Longsdorff, Hildegarde

Talk to female freshmen students by Chaplain Mary Anne Morefield on "Being a Woman at Dickinson."  Briefly summarizes the history of coeducation and changes in the male-female balance of the college.  Argues "that though at present there are more females than males on the campus, the historic maleness of the tradition outweigh the reality of the present situation."  Discusses the significance of the using the term "feminist" to describe oneself, the use of "girls" to describe female students, the influence of the fraternity system on campus, and guidelines from Ms.

This series of five photographs depicts early female Dickinsonians in a physical education class. The women use various forms of equipment in the photos. The photo pictured on this page lists the names of the women and it appears that the same women are in each image.

The June 1891 Dickinsonian in the "Alumni Personals" section, included a brief paragraph on Hildegarde Longsdorff, one of the sisters of Zatae Longsdorff. The 1888 graduate, had recently graduated from the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia and intended on "practicing her profession" in Carlisle.

This photograph is a group picture of early female students of both Dickinson College and the Preparatory School from circa 1887. The women included in this picture are Zatae Longsdorff '87, Mary Curran '88, Hildegarde Longsdorff '88, Elizabeth Bender '88, Mary Evans '89, Alice Kronenberg '89, Mary Himes '89, Jennie Taylor '89, Jessica Longsdorff '91, Elizabeth Low '91, Lenora Whiting '91, Wilhemina Scarborough '91, and Sarah Yocum '91.

The July 1888 Dickinsonian discusses the occurrences and speeches given at the 105th commencement of the senior class. One of the speeches includes humorous and bogus gifts for each of the members of the senior class. For the women, such as Hildegarde Longsdorff, she would receive the gift of a ballot box for her "strong opinions on Woman's Suffrage." Another female classmate, Elizabeth Bender, would receive a marriage certificate because of what is in store for her future.

Published in the 1890 Microcosm, “Co-Education” describes the introduction of coeducation at Dickinson College.  The author of the piece asserts that coeducation at Dickinson was a direct result of the Methodist influence at the school and women’s participation within that church.  Thus, female students were accepted to the college on the same terms and with the same privileges of their male counterparts. Moreover, the author of the piece adds that the women at Dickinson contributed  to the beauty of the campus.