Abstract
This interview with members of the Pembroke College class of 1964 highlights the undergraduate experiences of Linda Sue Mason, Ann Newhouse Welsh, Susan Frances Sinykin, Susan Margaret Bloch, Berit Christina Spant, Susan Rosenfeld, Ingrid Ellen Winther, Mara Gailitis, and Rhoda Pearlman Nagin, at their 50th reunion.
The interviewees begin by introducing themselves, stating their majors, and explaining what attracted them to Pembroke. They discuss why the coeducational nature was so important to each of them and many even mention the value in not having sororities. They go on to recall various student-based activities such as the theatre group Sock and Buskin, Faunce House Board of Governors – a student board that consisted of the chair-persons of various activity committees who organized events on campus, the Pembroke Record, and Dance Club.
Rosenfeld and Muh also share experiences of sexism from professors, both citing unnamed professors who unashamedly refused assistance or purposefully lowered grades based on their gender. Others remember professors James Hedges, Peter McGraw, David Krause, and Erich Kunzel, as particularly engaging and influential. More broadly, they discuss the lack of guidance they received for post-graduation and compare it to the services many of them utilized in graduate school.
The interview concludes with reminiscences of deportment classes, dress codes for on and off campus activities, and briefly remark on John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the Civil Rights Movement.
See also: An individual interview with Ingrid Ellen Winther, class of 1964
Recorded on May 24, 2014
Interviewed by Wendy Korwin
Suggested Chicago style citation: 50th Reunion, class of 1964. Interview. By Wendy Korwin. Pembroke Center Oral History Project, Brown University. May 24, 2014.
Biography
The Pembroke College class of 1964 graduated under Dean Rosemary Pierrel and Brown University President Barnaby Keeney. During their senior year, students joined clubs such as Brownbrokers, Glee Club, and Student Government Association, and the physical education requirement was abolished for upperclassmen. They celebrated Spring Weekend and Father Daughter Weekend, and the university prepared for its bicentennial celebration. This class experienced a historically unique tenure at Brown University as John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States during their freshman year and was then assassinated on November 22, 1963, during their senior year.