One moment, it can feel like we’re locked into endless winter. Then, shazam!, we’re enveloped in a campus cocoon of color and light.

In this installment of Then and Now, take an interactive look at images of familiar Bates places in winters recent and historic, paired with images taken in recent weeks.

Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image.


Steady Gate

The Class of 1929 Gate is a welcoming entrance to the Historic Quad, whether on the snowy afternoon of Nov. 26, 2014, or on the colorful afternoon of Oct. 22, 2019.


Arch Look

Beneath an arch, Alumni Gym’s twin doors offer a splash of garnet on the first day of 2017. By Oct. 30, 2019, the walkway has become a cathedral of color.


No Leaf Left Behind

Following a light snowfall on the Monday of Thanksgiving week 2014, a swamp white oak (left) still clung to its leaves. Five years later, on Oct. 21, 2019, the oak is taller, and its leaves were keeping their green.


Welcome to the Walk

Many paths lead to Alumni Walk, such as this one between Hedge Hall (left) and Dana Chemistry Hall, whether on Feb. 24, 2019, or on Oct. 21, 2019.


Blizzard Then Benign

Bates photographer Phyllis Graber Jensen braved the East Coast blizzard of Jan. 4, 2018, to capture a scene of high wind and blowing snow behind Hedge Hall on Alumni Walk. The scene was much quieter on Oct. 21, 2019.


Snow Fall

Clinging to trees and the Gomes Chapel roof and towers, snow arrived during the fall last year, as the wintry photograph from Nov. 21 shows. The scene on Oct. 30 was more colorful.


Around and Around

Whether you’re strolling (April 10, 2019, after a light snowfall) or on a run (on Oct. 22, 2019), Lake Andrews’ Burgoyne Walk is the place to be.


Pillars of Campus

Feb. 8, 2013, was just the start of the historic “Nemo” snowstorm that dumped 25.5 inches of snow on campus. On Oct. 16, 2019, the familiar Hathorn Hall pillars frame a different campus scene.


Les Neiges D’Antan

The wintry view of Hathorn Hall was likely taken between 1926 and 1950. During that span, Hedge Hall, seen in the far distance at right, had a one-story addition that’s visible in the photograph. In 1950, Bates added another two stories to the addition, giving Hedge its present-day look.

Many years later, on a warm Oct. 21, the path to Hathorn is a busy student thoroughfare between the Historic Quad and residences on College and Frye streets.


Coram Contrast

This snowy scene in front of Coram Library on Dec. 30, 2016, shows another swamp white oak, notorious (depending on your lawn-cleanup perspective) for holding its leaves late into the fall, and again on Oct. 21, 2019.


Roger That

Since its dedication as a home for bygone Cobb Divinity School on Sept. 10, 1895, Roger Williams Hall has seen 45,341 days go by, including a chilly Jan. 4, 2017, and a mild Oct. 16, 2019.

When the divinity school closed in 1908, it became a student residence and administrative offices. Now renovated and expanded, it was rededicated as a home for language study in October 2011.