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Fall
1906

Two B&N students found The Spectator

September
1973

The Vanguard's first issue is published at the Upper School

Fall
1981

The Spark is founded at the Middle School

Winter
2007

The Point of View is founded at the Upper School as a political magazine

October
2021

The Buckingham Times is founded at the Lower School

Student Publications

BB&N has a rich culture of student-run publications, ranging across all three campuses and a wide variety of topics and styles. Some exist only for short runs, while others have continued to run for decades, but all offer a snapshot of the student experience and perspective from their particular moment in time. 

The cover of the 1974 yearbook, in navy blue and white. A large stylized 74 takes up the upper two thirds of the cover, with "The Buckingham Browne & Nichols School" printed below.
The cover of the 1992 yearbook, with a drawing of a knight on horseback in white and navy blue on a gray background. The knight is holding a banner that reads BBN.
The cover of the 2023 yearbook, with a drawing of the front doors of the Upper School done in navy blue and gold on a blue background. The school shield logo is above the drawing, and underneath to the right it reads 2023 Perspective in gold.

Above, left to right: the yearbook from 1974, 1992, and 2023.

 

The most classic example of any school's publications is the yearbook, and BB&N's yearbook, The Perspective, is one of the archives' most requested items. The first formally-printed yearbook of the school came from Browne & Nichols in 1922, and included an entire history of the school alongside photos of students and faculty. An even earlier "yearbook" from Miss Markham's School (later Buckingham) is an album of daguerrotype photos of students with their names pencilled below. The Perspective continues this history, and while it has changed over the years as yearbook trends come and go, each issue successfully reflects its graduating class's style and BB&N experience. 

The front page of an old issue of The Spectator, which looks like a newspaper. The headline reads "Our Frailest Classic".
The cover of the Spring 1993 Spectator, with the title and date written in yellow text over a black and white photo of a tree leaning over a river.
The cover of the Spring 2017 Spectator, with white text set in front of a photo of colorful houses along a canal, in which rowboats are docked.

Above, left to right: The Spectator Volume 1, Number 2, published December 1906; The Spectator, Spring 1993 issue; The Spectator, Spring 2017 issue.

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BB&N's oldest extant student publication is The Spectator, which was first founded in 1906 by Browne & Nichols students Bronson M. West and Joaquin Bouve Souther, both Class of 1908. The periodical was a student newspaper for the first 50 years of its existence; in 1959, a new student paper titled The B&N News was published and The Spectator shifted from being a newspaper to being a literary and arts magazine. The Spectator publishes prose, poetry, plays, drawings, paintings, mixed-media, photography, ceramics, woodworking, composition, and performance pieces. Today, the magazine produces 2-3 issues every school year, typically distributing toward the end of each trimester. Some back issues can be found in their website here. 

The cover of the first issue of the Go-Between. Headlines read "New SFC meets twice, plans town meeting", "Bangladesh", and "Dance Performance".

In the years leading up to the merger, the staff of The B&N News at Browne & Nichols and The Crown at Buckingham came together to publish The Go-Between. The first issue was published in April 1972, and the paper continued until its last issue came in May 1973. 

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In September 1973, the staff of The Go-Between published the first issue of a new paper, which they titled The Vanguard. 

Above: The Go-Between Volume 1, Number 1, April 1972.

 

Right: The Vanguard Volume 2, Number 3, May 1974.

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Today, The Vanguard's mission is "to examine and engage the school community by providing news and information about events affecting it and by featuring the diverse range of people and perspectives that comprise it. We strive for fairness and accuracy in our content, and we strive to present that content with integrity and respect." The paper has won a number of national awards over the decades, and publishes 8 issues each year.

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In honor of The Vanguard celebrating 50 years this past fall, student Liam Deighton '24 recorded an episode of The Bard podcast about the paper's history, available here. Current issues of The Vanguard are also available on their website here. 

The cover of the Mary 1974 issue of The Vanguard. Headlines read "BB&N to Hold First Joint Antique Show", "Yearbook Positions Change Hands", "Circus Draws Leisurely Crowd", "Glee Clubs to Give Joint Performance This Weekend", and "Outing Club Plans Spring Trips".
The cover of the first issue of the Point of View. A negative image of the Capitol dome is printed in white on black, with the title "The POV" written above in white, black, and red. The cover page headline reads "The BB&N Political Survey" and "An Interview with Mike Capuano".

In addition to arts, literature, and news, BB&N Upper School students also publish a political opinion magazine. The Point of View was first published in Winter 2007, and continues to print issues several times each academic year. 

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Before The Point of View, two other short-run political periodicals were published: The Review from 1994-1995, and The Independent in 1996. 

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Current and back issues of The Point of View are available on their website here. 

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Right: the first issue of The Point of View, published in 2007. 

In the last decade, three new student periodicals have emerged at the Upper School. The first one is CHASM, which is an acronym for "Current Happenings Across STEM". First published in 2017, the well-researched magazine covers news and topics across STEM fields, and is published in Fall, Winter, and Spring issues. 

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Current and back issues of CHASM can be found on their website here. 

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Right: the second issue of CHASM, published in the Fall of 2017.

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Below: the first issue of Society, published digitally in 2020. 

The cover of the second issue of CHASM. The periodical title is written in periodic table style element squares at the top, and the cover page story is "The Fermi Paradox" by Trevor Khanna. The cover illustration is a tiny planet Earth with a speech bubble saying "Hello?", alone in the middle of vast space with belts of stars.
The cover of the first issue of Society, with a red background. In the center is a black and white drawing of two people hand in hand approaching a barbed wire fence, with the Statue of Liberty rising above the barrier. The cover stories listed are "Chinese-American: Stuck in the Limbo", "A Civil War: The Syrian Crisis", and "Similarities in Communication".

The other new student publication is Society, which was first published in digital format in Winter 2020. The founding staff of Society described the magazine as such: "To not only celebrate their identities, but also raise awareness among the BB&N community, many students and faculty members from BIPOC groups contributed to the making of this magazine. The writers of the magazine self-identify as Black/African American, Asian American, Hispanic, White Latina, and Middle Eastern. The collection contains a variety of styles from personal narratives to opinion pieces to poems, covering a wide selection of topics from pop culture to current events to history."

Also published for the first time in 2020, The Benchwarmer was founded by Jayden Personnat ’21 and Gerson Personnat ’21. The Benchwarmer is a student periodical covering sports topics, both at BB&N and internationally, and includes both news and opinions. The paper is available online here. 

A screenshot of the title of The Benchwarmer, written in navy blue Gothic font on a white background. Below the title in Times New Roman font reads "BB&N Sports Magazine, April 16, 2020".
The cover of a 1985 issue of Sparks, with the title and date written in Gothic font on a cream background. A student illustration is printed above the title.
The December 2010 cover of The Spark, with various drawings below the title, including leaves, an eye, music notes, and a computer screen reading "WWII". The cover advertises "Rube Goldberg Day" and asks "What do YOU think of the Spark?"
A color cover of The Spark, showing hands releasing balloons into the sky. Each balloon has writing on it reflecting student feelings about the Covid pandemic.

Above, left to right: Sparks, 1985; The Spark, December 2010; The Spark, November 2020.

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The Middle School has had many periodicals over the years, with the most prominent among them being The Spark. Started in 1981 and still running today, The Spark includes school news, current events, science news, editorials, comics, games and puzzles, and a podcast; additionally, The Victorian is an arts and literary supplement published within The Spark which includes poetry, prose, and artwork made by BB&N Middle School students. Current and back issues of The Spark can be found online here. 

The cover of the first issue of The Mouthguard, dated October 2014. The headlines include "Chess Team Recruits Not Living Up To Promise", "Hockey Table Voted Second Most Approachable", and "Honesty? Scholarship? and Kindness?"

In addition to The Spark, the Middle School has had a number of periodicals over the years. One of the most recent ones is The Mouthguard, which was a satirical newspaper first published in October 2014 and running through 2018. In their own words: "The Mouthguard is not the official newspaper for the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. This paper is mostly satirical and fictitious. The Mouthguard reserves the right to say anything (that gets approved) about anyone (who is okay with it) for any reason (kinda)."

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Left: The Mouthguard Volume I, Issue I, October 2014.

The cover page of the first issue of the BB&N Broadcaster. Instead of a title, the header is a series of question marks, and the headlines below read "BB&N Middle School To Publish Newspaper" and "Name the Newspaper Contest, Prize Awarded to Winner".

Right: the first issue of The BB&N Broadcaster, October 1976, featuring a "name the newspaper" competition.

 

This exhibition would be remiss without celebrating the numerous short-run Middle School publications that have appeared throughout the years, all of which offer unique student perspectives. The first of these was The BB&N Broadcaster, which ran from 1976-1978. The Broadcaster was followed by The Paper (1979-1982), The BB&N Trumpet (1978-1980), The Literary & Arts Magazine (1980-1986), The BB&N Observer (1981-1982), The Repaired Reporter (1982-1983), and The Late Arrival (1983-1984). 

The front page of an issue of the BB&N Observer, with eyes drawn in the middle of the title O.
The front page of an issue of The Paper, with the title written in bubble letters.
The front page of an issue of The Literary Magazine, with floral decorations printed on yellow paper.

Above, left to right: The Observer, 1981; The Paper, 1981; Literary & Arts Magazine, 1982.

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Below, left to right: The Trumpet; its antithesis The French Horn; The Late Arrival, 1983. 

The front page of an issue of the BB&N Trumpet, with most of the cover taken up by an illustration of a hand holding and playing a trumpet, and the title written beneath the trumpet as though coming out from the instrument.
The cover of an issue of The French Horn, with a pen drawing of a French Horn seen from the side on the cover. The title is written to be emerging from the instrument. Above the illustration is text that reads "An opposition newspaper in which we will do our best to disagree with The Trumpet."
The cover of an issue of The Late Arrival, with the tagline "Oh yes, it's here at last... the paper you've all been waiting for..."
The cover of an issue of the Buckingham Times, dated October 2021. The headlines on the cover read "Why A Newspaper?" and "Farewell Ms. P, We Will Miss You".

The newest student publication to be published at BB&N is The Buckingham Times, which covers various topics about BB&N and beyond. The first issue of the paper describes its purpose and origins: "The 5th Grade Journal [...] Started in summer of 2020 by Malik Shadid, Anna Gross-Loh, and Christian Chow, this student-run newspaper has since taken on the writing of many sixth graders - and adopted quite a few names along the way as well. The purpose of this newspaper is to provide good information and an enjoyable read to anyone in the BB&N Lower School community interested in knowing what’s new on campus. From Beginners to 6th grade and everyone in between, this paper will have various activities
and drawings, recipes, school updates and current events news for anybody, regardless of age, grade, or reading ability. From our campus, to the school, to the city and the world beyond, we will have material on everything."

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Left: the first issue of The Buckingham Times, October 2021.

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