50th Reunion, class of 1974

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Women of Brown United, classes of 1972-1973

Abstract In this interview recorded on the eve of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, eight Brown University alumnae discuss the factors that led them to found the women’s liberation student group, Women of Brown United (WBU) in 1970. They detail campus life and group activism in the midst of the sexual revolution, […]

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 1988

Abstract This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1988 summarizes the undergraduate experiences of Christine Arbor, Claire Cavanah, Martha Gardner, Kasia Welin, and Diana Wells, at their 25th reunion. This interview with members of the Brown University class of 1988 summarizes the undergraduate experiences of Christine Arbor, Claire Cavanah, Martha Gardner, Kasia […]

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 […]

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 […]