Abstract In this interview, Karina Wang, Brown University class of 2021, discusses the COVID-19 global pandemic, her participation in a protest for racial justice following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police, and the University’s decision to transition multiple varsity athletic teams to club teams. Wang begins by explaining why she […]
Protests
Sebastián Castro Niculescu, class of 2020
Abstract In this interview, then Brown and RISD Dual-Degree student Sebastián Castro Niculescu discusses her experience growing up in and around Queens, New York, her childhood education, admittance to Brown-RISD, and social life around the turn of the Trump Administration. The child of an Ecuadorian immigrant and Romanian refugee, Niculescu begins by detailing how she […]
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 […]
Beatrice McGeoch, class of 1997
Abstract In this interview, Beatrice McGeoch, Brown University class of 1997, shares her thoughts on education, work, and housing, in the times of COVID-19. McGeoch begins by recalling when COVID-19 became a serious factor in her work and life. She explains her work as the Director of Adult Education and Literacy Services at the Community […]
Yoruba Richen, class of 1994
Abstract In this interview, Yoruba Richen, documentary filmmaker and Brown University class of 1994, discusses her time at Brown University and describes the trajectory of her career. Richen begins by describing her childhood in Harlem and her early education at The Town School in New York’s Upper East Side. She details her experiences with the […]
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 […]
Nicole Kathleen Harrison, class of 1992
Abstract In this interview, captured during Brown University’s 2018 All-Class Black Alumni Reunion, Nicole “Nikki Strong” Harrison, class of 1992, details her activism within theatre and dance programs on campus. Harrison begins by sharing her childhood in Spanish Harlem and her education at the Chapin School in New York City. She discusses how she learned […]
Katani A. Eaton, class of 1985
Abstract In this interview captured during the 2018 Black Alumni Reunion, Katani A. Eaton, class of 1985, defines her time at Brown University by highlighting her Christian community and her involvement in a 1985 student protest advocating for needs-blind admission. Eaton begins by describing her early childhood education as a member of Massachusetts’ METCO program […]
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 […]
Candace Heald, class of 1974
Abstract In this interview, Candace Heald, Brown University class of 1974, discusses her experiences as a member of the last Pembroke College class, as well as her experiences learning about and adapting to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Heald begins by detailing her family’s legacy at Brown, her admission process, and her path to becoming a […]
Lillian Lim, class of 1973
Abstract This interview captures the oral history of Lillian Y. Lim, Brown University class of 1973 and the first Filipina American Judge in the United States. Lim begins by talking about her parents’ early lives in the Philippines and shares how they met during World War II. She explains that her two older brothers were […]
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 […]
Ido Jamar, class of 1969
Abstract In this interview, Ido Jamar (formerly Judith Fitzhugh), class of 1969, details her involvement as the face and voice of the 1968 Student Walkout – a civil rights protest against Brown University’s lack of commitment to students of color. Jamar begins first by discussing her family background and childhood growing up in Virginia, just […]
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 […]
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 […]
Feven Teklu, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Feven Teklu, Senior Leadership Giving Officer in the Office of Advancement at Brown University, discusses her experiences as a woman of color and mother during the COVID-19 global pandemic and in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Teklu begins by sharing her personal background and talking about her childhood […]
Annalisa Heppner, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Annalisa Heppner, Project Manager for the Circumpolar Laboratory Inventory Project at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, shares her experiences working, maintaining a relationship, and protesting racial injustice, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Heppner begins by recalling that she first started hearing about COVID-19 from her family members in […]
Jennifer Currier, Staff
Abstract In this interview, Jennifer Currier, former Publications and Programs Coordinator for the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies Department at Brown University, discusses her experiences leading up to and participating in one of the Black Lives Matter protests in Providence, Rhode Island, following the murder of George Floyd. Currier begins by explaining her role at Brown, […]
Gail Cohee, Staff
Abstract In this two-part interview, Gail Cohee, former Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender, discusses her life in academia, women’s center work, changing circumstances at Brown during the late 2010s, and retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. She begins with an overview of her teaching in English […]
Rachel Cassidy, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Rachel Cassidy, Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University, discusses her experiences leading up to and participating in one of the Black Lives Matter protests in Providence, Rhode Island, following the murder of George Floyd. Cassidy begins by recalling when she first heard George Floyd’s name and learned […]
Tanya C. Lumpkins, class of 1985 and Sarah Marion, class of 2019
Abstract In this interview recorded during the 2018 Black Alumni Reunion, Tanya Lumpkins, class of 1985, and her daughter, Sarah Marion, class of 2019, share their thoughts on a Brown University family legacy and current events as they compare their experiences on campus. The interview begins by Lumpkins explaining a bit of her family background, […]
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 […]
Helen Julia Thayer, class of 1922
Abstract Helen Julia Thayer grew up in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. She remembers Pembroke as a place of “gracious living,” including maids to clean the dorm rooms. The main pastime was dancing in the living room of Miller Hall to Jazz records. Rebellious activities included smoking in one’s closet, sleeping out on the fire escapes, […]
25th Reunion, class of 1986
Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1986 highlights the undergraduate experiences of Lisa M. Caputo, Linda M. Sanches, Marcy A. Sandler, Judith Anne Williams, Pamela B. Weiler, Janet L. Kroll, and Christa M. Champion, during their 25th reunion in May 2011. First, the group discusses their reasons for attending Brown […]
25th Reunion, class of 1987
Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1987 encapsulates the undergraduate experiences of Carol M. Snow, Kim S. Reuben, Mary Lou Jepsen, Valerie T. Tutson, Trinita E. Brown, Baishali Rinku Sen, Stephanie L. Grace, Rebecca M. Zeigler, and Pamela D. Gerrol, at their 25th reunion. The interviewees begin by briefly sharing […]
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 […]
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 […]
50th Reunion, class of 1972
Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1972 documents the undergraduate experiences of Joan McDonald DeFinis, Karen Leggett Abouraya, Sarah Lloyd Wolf, Lucy Meadows, Linda Papermaster, Eileen Rudden, and Ann Seelye, as they look back in honor of their 50th reunion. The interviewees begin by introducing themselves and sharing information such […]