College". It's name changed to "The Old Arts Building" in 1903, when what is now Kingston Hall was built as "The New Arts Building". It's only in 1912 that its name changed to "Theological Hall" when it became the home for Queen's Theological College. For more information on Theological Hall, see its entry in the Queen's Encyclopedia: http://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/t/theological-hall.
Photos from Queen's Classics at 175's post
In follow-up to our last post about the memorial for Eric and Viola Smethurst, here is a photo of the Smethursts on the occasion of Dr. Smethurst's 65th birthday in January 1980. The second photo (from the same party) shows (L-R) Dr. Margaret Reesor, Dr. Smethurst, Dr. Peter Burnell, Dr. Tony Marshall, and Viola Smethurst. The final photo shows Dr. Smethurst, just prior to his retirement, about to mark his very last bundle of exams. Thanks very much to Audrey (Steinpatz) Hunt for sharing all these photos with us!
Timeline Photos
As Kingston receives some much needed rain today, all the trees and plants must be breathing a sigh of relief. Among those benefitting from the rain is the tree dedicated to Dr. Eric Smethurst and his wife Viola by their colleagues in Classics. Dr. Smethurst taught in the Classics Department from 1947 to 1980 and was Head of the department from 1961. During that time the Smethursts had a profound impact on our department. After they passed away, their colleagues (including the three shown here - Drs. Ross Kilpatrick, Dietmar Hagel, and Richard Hope Simpson) arranged for this memorial tree to be planted in Breakwater Park. Over the years Classics colleagues have regularly helped the tree along with donations of water on hot summer days.
Underwater Archaeologist Jonathan Moore, Artsci'91 | Queen’s Alumni
Queen's Classics grad Jonathan Moore is an underwater archaeologist with Parks Canada and part of the team that discovered the Franklin Expedition ship, HMS Erebus, in 2014. A few years ago Queen's Alumni did an interesting interview with Mr. Moore about his undergrad days at Queen's and the beginning of his career: http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/news/underwater-archaeologist-jonathan-moore-artsci91
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