Firsts

This advertisement in the March 1, 1984 edition of the Dickinsonian
announces the grand opening of the student run Women's Center at
Dickinson with speakers Jo Banks and Ellen Rosenman on March 5th, as
well as a reading of original poetry by Sonia Sanchez at the Center on March 7th.

In an article published in the Dickinsonian in March 1984, Daphne
Moritz reports on the grand opening of the Women's Center and the
discussion of Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" given at the event
by Professor Ellen Rosenman and Jo Banks.

In 1972 on October 5, 6 and 8, Dickinson held a seminar on women in
coordination with the Bicentennial Homecoming the same weekend.  The
seminar was "designed to examine the political, educational, legal, and
social conditions in our society which sometimes tend to reduce women's
participation as full partners with men in many aspects of life."  It was the first seminar on women ever held at Dickinson
and included a play by the Mermaid Players, speeches, workshops and
exhibits.  C. Delores Tucker, Secretary of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, was the major speaker. 

Dickinson Magazine reports the creation and opening of Hurrah for Coeducation!, an exhibit in Dickinson's Archives & Special Collections chronicling and celebrating the 125th anniversary of women studying at the college.  In the summer of 2009 interns Allyson Glazier, Cassidy Dermott, Alli Schell - all of the class of 2011 - teamed up under the guidance of special collections librarian Malinda Triller to compile artifacts of many types relating to the history of women at Dickinson.  The exhibit displayed photographs, letters, maps, and various other artifacts organized in cases

Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool '75 becomes the "first openly lesbian bishop to be elcted by the Episcopal Church."

Katherine Smith Carpenter, of the class of 1925, was elected president of the Lycoming County Law Association.  After waiting for her three children to go to school, Carpenter went to Dickinson School of Law and graduated in 1937.  She, her husband, and her children all live in Jersey Shore, PA, and her husband, Clyde Carpenter, is also a lawyer.  In addition to household duties and her law career, Carpenter is president of the Lycoming County Girl Scout Council, and does much welfare work in her region.  She is also a grandmother.

 

Dickinson's first female graduate, Zatae Longsdorff, class of 1887, was commemorated by an alcove and plaque in Rector Science Complex.  The plaque was unveiled March 9th, 2010.

Mrs. Helen Douglass Gallagher, of the class of 1926, becomes the first female Dickinson alumna to become a member of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Letty M. Russell, of Yale Divinity School, writes to Chaplain Mary Anne Morefield about arrangements for Baccalaureate.  Dr. Russell will be the first woman speaker at Baccalaureate.  Her sermon title is "Nobody, Somebody, Nobody..." and is based on Pslam 8 and Luke 2:8-14.

Patsy Hitchens Shaver (Class of 1964) became the first woman inducted into the Dickinson College Sports Hall of Fame on February 18, 1978.  Whille a student, she played tennis for four years, field hockey for three years, and was a member of the cheerleading squad for four years.  Her tennis singles record was 22-2, and her doubles record was 16-1.