A Look Back, Aug. 7

50 Years Ago

■Northampton resident and world-famous author and teacher Mary Ellen Chase, 86, died last Saturday at Pine Rest Nursing Home. Miss Chase had been a member of the Smith College faculty for 29 years, until her retirement in 1955. She was the author of a number of books and a popular and respected member of the college’s English department.

■Five term City Councilor William C. Ames today announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination and for re-election to the City Council from Ward 2. A native of the city, Ames is a teacher of social studies at the Amherst Regional High School.

25 Years Ago

■A block “M” behind a script “U” has been chosen as the logo for all five campuses of the University of Massachusetts. University trustees Wednesday chose the design over the other finalist among 40 submitted — placing the “M” next to the “U.”

■The city may spend as much as $150,000 to buy a modular building to serve as second permanent site for a homeless shelter, according to the mayor’s executive assistant. Michael Kerns said that a modular building “is the direction we’re heading,” after a committee of volunteers has spent much of the spring and summer looking unsuccessfully for a building to rent.

10 Years Ago

■Republican state Sen. Michael R. Knapik will resign from his post Friday to take a job at Westfield State University, and two potential candidates have already announced they will run to replace him. Easthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik and state Rep. Donald F. Humason Jr. both said Monday that they will run in the special election.

■The Easthampton City Council is sifting through residents’ comments to help decide the future of the former Parsons Street School building, a fixture in the middle of New City since 1902. The School Department declared the property surplus because it hasn’t been used as a school since 2011.

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