1940-1949

This photo depicts a groupd of female Dickinsonians playing tennis, c1945.

This photo depicts the women's swim team and their fans, c1945. The women in the photo are unidentified.

The photo depicts the women's basketball team during a game, c1940.

The December 1949 Dickinson Alumnus documents a fellow alumna, Frances L. Willoughby '27, who was awarded a commission. However, Willoughby was not awarded just any kind of commission, but she received the honor of being the first woman doctor to receive a Navy Commission. She entered the Naval Reserve as a lieutenant in 1944, and appointed to permanent staff only 4 months after and in 1946 she achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After graduating from Dickinson, Willoughby went on to receive a medical degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

Biddle House was formerly the home of Edward W. Biddle, a Dickinson College alumnus and trustee. The building was purchased by the college on December 14, 1946 for about $25,000. The first use of it was as a women's dormitory in the 1940s.

The Anti-Bifurcation Act at Dickinson College prevented women from wearing "bifurcated garments, elongated or exposed shirt-tails or any other freakish costumes" when not in the privacy of their own rooms. This was to prevent "unfavorable public criticism, directed against both the women of the college and the college itself."  This Act was to be in effect from the time of its enactment (1944) until "an indefinite, far-future date."

For female Dickinsonians, this article tries to help students manage their studies while involving themselves in an extra-curricular, as well as participating in the social side of campus life. Sunday, however, remains for church and relaxing.

For mental and physical comfort, it reads:

a. A minimum of 8 hours a day of concentrated work

b. A minimum of 1 hour a day of outdoor exercise

c. A minimuim of 1 hour a day or rest or reading

d. A minimum of 8 hours a night of sleep.

Telephone usage was only allowed during specified times during the day. The only phone in Metzger Hall was located in the Dean of Women's office.

Like the permission form for missing meals, this document lists the reasons for permission and the ways to get permission to miss a meal.

PERMISSION, Reason for: 1) We want to be able to locate students at once.

2) We want to be able to protect you against mistaken reports'

3) We want to avoid unnecessary work.

4) We want to avoid wasting your ration points.

NOTE: Permission to be absent from meals is also permission for you to be somewhere else. It is not merely a way of accounting for an empty place in the dining room.

This packet provides information about etiquette for female Dickinsonians in all aspects of dining, from invitations and thank yous, who pays etc.,  to the physical act of eating itself. The graphic here demonstrates how women should act when ordering at a hotel: