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Sylvia Plath: A life in photographs: 1942-1950

Wellesley was an improvement from life in Winthrop for the Plath's. The quality of life and education were much improved in this western suburb of Boston. Plath spent a portion of each summer from 1943-1949 away at various camps. She began writing poetry and short stories too, publishing her works in school newspapers. In addition to creative writing, Plath began writing a diary. In the summer of 1950, Plath worked at a farm in nearby Dover. The next photograph gallery covers the period of 1950-1955, when Plath was an undergraduate at Smith College in Northampton.


Please contact me regarding use of the photographs on this website. No photographs may be used without my consent.


elmwood_road

Reference:
A quite suburban street off Weston Road.

26_elmwood

Reference:
Plath's primary home from 1942 to 1950.

elmwood_breezeway

Reference:
Plath set a scene of The Bell Jar in the breezeway. See Chapter 10.


phillips_junior

Reference:
Plath attended from 1944 to 1947. Now called Wellesley Middle School.

whs

Reference:
Formerly called the Gamaliel Bradford Senior High School. Plath attended from 1947 to 1950. The school is scheduled to be demolished in February 2012.

oceanic_hotel

Reference:
Plath attended a Unitarian conference here in June and July 1949.
Plath's journals and letters from this time are at the Lilly Library.

lookout_farm

Reference:
Plath worked at Lookout Farm during the summer of 1950.
See Plath's Journals, pages 10-12

lookout_farm_barn

Reference:
The barn which features prominently in Plath's Journals. See pages 10-12 specifically.

aurelia

Reference:
Aurelia Plath passed away in 1994, the same year as Wilbury Crockett.

schober

Reference:
Plath's maternal grandparents. Aurelia passed away in 1956, during Plath's first year at Cambridge. See Letters Home.