Drayer Hall was the first residence hall in Dickinson’s history built by the college solely for women. This photo depicts three women studying in a Drayer Hall dorm room, c. 1950. The names of the women are not known. If you recognize someone in the photo, feel free to post the information below.

Drayer Hall was the first residence hall in Dickinson’s history built by the college solely for women. This photo depicts two women studying in a Drayer Hall dorm room,
c. 1950. The names of the women are not known. If you recognize someone
in the photo, feel free to post the information below.

The Women's Group drafted a proposal for the hiring of a gynecologist "to serve in the Health Center at least once a week." They sent it to President Howard L. Rubendall for action by the college administration. The Women's Group ascertained from the 39 percent response they received from their questionnaires that 40 percent of the women surveyed currently used birth control and 28 percent had used the Family Planning Clinics in Carlisle or Harrisburg.

President of the College Howard L. Rubendall responded to Samuel W. Witwer's letter in regards to the Social Opinion Survey of the Women's Group. He assures Witwer that Dean of Women Mary F. Carson had nothing to do with the survey and was offended by it. He adds that the Women's Group is not part of the mainstream or the sorority group at Dickinson College and was considered by peers to be "stupid and ridiculous." The president also tells the story of a Commencement speaker who inquired after the presence of the Women's Liberation Movement on campus.

The president of the Board of Trustees, Samuel W. Witwer, wrote to the president of the College, Howard L. Rubendall, in regards to the Women's Group "Social Opinion Survey." Witwer had heard complaints about the survey but had ignored them until he received a copy of the questionnaire. He referred to the survey as "cheap, tawdry, ill mannered, and bad taste [sic]." He suggests that members of the Women's Group "must be totally preoccupied with matters of sex." He insists that the College does not permit a wide variety of sexual conduct.

In 1957 Phi Mu maintained an active schedule of philanthropic and social activities.  Members visited the United Brethren Children's Home in Carlisle every week, and often held parties or took the children on outings.  They also continued to maintain their toy cart at the Carlisle Hospital.  Social and sisterhood activities included cocktail parties with fraternities,  traditional formals and teas, and two retreats to Camp Shand.

According to Metzger Hall government document, women were punished with a Saturday afternoon campus (students were forced to remain in a room without callers from 1:30pm to 5pm) for violating quiet and study hours. Violations included, boisterousness, banging doors, whistling, washing, baths, hair drying, and ironing.

In the 1957 edition of the Microcosm, a new local sorority, Sui Generis, made an appearance.  According to the entry, Sui Generis was officially founded on Decemeber 15, 1956 with the goals of forming bonds of loyalty, friendship, and participation.  However, the organization had been on campus for some time before this.  In 1957, plans were still in the works for a constitution, which would give Sui Generis official representation on campus, as well as permanent meeting rooms.  The members' activities in 1957 included providing donations to the campus chest drive and sponsoring a needy chi

According to memo on the Social Situation for the Guidance of Women in 1943, women were required to adhere to the following recommendation, "it will wise for all young American women to pay strict attention to formal manners at the table." Available at Denny were books on formal manners, which were "valuable for guidance."

Upon her arrival at Dickinson College in 1886, Elizabeth Low was shocked to find that no housing arrangements had been made for female students. Unlike their male counterparts, early female Dickinsonians were not permitted to live in dorms on campus. Moreover, the school had not found housing in town for the young women.

During the summer of 1886, Elizabeth A. Low's family decided to send her to Dickinson College. Low wrote, "The visit of Dr. MacCauley [sic] to my home in the summer of 1886 may have influenced my father to send me to Dickinson. I was away at the time and did not meet him." Low pursued an education at Dickinson College, graduating in 1891.

• Anna Margaret Pearson, class of 1920, married William Brubaker, Jr. on September 18, 1926. The wedding took place in Oklahoma City.

• Amy L. Brobst, class of 1920, married Ernest C. Douglaass in New York City. They took a honey-moon cruise to Bermuda, but made their home in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

• Florence D. Baker, class of 1917, married Paul Loomis Hutchinson (Dickinson graduate of 1918) on July 15, 1926.

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.

As the year of 1925-1926 came to an end, most of the women on the Co-Ed Varsity squad graduated. There were only two women left: Jessie Poticher and Leona Barkalow. Their positions in the team were forwards. The rest of the team for that year would consist mostly of underclasswomen.

Coach Jeanette R. Packard, Director of Physical Education for women at the College, remained positive about the season, for as many as 35 girls expressed interest and attended tryouts.

A member of the Women's Group published two lists of questions as well as an introductory statement for these questions. The questions emerged from the author's involvement with the Women's Group and human groups. The author explains that the questions "constitute a facilitating tool which draws on the fields of group dynamics...and clinical psychology." She encourages members of the group to take their time answering the questions and to work in pairs.

Examples of questions include:

What skills do I bring to the group?

President Howard L. Rubendall responds to Vincent Schafmeister's second letter of March 23 on behalf of Mary Frances Carson. Rubendall does not specifically cite the Social Opinion Survey or the Women's Group in his response, instead writing that Schafmeister's choice to inform the President of the Board of Trustees about his concerns was "most appropriate."

On a sheet with "So we can find each other" across the top, the Women's Group lists what we can assume to be its membership roster and the locations and mail box numbers of each member.

The Office of Student Services published a list of members of the Women's Group for the 1971-72 Academic Year. These women included: Melissa Maholick, Debby Marcus, Barbara Levering, Kathy Jaquith, Beverly Burns, Cindy Hawley, Joan Eltonhead, Millie Harden, Donna J. Young, Kerry Kushinka, Rita Donegan, Abby Adams, Jane Holloway, Linda Keppel, Sharon Jenkins, and Ann Reinberger. It also listed the contact information for these women.

In his response to Dean of Women Mary Watson Carson, Alumni Trustee Vincent Schafmeister says of the Social Opinion Survey of the Women's Group, "sort of shakes up an old, stuffy conservative such as I." He declines the dean's offer to put him into contact with members of the group in order to determine their objectives, saying he is more interested in the role of the Office of Student Services in encouraging this organization. He references the "frightful negatives" and the suffering of the college as consequences of this kind of encouragement.

Responding to Vincent Schafmeister's request for a clearer copy of the Social Opinion Survey distributed by the Women's Group, Dean of Women Mary Watson Carson procures a copy from the Women's Group and encloses it in her letter to Schafmeister.