Residence halls

Jane Myers Sellers (Class of 1955) describes in an interview how women achieved the effect of soft waves, a hairstyle popular during the 1950s. She reports that female students used pin curls with bobby pins and slept on them every night. Sellers explains that it was "terribly uncomfortable" and that "before you went to bed, no matter how late you stayed up studying, you would have to do those pin curls." According to Sellers, female students did not want the men in the dormitories during panty raids because they did not want the men to see them in pin curls.

Jane Myers Sellers (Class of 1955) describes in an interview the relationship male and female students had at Dickinson during the 1950s. She reports that there were panty raids, water fights, and serenading. During these so-called "panty raids," men would invade the women's dormitories and steal panties.

In remembrance of Reverend J. R. Lloyd, Mary R. Burton donated $5,000 to Dickinson College in 1905. Burton requested that a portion of her donation go to the establishment of the first women's dormitory at Dickinson College. Moreover, she asked that the dormitory be named in honor of Reverend Lloyd.

Nancy Watkins Lucas reports in an interview that female students corresponded with soliders and sailors during the World War II period. Lucas, who smoked at the time, recalls that cigarettes were difficult to obtain. In fact, the brand Lucky Strike Green, whose cigarette packaging was green, started a campaign during the war, "Lucky Strike Green - Gone to War." Lucas claims that "the servicemen could always get you cigarettes." Lucas dated a sailor who brought her cigarettes during the war.

In an interview, Helen Alexander Bachman (Class of 1946) claims that a majority of the students belonged to a sorority, fraternity, or other organization on campus. Bachman estimates that 99 percent of female students belonged to one of the four sororities. The fraternities owned houses while sorority women had apartments in Carlisle. Fraternities "dried up" during the war due to the absence of men. Sororities, however, had meetings, social functions, bridge parties, suppers, and community service events.

In an interview with Helen Alexander Bachman (Class of 1946), the Dickinson alumnus describes the rules for student conduct and dress codes during the World War II period. Dean Josephine Meredith supervised the women, requiring them to sign in and out of their dorms, to act in a lady-like manner, and to avoid drinking. Moreover, female students needed to receive signed permission from parents if they wanted to visit home for the weekend. Bachman explains that these rules "existed to protect the girls...." Dress codes for the female students were strict; they coudl not wear slacks.

In an interview, Christine Crist (Class of 1946) recalls the "big revolution" the students organized in December 1945. Although Dean Josephine Meredith had appointed Crist as a student government representative when she arrived on campus, Crist eventually became dissatisfied with the rules that the Dean of Women imposed on the female students and the "ridiculous authoritarianism that crept in" to the administration.

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.