Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

A Class Project of GWS 280 - Fall 2011

  • Prehistory
  • Process
  • Curriculum
  • Athletics
  • Extracurriculars
  • Social Life & Fraternities
  • Women’s Resource Center
  • Timeline

Interview with Rosalyne Spindel Bernstein, Bowdoin Overeer, by Anna Wright ’12

In the fall of 1973, Roz Bernstein was elected to Bowdoin’s Board of Overseers—the first woman to serve in that capacity in the history of the College. Her election was motivated, in part, by the College’s 1971 move to coeducation. She served on the Board for over twenty years, where she was instrumental in the decision to eliminate fraternities. Today, she remains a Board member emerita. Click the audio link below to  hear Bernstein’s reflections on her time on the Board—particularly its approach to coeducation, and the questions that she expects it to confront in the future.

Audio: click below to begin listening

http://learn.bowdoin.edu/gender-women/audio/roz-bernstein-interview.mp3

Time: 4:18

AW49-1 - Orient: Golden Age for Bowdoin Greeks
AW49-1 - Orient: Golden Age for Bowdoin Greeks

On the Board’s reaction to her appointment: “When I went to my first meeting, you know, everyone was most cordial, but one guy said to me, ‘I’m very glad to meet you, but you know, I still think women don’t belong at Bowdoin,’ and I said, ‘Well, you know, that may be your opinion, but obviously, you’re in the minority.’ ”

 

Time: 31:09

On alumni backlash against some of the Board’s decisions: “People have this passion about their college, which is wonderful and has to be maintained, but you know, I don’t pay much attention to the grumbling. There will always be grumblers. But that fades away over time.”

 

Time: 31:33

On coeducation: “It’s the best thing that ever happened to Bowdoin College…It transformed attitudes on campus; it transformed campus life; it transformed the classroom.”

 

Citation: I, Anna Wright, interviewed Roz Bernstein on Sunday, October 30, 2011, at her home in Portland, Maine. We discussed her experience as the first woman on the Bowdoin College Board of Overseers, particularly as it related to the College’s change from an all-male institution to a coeducational one.

 

Filed Under: Oral History Interview, Oral History Interview, Prehistory, Process Tagged With: 1973, Bowdoin Overseer, Interview, Overseer, Rosalyne Spindel Bernstein, Roz Bernstein

Interview with Mary Lou Sprague, Society of Bowdoin Women, by Samantha Copland ’14

Women’s Role on Campus before Coeducation: A Discussion with Mary Lou Sprague

Mary Lou Sprague described her experiences at Bowdoin before coeducation as a time of war, marriage, and children. She has a long history with the College, starting when she was a child since her father and grandfather were alums. Later, married to a Bowdoin man, she became a member of the Society of Bowdoin Women. Sprague, like her mother, served two years as president of the Society. To hear about her experiences at the College before coeducation and her account of the Society, listen to the audio.

Audio: click title below to begin listening

http://learn.bowdoin.edu/gender-women/audio/mary-lou-sprague-society-of-bowdoin-women.mp3

 

Intriguing Pieces:

Time: 00:03:35

Society of Bowdoin Women Constitution - sc4-1
Society of Bowdoin Women Constitution - sc4-1

Quotation: [In reference to recounting her family’s presence at Bowdoin] “My own grandfather was presented with an honorary degree […] My mother had been President of the Bowdoin Women when I was a little girl. And then later on when I was married to Phin, I was the President of Bowdoin Women. We did nice little things for the College that seem pretty small and insignificant now, but at the time we thought they were important…”

Time: 00:14:04

Quotation: [In reference to Bowdoin’s enrollment declining during the war] “I was in school in Portland [and the professors at Bowdoin’s] workload had diminished so dramatically it was pathetic. What would happen was that Waynfleet school engaged those professors and they would take the train from Brunswick to Portland and they were our teachers in high school…”

Time: 00:44:32

Quotation: [In reference to her memory of Bowdoin over the years and ability to recount information] “I sort of get my generations confused because you see, not only was my grandfather there, my father there, my husband there, but I had two sons there and I have two grandchildren there. …”

Citation: I, Samantha Copland, interviewed Mary Lou Sprague on Friday, October 28, 2011, at her house in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. We discussed her experience at Bowdoin as a member of the Society of Bowdoin Women.

 

Filed Under: Oral History Interview, Prehistory Tagged With: Interview, Mary Lou Sprague, Society of Bowdoin Women

Categories

  • Athletics (9)
    • Documents (6)
    • Focus Group (1)
    • Oral History Interview (2)
  • Curriculum (8)
    • Documents (6)
    • Focus Group (1)
    • Oral History Interview (1)
  • Extracurriculars (10)
    • Documents (6)
    • Oral History Interview (3)
  • Prehistory (20)
    • Documents (18)
    • Oral History Interview (2)
  • Process (22)
    • Documents (12)
    • Focus Group (3)
    • Oral History Interview (7)
  • Social Life & Fraternities (20)
    • Documents (12)
    • Focus Group (3)
    • Oral History Interview (5)
  • Women’s Resource Center (8)
    • Documents (6)
    • Focus Group (1)
    • Oral History Interview (1)
  • Sources
  • Acknowledgments

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