Abstract In this interview, Marjorie Neifeld Grayson, Jane Heitman Green, Pamela Farrell Lenehan, Mary Aguiar Vascellaro, and Donna Erickson Williamson, members of the Brown University class of 1974, share their memories of their time on campus in honor of their 50th reunion. Interviewees begin by introducing themselves and their concentrations. They share why they chose […]
Brown Daily Herald
Shira Buchsbaum, class of 2019
Abstract In this interview, Shira Buchsbaum, Brown University class of 2019, describes her experiences as a graduate student and future librarian during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Buchsbaum begins by sharing why she chose to attend Brown University for her undergraduate studies. She explains her family legacy at Brown and feeling at home while on campus. […]
Justice Gaines, class of 2016
Abstract In this interview, Justice Gaines, Brown University class of 2016, discusses her undergraduate career at Brown and highlights her activism on campus. Gaines begins by sharing some background on her high school experiences participating in theatre of the oppressed and JROTC in New Jersey. She explains choosing to attend Brown on the recommendation of […]
Lydia L. English, class of 1985
Abstract Lydia L. English came to Brown in 1981 as a resumed undergraduate education student, after having worked in banking in the U.S. Virgin Islands for eight years. In this interview, English states that her initial motivation to receive a liberal arts education was her newfound interest “in how cultures interact,” gathered from her extensive […]
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 […]
Peggy J. McKearney, class of 1975
Abstract Peggy J. McKearney begins Part 1 of her interview with a brief description of her family background, including her childhood in Connecticut and Massachusetts. She says that her love of the Boston Bruins determined her decision to attend Brown University in the first year after its merger with Pembroke College because Pembroke had established […]
Elizabeth B. West, class of 1973
Abstract In these interviews, Elizabeth B. West, Brown University class of 1973, discusses her experiences at Brown University during the Pembroke-Brown merger, the Vietnam War, and the Women’s Movement. She also talks about her thirty-year career in network news, her path to becoming a full-time documentary filmmaker, the inauguration of President Joseph Biden, and getting […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Amy Cohen, class of 1992, Lisa Stern Kaplowitz, class of 1995, and Jennifer Hsu Todd, class of 1995
Abstract In 1991, Brown University announced that four varsity sports, including women’s volleyball and gymnastics, would have their funding cut forcing them to become varsity club sports. In 1992, after repeated attempts to rectify an alleged budget issue, thirteen female student athletes brought suit against the University stating that the University was in violation of […]
Judith Weiss, class of 1944
Abstract In this interview, Judith Weiss, undergraduate class of 1944, discusses her decision to attend Pembroke College and describes her roles as assistant editor on the Pembroke Record and Brun Mael, and her participation at the Brown News Bureau. She also mentions her involvement in the National Youth Organization, the Neighborhood Youth Corps, and her […]
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 […]
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 […]
Charlotte Ferguson, class of 1924
Abstract In this interview, Ferguson tells why she chose to attend Pembroke College over Wellesley College; how following a woman she admired, she wanted to become a Boston insurance agent; and that she never felt she needed to be liberated. She discusses the remnants of Victorianism; marching for suffrage before age ten, and always having […]
25th Reunion, class of 1985
Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1985 summarizes the economically, socially, and racially diverse undergraduate experiences of Frances S. Lee, Suzanne Beth Goldberg, Margaret E. Rosen, Karen Smith, Allyson Tucker, Katherine Sabin Melchoir, and Jill Anne Hereford, at their 25th reunion. First, the interviewees are asked why they chose to […]
25th Reunion, class of 1998
Abstract In this interview, Theresa Atta Ifogah, Willow Darsie, Sandy Kent Carielli, Mary Swerczek Sparacello, and Meredith TenHoor, members of the Brown University class of 1998, share their memories of their time on campus in honor of their 25th reunion. The interviewees begin by explaining what drew them to Brown. TenHoor mentions the Brown/RISD dual […]
Carol Rita Dannenberg, class of 1966
Abstract In this interview, Carol R. Dannenberg begins by explaining her decision to attend Pembroke College. She discusses dating life, and student/professor relationships, as well as her involvement with student government, tension over curfews, the lack of role models on campus, and being involved in the Peace Corps during summer break. Dannenberg also discusses her […]
Kristie E. Miller, class of 1966
Abstract Kristie E. Miller, an award-winning biographer, begins her interview discussing the controversy surrounding her decision to attend college. Her mother, a supporter of Joseph McCarthy, always discouraged her academic interest and wanted her to go to a politically conservative school, while her father wanted her to go to a prestigious university. In Part 1, […]
50th Reunion, class of 1973
Abstract In this interview, Martha Banks, Joan Betesh, Nancy Clarke, Jane Desmond, Lynda Durfee, Phyllis Fineman Schlesinger, Lillian Lim, Patricia McMillen, Nina Peskoe Peyser, Marian Weber, and Lucy Winner, members of the Brown University class of 1973, share their memories of their time on campus in honor of their 50th reunion. The first half hour […]
Roswell Johnson, M.D., Staff
Abstract In this interview, Roswell Johnson, MD, discusses his time at Brown University as the director of health services in the 1960s and the controversy surrounding his willingness to prescribe birth control to Pembroke students in 1965. He explains how his first request for birth control came from Brown’s chaplain on behalf of an engaged […]