Crist, Christine

In a 1990 interview, Christine Crist (Class of 1946) explains the presence of Varga Girls in a yearbook from the World War II period. Artists drew pin-up girls, and Varga girls were "a little bit more classy than Petty Girls." According to Crist, some servicement might hang a calendar of Varga Girls in their tents. The section for Varga Girls in the yearbook probably referred to campus beauties, perhaps selected by the Varga artist himself. The female students were then photographed in evening gowns for the yearbook.

Christine Crist (Class of 1946) tells about the rivalry among sororities during the World War II period. As a pledge mistress and, later, president of Chi Omega, she spent a lot of her free time planning sorority events. She organized an alumni event for the 50th anniversary of the founding of Chi Omega.

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.

In an interview, Christine Crist (Class of 1946) recounts her experience working for The Patriot News after she graduated from Dickinson College. She worked for the morning paper of The Patriot News during the summer of her junior year and, after she graduated, became the only general assignment woman on the staff not assigned to the social department. During this period, protective laws for women prevented Crist from getting reporting assignments after 10 o' clock because she could not work overtime like the men on the staff.

Christine Crist (Class of 1946) shares about female student life during World War II in a 1990 interview. Rations affected everything from food to clothing. She remembers collecting tin cans and having ration books for food and other supplies. In the Crist family, Christine's father did not acquire a new pair of shoes for the entire duration of the war, getting shoes instead for Christine's "two younger sisters with fast-growing feet." Nylons, just introduced in 1940, went off the market during World War II since the material was used in parachutes.

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.

Christine Crist (Class of 1946) reports in an interview that the Air Force cadets came to Dickinson's campus in March 1943. At this point, the 44 men and "central part of the student body had just left." The presence of the cadets wrecked havoc on campus life.

Christine Crist (Class of 1946) describes the only dances that took place at the college during the WWII period. In December, the school hosted the Doll Dance in the gym (now the Weiss Arts Center). The Doll Dance was a formal dance for which attendees would bring dolls as a donation to disadvantaged children. The men used this opportunity to "look over the...newest freshmen girls...so we all got a big rush." The Mid-Winter Ball, held in January, was the last dance the college hosted for the duration of Crist's academic career.

In an interview, Christine Crist (Class of 1946) recounts the story of a secret marriage between an "impressive senior" at Dickinson who married Soupy Campbell, a soldier in World War II, the year before her last on campus. She left school without receiving her diploma, and Crist later discovered that she was married and pregnant. Campbell died during the war. To Crist, this story "stands out as a symbol of those years."

In an interview with Christine Crist (Class of 1946), the Dickinson graduate describes life at Dickinson College when a majority of the male students left for World War II. She guesses that the ratio of men to women prior to the war was five-to-one and reports that, in 1943, "the heart of the student body was picked up." In 1945, 11 men and 41 women graduated from Dickinson College, reflecting the male-to-female ratio after the war began.