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A Founder's Perspective

Ella Smith, ABE '66

I first heard of the Harvard Extension School in the 1950s. I had just completed a program in medical technology and I lived at a women's club in Boston called the Berkeley Residence. There I met a young woman who was so enthusiastic about Extension that I decided to sit in on some of her classes. I quickly caught her enthusiasm. The professors were wonderful, and so was the staff. I learned to use my mind, to really think, for the first time.

Ella Smith, ABE '66

Harvard Yard was dark in the evenings back in the '50s and '60s, and we Extension School students saw each other mostly as shadows. We were the ships that passed in the night. But we developed lasting friendships anyway. We would gather in the local delis and coffee shops to study. Mary O'Brien, ABE '66, and I did a lot of studying together. She went on to become a librarian and freelance writer, while I became the director of the Boston Evening Medical Center at Mass General Hospital.

Few graduates remember Genevieve Welch. She was Dean Reginald Phelps's assistant and is said to have worked at Harvard from 1927 to 1972. She was my first mentor--a very understanding and knowledgeable woman. She met students' personal as well as academic needs, and all those she helped loved her. In those years, the Extension School grew and changed a great deal. But Genevieve Welch remained a constant.

I received my Bachelor of Arts in Extension Studies in 1966, along with Edgar Grossman. We made headlines in the Boston Globe that Commencement, not only because I took so many years to get my degree but also because Edgar was a well-known businessman.

Two years later, Edgar, a few others, and I approached Dean Phelps to propose the formation of an alumni association. With his blessing, the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) was born, and Edgar became its first president. This made us feel like we were really an official part of Harvard.

From the beginning, we held many successful social activities, including Holly Sunday. Each year on the first Sunday in December, we had a potluck supper in Lehman Hall. It always rained or snowed, but the turnout was excellent. Friendships and common interests flourished. We held our June banquets in the President's House on Quincy Street and in the Busch-Reisinger Museum on Kirkland Street, and we had social gatherings at the JFK Library in Boston. Some of the great organizers from the early years are still active in the HEAA: Marion Cameron, ABE '71, Catherine Minahan, ABE '71, and Ruth Leabman, AA '77, ABE '82.

A number of wonderful things happened during 1983 when I was president of the HEAA. On a sunny September day, the Grossman Library moved from Lehman Hall to the third floor of Sever Hall. The beauty of the room overwhelmed us. Also that year Dean Shinagel and Professor Mason Hammond designed the Harvard Extension School shield. Its design represents the history, character, and mission of our school, and each year at Commencement, I feel honored and proud to see our banner flying with all the other Harvard school banners.

As the newly appointed representative to the Harvard Alumni Association in this millennial year, I look forward to supporting the mission of the HEAA: "To strengthen the bonds among graduates by providing cultural, educational, and social events, and to support the students and educational programs of the Extension School." In the coming year I hope to see many new faces at our regular meetings at 51 Brattle Street, the Faculty Club, and on the Sunset Cruise down the Charles River and into Boston Harbor. The HEAA Banquet at Quincy House next year will mark the 90th birthday of the Harvard Extension School and the 25th year of Dean Michael Shinagel's leadership. Come help us celebrate.

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