Abstract In this interview, Finch Collins, class of 2021, describes his early memories of his time at Brown University and explains how COVID-19 has impacted his undergraduate experience. Collins begins by explaining why he decided to attend Brown, citing his mother’s experience as an ’88 alumna, his time at a STEM high school, and Brown’s […]
Politics
Samantha Kiernan, class of 2019
Abstract In this interview, Samantha Kiernan, Brown University class of 2019, discusses her experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Kiernan discusses international news and anecdotal stories and later her personal struggle with potentially catching COVID-19. Kiernan begins by elaborating on her interest in international relations, her study abroad time in Ireland and China, and her […]
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 […]
Sara Matthiesen, class of 2015
Abstract In this interview, Sara Matthiesen, Brown University class of 2015, discusses her experiences as a professor and social justice activist in Washington, DC, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Matthiesen begins by recalling that she first learned about COVID-19 from an international student who regularly attended her office hours. She explains that she was concerned […]
Donna Zaccaro, Class of 1983
Abstract In this interview, Donna Zaccaro, Brown University class of 1983, discusses her life on the campaign trail with her mother, Geraldine Ferraro – the first woman Vice Presidential nominee on a major party ticket; her path to becoming a documentarian; and the impeachment trial of United States President Donald Trump. Zaccaro begins by sharing […]
Jeree Palmer-Bechkham, class of 1983
Abstract In this interview, Jeree Palmer-Beckham begins by discussing her time in Providence, where she lived with her first husband, and explaining her completion of a Brown University degree in theatre arts through the Resumed Education Program (RUE). Palmer explains how attending Brown impacted her life in theatre, particularly the production “Shades of Brown,” which […]
Rita Duarte Marinho, class of 1979
Abstract In this interview, Rita Duarte Marinho discusses her experiences pursuing a doctoral degree in political science at Brown University from 1975 to 1979. Marinho begins by sharing some personal background. She describes growing up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and being raised primarily by women. She sets herself in the context of the Second World […]
Maggie M. Wenig, class of 1978 (interview 2 of 2)
Abstract In her second interview, conducted in 2013, Maggie M. Wenig begins by discussing her admission to Brown University, where she was involved with the Brown University Women’s Minyan. She discusses the rigor of the Religious Studies Department, the strength of its professors and their mentorship, specifically Professor Jacob Neusner, and her subsequent inspiration to […]
Margot Landman, class of 1978
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Margot Landman discusses her family background and their influence in her choice of college and major. She goes on to describe her nerve-wracking first day at Brown and her best and worst memories as an undergraduate. She shares memories of the Chinese and Asian history departments at Brown, […]
Kim A. Taylor, class of 1977
Abstract This interview with Kim A.Taylor, class of 1977, was captured during the 2018 Black Alumni Reunion. Taylor begins with her childhood and upbringing within a musical/artist community of Harlem, and how that led to her decision to attend Brown University. This segment of the interview includes an interesting recollection of meeting Dr. Martin Luther […]
Yvonne Ruiz, class of 1977
Abstract In this interview conducted during the 2018 all-class Black Alumni Reunion, Yvonne Ruiz, Brown University class of 1977, discusses her time on campus as well as her subsequent legal career. Ruiz begins by sharing some family background including her parent’s relocation to the United States from Puerto Rico in the 1950s and her childhood […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
Constance Worthington, class of 1968
Abstract In this interview, Constance Worthington begins by talking about her family’s involvement in Brown University, and her eventual decision to transfer to Pembroke College. She then discusses her challenging time at Brown being a student, single mother, and a widow, and what it was like raising a son later diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Worthington […]
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 […]
Hilary Berger Ross, class of 1963
Abstract Hilary Berger Ross begins Part 1 of her 1988 interview by discussing her search for community at Pembroke College, and speaks about her experience as a city girl – a female day student who attended Pembroke but did not live on campus. She remembers Pembroke rules and studying women in Shakespeare. She explains that […]
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 […]
Rita R. Schorr, class of 1953
Abstract Rita R. Schorr begins this interview by recounting her childhood in Poland, the outbreak of World War II, and her and her family’s placement in Auschwitz. She explains the trauma of this experience, as well as her determination to survive. Schorr transitions to discuss her education in Munich after she was liberated, and her […]
Alison Palmer, class of 1953
Abstract In part 1 of this interview, Alison Palmer discusses her childhood, her decision to attend Pembroke College, and the Pembroke experience. In part 2 she discusses hazing at Pembroke, her summers while at college, working in New York City, her original interest in the State Department, and her time in Ghana. In part 3, […]
Wendy Edwards, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Chair and Professor of Visual Arts, Wendy Edwards, describes her journey to becoming a professional painter and discusses her 40-year tenure at Brown University. Edwards begins by briefly mentioning her parents’ educational backgrounds and then detailing her early life living on a farm in Virginia outside of Washington, DC, and visiting […]
Lynn Nottage, class of 1986, and Ruby Aiyo Gerber, class of 2020
Abstract In this interview, Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright and Brown University class of 1986, and her daughter, Ruby Aiyo Gerber, Brown University class of 2020, discuss their experiences at Brown, living through the COVID-19 global pandemic, and processing the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Nottage and Gerber both begin by explaining why […]
Shibei Guo, class of 2020
Abstract In this interview, Shibei Guo, Brown University class of 2020, shares her experiences as an international student from Wuhan, China, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Guo begins by explaining why she decided to transfer to Brown after her first year of college at New York University. She emphasizes the allure of Brown’s open curriculum […]
Lorraine Estelle Adler, class of 1945
Abstract In this interview, Lorraine Estelle Adler, Brown University class of 1945, discusses her experience as a student during the war years and also touches upon the events of September 11, 2001, and the COVID-19 global pandemic. Adler begins by talking about her family background and early childhood. She describes growing up in Woonsocket, Rhode […]
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 […]
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 […]
Bella Skolnick, class of 1933
Abstract Bella Skolnik’s interview provides a passionate story of activism in health, education, and welfare. She begins by reflecting on her thoughtful and supportive family and her childhood and moves on to tell vivid stories of her freshman year at Pembroke College, including her college friendships, house mother, dating, dormitories, “gracious living,” and seeing the […]
Margery Chittenden Leonard, class of 1929
Abstract Margery Chittenden Leonard’s 1982 interview reflects her tireless passion for the Equal Rights Amendment. While she discusses her classes at Brown and her dormitories, the majority of her oral history is dedicated to discussing the fierce discrimination women faced because of their gender, and the necessity of the Equal Rights Amendment as the only […]
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 […]
Margaret Waterman, class of 1927
Abstract In this interview, Margaret Waterman discusses her decision to attend Pembroke College – known then as the Women’s College in Brown University – for one year, her transfer to Smith College, and her return to Pembroke for her senior year. She mentions medical care in the early twentieth century when she discusses her diagnoses […]
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 […]
Martha Alice Ingham Dickie, class of 1926 (interview 1 of 2)
Abstract Martha Alice Ingham Dickie begins her 1985 interview discussing both her religious and academic backgrounds, elaborating on her interests in social work and international politics. These religious and intellectual values converged in 1939, when Czechoslovakia was being threatened by the Nazis and the Unitarian Churches there had been occupied. As part of the American […]
25th Reunion, class of 1993
Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1993 documents the undergraduate experiences of Kenya F. Crumel, Holly Gordon, April Parker Hersh, Kathleen Lenihan, Anne Sudduth, and Sarah Vidal, at their 25th reunion. The interviewees begin by sharing brief personal backgrounds, primarily with reference to geographical, parental, and academic factors that led […]
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 […]
50th Reunion, class of 1969
Abstract This interview with members of the Pembroke College class of 1969 documents the undergraduate experiences of Kathryn H. Au, Rita Ann Chao, Maria Garcia, Kathryn Troyer, and Lucy Jane Wollaeger, at their 50th reunion. Interviewees begin by introducing themselves, mentioning where they come from geographically, their parents’ educational backgrounds, and what attracted them to […]
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 […]