A Century of Skidmore College

Celebrating 100 years of Skidmore College

A century ago — on May 25, 1922 — the New York State Board of Regents officially recognized the collegiate status of the Skidmore School of Arts, which had been chartered in 1911, prompting immediate jubilation and celebration on Skidmore’s small campus in downtown Saratoga Springs. Two weeks later, on June 8, 1922, the new Skidmore College issued its first degrees: 27 baccalaureate and seven three-year degrees. Over the past century, Skidmore has continued to grow — from the modest but forward-looking Young Women’s Industrial Club founded by Lucy Skidmore Scribner in 1903 to the dynamic, globally oriented institution of higher learning whose graduates now lead and serve in organizations of every kind around the world. As we mark the centennial of Skidmore College during the 2022-23 academic year, we commemorate a century of creativity and innovation — a transformative vision for a liberal arts education reimagined by each generation to cultivate both “mind and hand.”

Pictured: Fine arts major Virginia “Ginny” Vought Walters ’36 (1914-1996) presents her terra cotta design of the Skidmore College seal in 1936. Photo by Henry B. Settle, George S. Bolster Photograph Collection