The Freel Library was built in 1970, reflecting a focus on educational development at the college as MCLA’s enrollment increased.

MCLA’s legacy is defined by the influence of the Progressive Education movement, thanks to the work of the first president of the North Adams Normal School, Frank Murdock. Murdock integrated the ideas…

Dr. Grover C. Bowman, former president of North Adams State Teachers College, was key figure in growing the college into the institution that we know today.

More changes have taken place in the Bowman building at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) than most people would expect. Its history reflects the growth of the college itself, dating…

President Catherine A. Tisinger was president of North Adams State College from 1984 to 1991. She was the first female president of North Adams State College (now MCLA) and the first female president…

The story behind the Athletic Complex at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts began years before the first game was played under the lights. It began with the need for more land, which led to the…

Mary Grant was one of MCLA’s most accomplished college presidents, despite coming in during a $3 billon statewide deficit in public services.

MCLA was formally a state normal school known as North Adams Normal School and provided school gardens used by urban and rural training schools to teach school-aged children the value of gardening and…

Each winter, in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, North Adams State College students had the opportunity to participate in the exciting Winter Carnival. Rather than letting the winter months bring…

Did you know that MCLA hockey was once competing at the Division II level? In 1975, the then North Adams State Mohawks made the leap from Division III to Division II with mixed results.