Abstract
This interview with twenty members of the Pembroke College class of 1965 captures the political, social, and academic issues on campus as remembered by Nancy E. Kilpatrick, Pamela B. Edwards, Elinor B. Bachrach, Pamela Thompson, Nancy L. Buc, Kay Berthold, Anne Doswell, Molly Perkins, Jean C. Hay, Claudia T. Nash, Elizabeth A. Glass, Jessica Loring, Diana L. Newton, Virginia A. Newton, Nancy R. Rockwell, Marian H. Weaver, Sylvia A. Welch, Anne E. Rodems, Judith E. Woll, and Nancy H. Steinhaus, at their 50th reunion.
The first hour of the interview consists of each alumna providing highlights of their personal, professional, and academic, lives after graduating from Pembroke.
The remaining hour primarily includes the alumnae discussing institutionalized sex discrimination against Pembrokers and the double standard between the Brown men and the Pembroke women. Memories include the expulsion of three women and the suspension of three men for spending a night in a motel; having a dress code for classes, on campus activities, and off campus outings; rules against living off campus with an exception for married women who were forced to live off campus; and general expectations for women in society.
Claudia Nash Hurley specifically recalls being one of approximately twenty students chosen by Dean Rosemary Pierrel to inform her dormitory that birth control pills were being distributed during homecoming weekend, no questions asked. Interviewees also remember the politics of the Vietnam War, and their appreciation for the diverse course requirements.
Recorded on May 23, 2015 in Pembroke Hall, Brown University, Providence, RI.
Interviewed by Wendy Korwin
Suggested Chicago style citation: 50th Reunion, class of 1965. Interview. By Wendy Korwin. Pembroke Center Oral History Project, Brown University. May 23, 2015.
Biography
The Pembroke College class of 1965 graduated under Dean Rosemary Pierrel and Brown University President Barnaby Keeney. They served on the Student Government Association, on the school newspaper, The Pembroke Record, and even as managing editor on the Brown newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald. They also joined clubs such as the Chattertocks, a singing group, and Sock and Buskin, a theatre group. During their senior year, President Lyndon Johnson took his second oath of office, Martin Luther King, Jr. lead the historic Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights for black citizens, and war raged in Vietnam.