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 […]
Theatre
Morayo Akande, class of 2016
Abstract Morayo Akande grew up in Illinois with her three siblings. Her father is a Nigerian immigrant, and her mother is American. During her first year of high school, Akande moved with her father to Indiana where he was attending law school. During her high school career, Akande was extremely active in extracurricular activities, as […]
Charise Castro Smith, class of 2005
Abstract In this interview, Charise Castro Smith, Brown University class of 2005, talks about why she decided to attend Brown, what her campus experience was like, and how she pursued a career in theatre and film. Smith begins by describing her childhood as a first generation Cuban-American in Miami, Florida, and her high school education […]
Maria Manuela Goyanes, class of 2001
Abstract In these interviews, Maria Manuela Goyanes, Brown University class of 2001, describes why she decided to attend Brown, her experience in the Theatre Department, and her career in theatre after Brown. Goyanes begins Part 1 by describing her childhood in Queens, New York, her parents’ immigration stories, and her early education at Bronx High […]
Markita S. Morris, class of 1998
Abstract In this interview, Markita Morris, Brown University class of 1998, brings a perspective of a north Philadelphian who attended public school, was housing insecure, and who adored her time at Brown. This is also the Pembroke Center Oral History Project’s first interview conducted via FaceTime. Morris begins her interview by explaining why it was […]
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 […]
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 […]
Cynthia Lee Jenner, class of 1961
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Cynthia Lee Jenner begins by describing her family background. She talks about the contemporary stigma against a middle class wife with a career and the effect of this on her mother and herself. From this context, she attended an all-girls boarding school and Pembroke College, both of which […]
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 […]
Sylvia Rosen, class of 1955
Abstract In Part 1 of this interview, Sylvia Rosen reflects on her freshman year at Pembroke College, the dormitories, dating, and meeting her husband. In Part 2, she expands on the “thrilling” academic atmosphere at Pembroke, as well as her experience as one of the few Jewish students on campus. In Part 3, Rosen considers […]
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 […]
Clarice LaVerne Thompson, Faculty
Abstract In this interview, Clarice LaVerne Thompson discusses her educational and professional path to becoming a visiting professor in Africana Studies and Music Director at Brown University, and founder of RPM Voices of Rhode Island. Thompson begins by describing her childhood and early education in Jackson, Tennessee, and Yonkers, New York. She talks about briefly […]
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 […]
Ruth Ellen Bains, class of 1943
Abstract Ruth Ellen Bains begins Part 1 of her interview by highlighting her family background and her early education in the Lincoln, Rhode Island, public school system. She explains that she only had two colleges to choose from and decided to attend Pembroke College. She briefly describes living in a dormitory and her first impressions […]
Elaine Barbara Frank, class of 1939
Abstract In this interview, Elaine Frank ’39, the daughter of a Providence-born father and Lithuanian-born mother, describes herself as a “City Girl” and discusses her decision to attend Pembroke College as a transfer student from LaSalle Junior College. She details her involvement in various dramatic societies at Hope High School, Pembroke, and throughout Rhode Island. […]
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 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 […]
Ancelin M. Vogt, class of 1968
Abstract In this interview, Ancelin M. Vogt discusses her parents’ backgrounds as intellectuals and graduates of Harvard University and Radcliffe College. She notes that Radcliffe was her first-choice school but after being denied there it was a scholarship to Pembroke College that influenced her decision to attend. She explains the lack of support she felt […]
Sarah Elizabeth Minchin, class of 1913
Abstract In this interview, Sarah Elizabeth Minchin discusses the proliferation of theatre at Brown and in the greater Providence community. She tells us of the Talma Theatre, The Players Theatre, Henry Ames Barker, and elocution among other theatre-related endeavors. Part 1 Part 2 Transcript Interviewed by Harold H. Easton Suggested Chicago style citation: Minchin, Sarah […]
Sarah Kay, class of 2010
Abstract Sarah Kay, Brown University class of 2010, begins her interview by describing her experiences as a child during 9/11 in New York City. Kay recalls in great detail the effects that 9/11 had both on her family, as well as her budding interest in poetry. Kay continues by describing her decision to apply to […]