March 7, 1969

The theme of the annual Soph-Frosh weekend, “Soulful Strut,” was exemplified by its highlight, a concert in the Chapel by singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone. The weekend, according to its planner Claudia Thomas ’71 one of “Black and blues,” also featured a “Stoned Soul Picnic” and a black nightclub group. Ms. Simone, said The Miscellany News, used “her voice as a versatile instrument to se the mood of a concert and alternately to sooth and lash the audience until they loosen up to feel the beauty and the protest of the music. She sings racial protest songs—not of hate, but of justice, freedom and pain.”

The Vassar concert was Nina Simone’s last in this country before leaving on her sixth European tour during which she performed in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London before appearing in Munich and Paris.