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:
Elmwood Road, Wellesley, Massachusetts. A quite suburban street off Weston Road.

26_elmwood
Reference:
26 Elmwood Road, Wellesley, Massachusetts. 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. Newspaper reports during her first suicide attempt in on 24 August 1953 state she was found beneath the porch/breezeway.

phillips_junior
Reference:
Alice L. Phillips Junior High School, 324 Washington Street, Wellesley. Plath attended from 1944 to 1947. Now an apartment building.

whs
Reference:
Wellesley High School. Formerly called the Gamaliel Bradford Senior High School. Plath attended from 1947 to 1950. The school was demolished in February 2012.

oceanic_hotel
Reference:
Oceanic Hotel, Star Island, New Hampshire. Plath attended a Unitarian conference here in June and July 1949.
Plath's journals from this time are at the Lilly Library.

lookout_farm
Reference:
Lookout Farm, South Natick, Massachusetts. 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:
Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley, Massachusetts. A grave marker for Aurelia Plath, who passed away on 11 March 1994.

schober
Reference:
Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley, Massachusetts. The graves for Frank and Aurelia Schober, Plath's maternal grandparents. Aurelia passed away in 1956, during Plath's first year at Newnham College, Cambridge. See Letters Home.