The Past and Present of the Teahaus Guestbook

Images from the Teahaus guestbooks

When a Sarah Lawrence student enters the little building on the North Lawn, they are entering a home — a cozy, carpeted, herbal-scented room where students sit, sip tea, and create art. The Teahaus has been a staple of the campus since it was transformed from an office building into a community space in the mid-1980s. One long standing feature of the space is a guestbook that students fill with art and writing for future students to peruse and study. 

There are only four guestbooks held in the Sarah Lawrence archives, each from a different school year: 2000–2001, 2001–2002, 2003–2004, and 2010–2011. It is unclear whether there were any created between 2004 and 2010 or if there have been any since. This year, Teahaus manager Myles Lowrie-Otter (‘21) has reinstated the guestbook, bringing back a custom that spreads love, support, and some dynamic and thoughtful art. 

Lowrie-Otter decided to start a guestbook for the Teahaus after finding the 2001–2002 book on a tiny bookshelf at the back of the room. “I didn’t even know what this was when I first found it and thought it was so cute and funny, and so I wanted to get one for this year,” Lowrie-Otter says. “I hope that it continues to be a tradition.”

In the books, you can find a tangible record of the Sarah Lawrence student psyche through illustrated and written expressions of their thoughts and feelings. A reader can clearly make out what Sarah Lawrence culture used to be, which is not dissimilar to what it is now. “I will not let sex ruin my life,” vows one student, while another has a dilemma: “I have a crush but he’s a cokehead.” 

Some highlights are uncredited written phrases brimming with snarky personality or meditative reflection or simply amusing nuggets of thought. 

One such student remarked: “I eat peaches because I don’t like them and I want to be sure” and another wrote, “Men suck! Tea is good. Have a nice day!”

Other students write about universal themes of love and loss that many college students can relate to. For example, one student posed a philosophical question: “Is it wrong to yourself to give love but not take it in return?”

The art is varied in theme and quality. Pencil drawings of mystical beings and more abstract drawings using vibrant colors grace the pages of these books. Although the books span a period of almost twenty years, the issues that students think about remain consistent. Gender and sexuality, glitter, and an expansive appreciation for Teahaus remain common themes throughout the years.

Each student who has contributed to the guestbooks has created something both unique and timeless. 

“It really is just anything anyone wants it to be,” Lowrie-Otter says. 

The guestbook also provides students with an outlet for their voices during their time at Sarah Lawrence.

“I really like Teahaus because you can’t be invisible here,” Lowrie-Otter says. “I like that Sarah Lawrence has a space like this to counteract the somewhat isolating feeling that can come with being a college student in general, but also on this campus.”

With the new guestbook, Lowrie-Otter hopes students will contribute freely to create a time-capsule of Sarah Lawrence students now.  

“I’m excited to see how this one fills up because there really is no boundary surrounding what you can put in it,” they say. “I like that because this is a student space, we have a space for everyone to leave something if they want to.”

The guestbook serves to maintain Sarah Lawrence’s history through the perspective of the students. Seeing the culture through the eyes of the students themselves provides a rare insight into the thoughts and feelings of those students during that respective time. 

Part of the reason Lowrie-Otter promotes the guestbook tradition is because of their interest in history. 

“I love archivists and history and all sorts of historical collections,” Lowrie-Otter says. “I think preserving things is important.”

The guestbook serves as a catharsis for students who find solace in writing and art, provides a way for students to be remembered, and makes use of art as an archive of the ever-changing culture of Sarah Lawrence.

Though whether the legacy of the Teahaus guestbook will continue remains to be seen, this welcoming space has been and remains a respite on campus for students. As one student aptly wrote in the 2000–2001 guestbook: “There is never for me such a peaceful moment at Sarah Lawrence as, at five o’clock, when I sit in Teahaus drinking darjeeling and, if I’m lucky listening to Bob Dylan. Thank you.”

Zoe Stanton-Savitz, ‘23