Classes

A Series of Early Women's Physical Education Photographs, circa 1888

Date
circa 1888

This series of five photographs depicts early female Dickinsonians in a physical education class. The women use various forms of equipment in the photos. The photo pictured on this page lists the names of the women and it appears that the same women are in each image.

Chemistry Lecture, 1892

Date
1892

This photo depicts a Chemistry Lecture in 1892 in which female students are seated together in the back of the room. The women in the photo are identified as Miss Mapes, Miss Humerich, and Miss Spencer.

Women's Group Questionnaire - the Aftermath

Date
August 21, 1972

Paul E. Kaylor reported his meeting with Dean Mary Carson regarding the Women's Group Social Opinion Survey in a memorandum to President Howard L. Rubendall. Kaylor gives the background of the Women's Group, stating that students "not normally in the 'mainstream' of campus life" formed it the previous year. As a student organization, the group does not fall under rigid administrative control, though, according to Kaylor, the administration had been working to channel the group's efforts.

Professor Eddy never flunks a girl

Date
December 15, 1989

Wilma B. Prescott (Class of 1945) recalls in an interview that Professor Milton Walker Eddy of the Biology Department never flunked a female student in his class. Prescott refers to the professor as a legend and claims that he was called by the attorney to solve cases by using strands of hair. According to Prescott, Professor Eddy "felt sorry for those girls who had to take it [the required course] and weren't, did not have that bent."

Changes on campus when men leave for World War II

Date
Fall 1990

Helen Alexander Bachman (Class of 1946) describes in an interview the changes that occurred at Dickinson when World War II began. Among these changes were the reduction in class size and the shift in academic calendar. Before men began leaving the college for the war, courses were divided into two parts, one during the first semester and one during the second semester. During the war period, students took semester-long courses in order to cater to students who might be drafted into the military.

Dean Meredith kept heavy hand on female student behavior...

Date
Fall 1990

Christine Crist (Class of 1946) describes the heavy-handedness of Dean Josephine Brunyate Meredith when the cadets arrived on campus. Although Crist remembers a date with a cadet from Texas, she says that the dean did not tolerate such fraternizing. The female students received an earlier curfew when the cadets arrived.