Women's rights movement

This Dickinsonian article discusses the visit and lecture given by Dr Janice Hamlet, Director of Ethnic Studies at Shippensburg University, as part of the College's celebration of Women's History Week. Her speech "centered on the role of black feminist thought in modern society." Hamlet was introduced by Dickinson Senior Liz Torpey who said "We need more of an African-American dimension in our curriculum."

Two articles on the front page of the April 16, 1992 Dickinsonian discussed the talk and reactions to the talk given in ATS by former Sports Illustrated model Ann Simonton about women, exploitation and the media.

The members of the student feminist organization, E.F.F.O.R.T. (Equality for Females: Our Rights Today), planned to hold the Second Annual Women's Party in the Drayer Lounge on Friday, April 15.  The purpose of the party was "to create more unity among women" at Dickinson. The program included a reading about the unity of women and music provided by students Lori McCreary and Melanie Lowe.  According to this Dickinsonian article, E.F.F.O.R.T. was a student group established in the Fall of 1981 by Pat Carter as "an activist group that would investigate the role of women . . .

The newly-formed Women's Group issued the "Social Opinion Survey" in the hopes of learning "the opinions of students concerning the social atmosphere, the academic situation, and housing" as well as "the relationships between the sexes." The Group claimed to be issuing the survey in conjunction with Dean Mary Francis Carson. Some examples of questions in the survey include:

All other things being equal, would you prefer your present dorm to be coed in some form?

Do you feel there is a set standard or pattern for relationships with the opposite sex at Dickinson?

In her 1979 Women as Leaders Survey sent out by Dickinson College, a graduate of 1923 remembers her days at Dickinson. When asked about the issues of the day, the alum remembers, "our topic of debate was the Equal Rights Amendment."

She goes on to recall the anger at there being two senates: a women's and a school senate run by men. To protest the issue, a group of women attended the men's senate.

This photo depicts the Sexuality Resource Group, circa 1980. The women in the photo are not identified.

In her 1909 essay "The Education of Woman in America", S. Margaret Gruber traced the history of women's education and argued that women's higher education was essential. She began her essay by discussing the history of women's education from "household drudgery" to women's higher education. She argued that women's higher education did not impare women's health but made them more vigorous. Moreover, she asserted that women who attended institutions of higher education did still marry and bear children.

In her 1911 essay "Female Suffrage," Mary Eleta Witmer analyzes the history and condition of the Suffrage movement. She argues that the American Suffrage movement has fallen short due to its association with such groups as socialists, abolitionists, and orthodox theology. Witmer closes her essay by comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the American and English Suffrage movements.

In her paper titled "The Women's Liberation Movement: It's History and It's Effects Upon the Faculty of Dickinson College" Eve M. Draeger analyzes the impact of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970 upon Dickinson Faculty. For her paper Draeger interviewed a diverse group of Dickinson Professors.

In 1994, the Equality House gained Student Senate Recognition. According to their constitution the purpose was to establish "equal opportunity for every person without regards for the indivdual's sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, and monetary or physical status... The Equality House is formed with the purpose of working for the development and preservation of the Equal Rights of every person in the Dickinson Community."