Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

Introduction

In the fall of 1971, the first full class of women students arrived on the Bowdoin College campus, ushering in official coeducation. Forty years later, in 2011, when women formed just over 50% of the student body, a group of Bowdoin students took on the task of documenting the history of the College’s move to coeducation. The information gathered here, based on archival research and oral history interviews and as part of a class project, provides an intriguing, instructive, and in … Continued »

Prehistory of Coeducation

AG37.1 - Masque and Gown Photo (1920 Merchant of Venice)

From Joshua Chamberlain’s 1871 inaugural address to the 1969 arrival of women via the 12 College Exchange, women have a shared history with Bowdoin. Learn more from our documents, images, and interviews. What we call the “prehistory” of women at Bowdoin College begins exactly one hundred years before coeducation, with Bowdoin president Joshua Chamberlain’s 1871 inaugural address, in which he called for the admission of women to the College. It continues through, among other dates and events, Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1901 honorary degree, women faculty teaching on campus during World … [Read More...]