A Look Back, May 13

50 Years Ago

■The Honorable Shirley Chisholm, Democratic Congresswoman from the 12th Congressional District in New York, will be the speaker at Smith College’s 97th commencement June 1. Mrs. Chisholm will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the exercises.

■The back-to-the-land trend of gathering wild greens and cooking them for food may really lead back to the land for some people, sooner than they expected, if false hellebore is what they gather. Local conservationists are warning that false hellebore, which many local people mistakenly believe is skunk cabbage, is poisonous and could be fatal if eaten.

25 Years Ago

■By bicycle, inline skates, skateboard or feet, students plan to travel circles around Look Park Saturday in an aerobic fundraiser for new Bridge Street School playground equipment. The current structure will be replaced at a cost of $45,000 by parents and community members.

■The tuition at the private Solomon Schechter Day School will drop by $2,500 this fall, thanks to a grant from a Longmeadow philanthropist interested in expanding Jewish education. The benefactor is Harold Grinspoon, a retired real-estate magnate who will donate $3.5 million to a wide range of secular and religious causes this year.

10 Years Ago

■After a spirited debate, voters at Hatfield Town Meeting on Tuesday authorized an additional $92,000 for demolishing the Center School, while a citizen petition to spare the abandoned building from the wrecking ball failed to get a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

■Northampton has made it onto a number of lists, recognized by various publications as a top-rated community for the arts, families, historic preservation, outdoor activities, as a best place to retire, and more. Paradise City is now in the running for Outside Magazine’s Best Towns 2015.