Abstract In this interview, Xochitl Gonzalez, Brown University class of 1999, shares her memories of her time on campus on the eve of her 25th reunion. Gonzalez begins by discussing her childhood. She describes growing up in a working class Brooklyn neighborhood and being raised by her maternal grandparents. She explains that her mother, Andrea […]
Administration
Meghan Kallman, class of 2016, Ph.D.
Abstract In her interview, Meghan Kallman, Brown University class of 2016, PhD, speaks about her path into sociology and Rhode Island state politics — both of which stem from a deep interest in community and social organization. Kallman begins by describing her childhood in a rural school system in New Hampshire. She also discusses her […]
Karen T. Romer, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Karen T. Romer, a Brown University administrator of 29 years, describes life for women on campus between 1972 and 2001, as well as her own experiences in postwar Europe in two separate years before college during the 1950s. Romer begins by discussing her family background including her father’s work in biology […]
Johanna Fernández, class of 1993 (interview 1 of 2)
Abstract In this interview, Johanna Fernandez highlights her undergraduate experience as an activist at Brown University. She spends the first fifty minutes discussing her parents’ backgrounds as immigrants from the Dominican Republic and the effect that had on her childhood growing up in the Bronx, New York. She explains how she was raised differently from […]
Hannelore Banks Rodriguez, class of 1987
Abstract In this interview, Hannelore Banks Rodriguez details her path to and through a career in higher education. She begins by sharing some of her parent’s backgrounds including their immigration from the Philippines to Fargo, North Dakota, her father’s pursuit of a Ph.D., and her mother’s desire for a medical technician degree. She also explains […]
Javette D. Pinkney, class of 1980
Abstract In this interview, Javette D. Pinkney begins by explaining the academic initiative and activist spirit that brought her to Brown. She fondly remembers a “feeling of community,” and campus dating, in spite of instances of racism. She describes her involvement in a number of campus activities and social groups and recalls spearheading the College […]
Ferelene Bailey, class of 1974
Abstract Ferelene “Nan” Bailey begins by discussing her childhood, the benefits of living overseas during her childhood, her experience applying to Brown University, and her expectations of her experience. She spends a significant amount of time discussing the various and bountiful activist groups she participated in, and more broadly, social turmoil during the seventies surrounding […]
Karen E. McLaurin, class of 1973 (interview 2 of 2)
Abstract Karen E. McLaurin was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, moved to Rockland, Massachusetts, and attended the public school system until the eighth grade when she entered Notre Dame Academy. As a young woman, McLaurin embraced volunteerism, participating in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Congress of Racial Equality CORE,, and the Black Panther Party of Boston. […]
Miriam “Mimi” Dale Pichey, class of 1972
Abstract Miriam Dale Pichey’s interview is an energetic insight into the politics of student life at Brown University in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She describes both the campus atmosphere of gendered social rules and struggling for equal representation after the Pembroke-Brown merger, the founding of Women of Brown United, and the broader political […]
Susan E. Graber, class of 1971
Abstract Susan E. Graber begins Part 1 her interview by sharing some family background information such as her mother’s college education and the expectation that her children would also attend college. She explains why she chose to attend Pembroke College and recalls some difficulties she faced as a woman pursuing science. Graber remembers her ambivalence […]
Susan Cowell, class of 1969
Abstract In this interview, Susan Cowell explains her reasons for choosing to attend Pembroke College, her expectations for campus culture, her roommate’s struggles with class differences, and the social life of Pembroke. She also discusses her own her peers’ efforts to protest the Girls School culture, including stealing the chimes, and a march to the […]
Susan A. Semonoff, class of 1968
Abstract In this interview, Susan A. Semonoff begins by talking about her family, her choice to attend Pembroke College, and the challenge of the academics once she arrived. She discusses her various classes and the tumultuous atmosphere at Brown/Pembroke in the sixties (The Vietnam War, the changing attitude towards women, and what inspired her to […]
Susan Elizabeth Geary, class of 1967
Abstract Susan Elizabeth Geary begins her interview by discussing her early education in Scituate, Rhode Island and her matriculation to Pembroke College where she was a commuting student. She goes on to discuss in detail the varying elements of her time at Pembroke, specifically focusing on her academic performance and experiences, dorm life, social life, […]
Meryl Smith, class of 1966
Abstract In this interview, Meryl Smith remembers life as an Orthodox Jewish Pembroker. She recounts how, even before she attended Pembroke, her mother would welcome to dinner any Pembroke or Brown students who were trying to keep kosher. She fondly remembers the friendships formed around playing bridge and smoking cigarettes, and participating in Question Club, […]
Dorothy Ann Haus, class of 1964
Abstract Dorothy Ann Haus begins this interview by talking about her life before Pembroke College, growing up as a “Pollyanna” in Brattleboro, Vermont. Haus discusses many different aspects of life as a Pembroker including the rules and regulations, the gym requirement, dorm life, dating, freshman orientation, formal dinners and demitasse, and playing varsity sports. Haus […]
Joyce Loretta Richardson, class of 1963
Abstract Joyce Loretta Richardson begins her interview by discussing the experiences and people that led her to apply to and attend Pembroke College. She cites experiences such as going to boarding school, having a high achieving family, rejection from Radcliffe, and her fear of swimming. She contrasts her experience at boarding school with her arrival […]
Katharine Curtis Pierce, class of 1962
Abstract On the occasion of her 50th Reunion, Katharine Curtis Pierce looks back on the highlights of her time at Pembroke College. She begins by explaining her expectations for Pembroke and the “finishing school for Episcopal girls” that she found in its stead. Pierce talks about dorm life, her dissatisfaction with that atmosphere, her time […]
Susan Beth Adler, 1958
Abstract In this interview, Susan Beth Adler, Pembroke College class of 1958, recalls her decades of professional and volunteer service to Rhode Island and Brown University. Adler begins by describing her family’s long history within the Brown community, her mother being in the Pembroke class of 1925 and her father in the Brown class of […]
Rosemary Pierrel, class of 1953 Ph.D.
Abstract In this interview, Dr. Rosemary Pierrel Sorrentino describes her leadership as Dean of Pembroke from 1961 through 1972. Dr. Sorrentino, or Dean Pierrel as she was known to Pembrokers, reviews the rapidly changing societal norms, her perceptions of the demands upon Pembroke and upon her role as Dean, and the failure of leadership that […]
Arlene Elizabeth Gorton, Faculty (interview 2 of 2)
Abstract An assistant professor of Anthropology and the only woman in her department when she was hired in 1968, Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in 1974. The Anthropology Department claimed that her scholarship was theoretically weak. Lamphere claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and argued that the small number of women on the […]
Charlotte Lowney, class of 1957
Abstract In this interview, Charlotte Lowney, looking back on a 40-year career with Pembroke College and Brown University, details her upward trajectory through the ranks of the institution’s administration, beginning with her position as the secretary to Brown President Henry Merrit Wriston. In 1962, she became the director of career placement at Brown, during both […]
Marjorie Alice Jones, class of 1954
Abstract Marjorie Alice Jones speaks as a member of the silent generation and considers the busy, active life she’s lead despite the fact that nobody expected anything from the women of her generation. She begins Part 1 of her interview by discussing her family background and reasons for attending Pembroke College. She describes her experience […]
Stavroula James Balomenos, class of 1953
Abstract In this interview, Stavroula James Balomenos begins by describing her childhood in Portland, Maine, which consisted of “home, school, and church.” She tells of her father’s strong belief in the value of a good education—something he didn’t have the opportunity to receive—instilling the message with all his children that “education was the doorway to […]
Ruth Elizabeth Burt, class of 1953
Abstract In this interview, Ruth Elizabeth Burt, Pembroke College class of 1953, discusses majoring in Psychology at Pembroke, conducting research for the Education Testing Service, and serving on Brown University’s Corporation. Burt begins her interview by describing how she decided to attend Pembroke and how Professor Harold Schlosberg encouraged her to pursue the psychology concentration. […]
Elizabeth Anne Gibbons, class of 1952
Abstract Elizabeth Anne Gibbons begins Part 1 of her interview by noting that she is a fourth generation rancher’s daughter with a grandmother and two great aunts who held masters degrees. She explains the difficulty she had assimilating to Pembroke College after growing up in Texas and says that Dean Nancy Duke Lewis was her […]
Janice Vanderwater, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Janice Vanderwater discusses her college education at Barnard College and her path to becoming the first female faculty member of the English department at Brown University, then the director of dramatics. She worked at Brown from 1940 until 1966 and she details how the campus, and her position as a faculty […]
Karen Newman, Faculty
Abstract An assistant professor of Anthropology and the only woman in her department when she was hired in 1968, Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in 1974. The Anthropology Department claimed that her scholarship was theoretically weak. Lamphere claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and argued that the small number of women on the […]
Philip Leis, Faculty
Abstract An assistant professor of Anthropology and the only woman in her department when she was hired in 1968, Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in 1974. The Anthropology Department claimed that her scholarship was theoretically weak. Lamphere claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and argued that the small number of women on the […]
Louise Lamphere, Faculty
Abstract An assistant professor of Anthropology and the only woman in her department when she was hired in 1968, Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in 1974. The Anthropology Department claimed that her scholarship was theoretically weak. Lamphere claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and argued that the small number of women on the […]
Anne Fausto-Sterling, Faculty
Abstract An assistant professor of Anthropology and the only woman in her department when she was hired in 1968, Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in 1974. The Anthropology Department claimed that her scholarship was theoretically weak. Lamphere claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and argued that the small number of women on the […]
Helen FitzGerald Cserr, Faculty
Abstract This interview was conducted with Ruth Cserr on behalf of her mother Helen FitzGerald Cserr who was a professor of biomedical sciences at Brown University and who was one of four plaintiffs in the Louise Lamphere vs Brown University sex discrimination lawsuit. Ruth begins the interview by sharing some personal background including her education […]
Polly Adams Welts, class of 1951
Abstract Polly Adams Welts begins this interview by recounting her family life in Haverhill, Massachusetts before and after World War II. In Part 1, she also talks about dating among freshmen at Pembroke College, her work as a waitress, the participation of city girls – female day students who attended Pembroke but did not live […]
Elizabeth Branch Jackson, class of 1945
Abstract Elizabeth “Betty” Branch Jackson is one of Pembroke’s early students of color. During her time on campus, she was the only Black student for over two years, but this did not stop her from being extremely active during her time there and in the years following. Jackson worked for the American Friends Service and […]
Elizabeth Hortense Leduc, class of 1948
Abstract In this interview, Elizabeth Hortense Leduc recounts her educational background from undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Vermont, to obtaining her master’s degree from Wellesley College, getting her Ph.D. at Brown University, and completing a fellowship at Brown through the National Institute of Health. She frequently mentions the assistance she received during […]
Joyce Wetherald, class of 1947
Abstract Joyce Wetherald was born in 1926 and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1943 she received the Rhode Island Regional Scholarship to Pembroke College, where she studied English. Her father was an importer of jewelry, and his business had been impacted dramatically by the stock market crash of 1929. Her gratitude for the […]
Jane E. Walsh, class of 1947
Abstract Jane E. Walsh begins Part 1 of her interview by summarizing her background including her mother’s career as Director of Standards and Planning for the Department of Employment Security in Rhode Island, and her father’s real estate business. She explains that she always knew she would go to college and Pembroke College’s close geographic […]
Hilda Antoinette Calabro, class of 1945
Abstract In this interview, Hilda Antoinette Calabro begins by sharing some family background and explaining her reasons for attending Pembroke College. She recalls being supported by her family and having the freedom to choose what she wanted to do with her college education. She describes the difficult of being a city girl – a female […]
Enid Wilson, class of 1943
Abstract In this interview, Enid Wilson begins by describing her family background, her father’s professorships at Massachusetts School of Technology and Harvard University, and her childhood in Brookline, Massachusetts. She explains why she chose to attend Pembroke College and shares pieces of her interview process with Dean Margaret Shove Morriss. She recalls the buildings that […]
Elizabeth Susan Weatherhead, class of 1942
Abstract Elizabeth Susan Weatherhead begins her interview with a brief family background, noting that her father attended a boy’s school in Barbados while her mother attended a girl’s school in Canada. She explains that having grown up in Barrington, Rhode Island, she was familiar with Pembroke College and was given the same opportunities as her […]
Penelope Claire Hartland, class of 1940
Abstract Penelope Claire Hartland begins this interview by focusing on her education. She describes her academic achievements at Pembroke College, as well as the significance of being the only Pembroke student to concentrate in economics. She details her educational and social experiences at both Pembroke and Radcliffe, where she received her Ph.D. The interview then […]
Margaret Mary Porter, class of 1939
Abstract Margaret “Peg” Mary Porter begins Part 1 of her 1988 interview discussing her family background and her motivation for both going to college and choosing Pembroke College. She reflects on what is was like to attend college during the Depression years, Franklin Delano Roosevelt becoming President of the United States, and the beginnings of […]
Clara Elizabeth Goodale, class of 1939
Abstract Clara Elizabeth Goodale ‘39 is the niece of Nettie Goodale Murdock who was a member of Pembroke College’s first class in 1895. This interview captures the memories Murdock shared with her niece of her time at Pembroke. In Part 1, Goodale explains that she and her sister, Barbara ’37, lived with Murdock while they […]
Virginia Belle Macmillan, class of 1938
Abstract Virginia Belle Macmillan begins Part 1 of her interview by describing her childhood and family in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She recalls her years at Pembroke College, in particular her role on the Pembroke Record staff, and as President of the Student Government Association. She also discusses life as a commuter student, attending college during […]
Harva Zelda Fisher, class of 1936
Abstract In this interview, Harva Zelda Fisher explains her reasons for attending Pembroke College, particularly citing geographic proximity to her home and small student population. She recalls Dean Margaret Shove Morriss, Physical Education Director Bessie Rudd, and Professor George Downing, but says one of her favorite professors was Israel Kapstein. She gives a brief educational […]
Ethel Colvin Nichols, class of 1934
Abstract Ethel Colvin Nichols begins her interview discussing her plans for the future and speaking of her wish to return to the workforce despite discrimination based on ageism. Also in Part 1, she reflects on classes at Pembroke College, her relationship with Dean Margaret Shove Morriss, training to become a dean herself, as well as […]
Rose Beatrice Miller, class of 1931
Abstract In this interview, Rose Beatrice Miller discusses the reasons she attended Pembroke College, her graduate studies, and career in bacteriology. She recalls Deans Margaret Shove Morriss and Eva Mooar, and biology professor Magel Wilder, her sole female professor at Pembroke. Mikker also shared memories of sex and dating, attending Pembroke as a “city girl,” […]
Mary Bernadette Banigan, class of 1931
Abstract Mary Bernadette Banigan begins her interview by discussing her family background, her experience at Classical High School, and her reasons for attending Pembroke College. Throughout Part 1, she describes her favorite professors, and postgraduate options for an English major at Pembroke. She ends the section by explaining her time at Chapel and her extracurricular […]
Jeannette Dora Black, class of 1930
Abstract In this interview, Jeannette Dora Black discusses her family, her education at Providence’s Classical High School, and her reasons for attending Pembroke College. She remembers her requirements and classes at Pembroke, her feelings about coeducation, the Pembroke administration, and Dean Margaret Shove Morriss. Black recalls working at the John Hay Library and the effects […]
Ethel Mary Humphrey, class of 1929
Abstract In Part 1 of her interview, Ethel Mary Humphrey discusses the circumstances that led her to attend Pembroke College. She talks about academics and student relationships with the deans, her involvement in the Press Club and drama productions, and coeducation. She also recalls attitudes surrounding the name change to Pembroke College, and social interactions […]
Grace Amelia McAuslan, class of 1928
Abstract In this interview, Grace Amelia McAuslan begins by explaining why she decided to attend Pembroke College and what her first impressions were. She notes some of the courses she took as a sociology concentrator and momentarily remembers participating in the Pembroke orchestra. She shares brief memories of Dean Margaret Shove Morriss and Dean Anne […]
Doris Madeline Hopkins, class of 1928
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Doris Madeline Hopkins begins by discussing her early education and family life in Rhode Island. She talks about the expectations for “nice girls” at Pembroke College in the 1920s, about the curriculum, and the classes she took. She talks about 1920s fashion, dancing and bootleg liquor, including clubs […]
Alice Elizabeth O’Connor, class of 1928
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Alice Elizabeth O’Connor begins by discussing her life growing up in East Providence and assuming guardianship of her brothers and sisters after the early deaths of her parents. She also talks about changing careers to become a social worker, the state of public welfare services, and her work […]
Marjorie Whitcomb Sallie, class of 1927
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Marjorie Whitcomb Sallie explains why she decided to attend Pembroke College. She says that Dean Margaret Shove Morriss was the most influential faculty member on campus and she shares some memories of their interactions. Sallie goes on to describe how she decided to concentrate in biology and also […]
Martha Alice Ingham Dickie, class of 1926 (interview 2 of 2)
Abstract In the first part of her 1987 interview, Martha Alice Ingham Dickie discusses her family background, her life at Brown, and her social work during her time at Northwestern. Also in tracks 1 and 2, Dickie reflects on meeting her husband, Waitstill Sharp, and starting a family and ministry together while taking classes at […]
Anonymous, class of 1920
Abstract Speaking more than sixty years after graduation, this anonymous member of the Pembroke College class of 1920 begins by recalling her childhood, growing up in Providence, and her father’s desire for his children to graduate college. She discusses her reasons for attending Pembroke and shares her earliest memories of the campus. The alumna fondly […]
50th Reunion, class of 1954
Abstract This interview captures the undergraduate experiences of Pearl Schwartz, Margery Gould Sharp, Diane Joslyn Lake, Joan Wright Bliss, Barbara Reuben Levin, Marilyn Jane Carlson, Patricia Crabtree, Jettabee Edman, Diana Coates Gill, Kay Elizabeth Hellstrom, and Felice Sara Rinder, members of the Pembroke College class of 1954, at their 50th Reunion. The alumnae begin their […]
Diane Eileen Scola, class of 1959
Abstract Diane Eileen Scola’s oral history is an example of autonomy and feminist conviction despite gender discrimination. She begins her interview discussing her Italian-American family background, applying to college, academics at Pembroke, and commuting to school. In Part 2, Scola focuses on gender expectations in academia and the professional world, and the lack of women […]
Ingrid Ellen Winther, class of 1964
Abstract In this interview, Ingrid Ellen Winther begins by discussing her childhood and early education. She reflects on her memories of the first day at Pembroke College, her active social life, and her academics, pausing to note the lack of female role models at Pembroke. She felt that women were being educated to be good […]
Anna Peña Hass, class of 1917
Abstract In the first part of the interview, Anna Peña Hass discusses early life on her family’s farm and the decision to attend Pembroke despite wanting to get married and become a nurse. Hass describes the courses she took in her two years at Pembroke and some of the formative people she met during that […]
Ruth Elizabeth Cooke, class of 1914
Abstract In Part 1, Ruth Elizabeth Cooke speaks about being the youngest of six children, her close relationship with her oldest brother, gathering garnets at Diamond Hill with her father, her love of nature and her natural ability to interpret color. After graduating from Classical High School in 1910, she attended Pembroke where she studied […]
Marjorie Phillips Wood, class of 1911
Abstract Marjorie Phillips Wood entered Pembroke College in 1907. In Part 1 of this interview, she remembers being disciplined as a freshman for the fun she had with her friends; Lida Shaw King, Dean of the Women’s College; expectations for dress and behavior at Pembroke; the language courses she took at Pembroke and at Brown; […]