BU, Then and Now
Photographic project matches past with present-day photos
Students from the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Arts & Sciences) conducting geology experiments on Alpert Mall (the BU Beach) in May 1981.
A single photograph from May 1981 is all it took to inspire students working for BU Photography to launch an intriguing photo project they dubbed Boston University Rephotographed.
The photo, of undergrads conducting geology experiments on Alpert Mall (aka the BU Beach), was discovered during a search for an archival photo to run in the 2016 spring edition of Arts & Sciences magazine. BU Photography digital imaging manager Andy Costello was struck by how well it functioned as a time capsule. (Note the jean shorts and striped athletic socks.) He started thinking: what would a photo taken today in the same spot look like? How has BU changed over the decades? How has it remained the same?
Costello enlisted the help of students working in his department. Starting in spring 2016, Joseph Curtin (COM’17), Ellie Jordan (CAS’16), Morgan Richards (CAS’19), and Stephen Vocaturo (COM’17) began combing through thousands of negatives in the BU photo archive dating back to the 1950s, looking for images that could be re-created. After selecting two dozen photographs taken between 1968 and 1991, they scanned and edited the images, then set about finding out where each had been taken, so they could shoot the same spot as it is today. Beginning this past winter, Curtin undertook the laborious process of shooting new images that mirrored the originals as closely as possible.
Some of the new photos, as you’ll see below, capture scenes that look much the same as they did decades ago, albeit showing different fashions and hairstyles. Marsh Plaza continues to be the nexus for vigils and political rallies, and the BU Beach and the lawn in front of the College of Communication remain popular for sunbathing and Frisbee. But some of the diptychs below show how much the University has changed. Take a look. You may even catch a glimpse of yourself, a friend—or a parent.
Left: An MBTA B Line trolley seen between the Marsh Chapel archways, 1968.
Right: The same scene, April 18, 2017.
Top: An anti-Vietnam war rally on Marsh Plaza, April 15, 1970.
Bottom: The same scene, this time protesting President Trump’s Muslim travel ban, January 30, 2017.
Top: The first Earth Day was marked with a student march down Commonwealth Avenue, April 22, 1970.
Bottom: A protest against the Trump Muslim travel ban began on Marsh Plaza and continued along Comm Ave through campus, January 30, 2017.
Left: A BU student on Marsh Plaza in support of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the United Farm Workers labor strike against California grape growers, April 22, 1970.
Right: The same scene, this time with a protest against the Trump Muslim travel ban, January 30, 2017.
Top: students leaving the George Sherman Union, April 1978.
Bottom: The same scene, February 26, 2017.
Top: Two bicyclists crossing the bridge over Storrow Drive from the Esplanade to Bay State Road, September 1978.
Bottom: The same scene, April 27, 2017.
Top: Catching some sun on the COM lawn, October 1978.
Bottom: The same scene, April 9, 2017.
Top: A game of volleyball on the BU Beach, March 23, 1979.
Bottom: The same scene (with a football), April 27, 2017.
Left: Jogging on the Esplanade, with the School of Law visible in the background, April 1979.
Right: The same scene, February 23, 2017.
Top: The corner of Commonwealth Avenue and the BU Bridge, winter 1979.
Bottom: The same scene, February 14, 2017.
Left: A Comm Ave sidewalk, winter 1979.
Right: The same scene, February 14, 2017.
Left: The sidewalk outside of the College of Fine Arts, winter 1979.
Right: The same scene, February 14, 2017.
Left: Hard at work in the Ziskind Lounge, 1980.
Right: The same scene (anyone spot the difference?), April 28.
Top: Comm Ave outside of the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Arts & Sciences). At the time, this part of the building housed the School of Management (now the Questrom School of Business); note the plaque near the entrance, September 15, 1981. Bottom: The same scene, April 23, 2017.
Top: Studying in the Ziskind Lounge, October 7, 1981. Bottom: The same scene, April 23, 2017.
Top: Student demonstration in Marsh Plaza against police brutality at the previous weekend’s May Day Dance, April 26, 1982. Bottom: The same scene, a protest against the Trump Muslim travel ban, January 30, 2017.
Left: Howard Johnson’s on Comm Ave, June 1983. Right: The same scene—the 575 Comm Ave residence hall (aka HoJo dorm), the Questrom School of Business, and the Kenmore Classroom Building), April 19, 2017.
Left: A student-led raffle for United Way in the GSU Link, November 9, 1983.
Right: The same scene, with a student handing out play flyers, April 18, 2017.
Left: Reading the Daily Free Press on the steps of a GSU Link staircase, November 16, 1983.
Right: The same scene, April 18, 2017.
Top: Students in the George Sherman Union, September 14, 1984. Bottom: The same scene (with major renovations to the Union Court in 1993), April 23, 2017.
Top: The BU Beach, May 1985. Bottom: The same scene, April 9, 2017.
Left: Mugar Memorial Library, September 11, 1985. Right: The same scene, February 26, 2017.
Left: Reading under one of the arches on Marsh Plaza, February 4, 1991.
Right: The same scene, April 2, 2017.
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