Prehistory – Page 4 – Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

“Tale of Another Gender” The Bowdoin Orient

On October 9, 1970, The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin’s student run newspaper interviewed two perspective first year students about Bowdoin College becoming coeducational. Titled “Tale of Another Gender” (Document GB, 16) the article discusses two women’s attitudes about Bowdoin becoming coeducational. Women were excited about the idea that Bowdoin was now admitting women students and responded confidently to issues that would arise due to being the first women admitted to this previously all-male institution. The two women interviewed in the article, Leslie Hastings and Shelby Hayden, are fans of this new coeducation and fans of Bowdoin as a whole.

Other colleges like Bowdoin were also pondering the question of becoming coeducational. Williams College and Rutgers University both began admitting women in 1971, and Dartmouth followed shortly after in 1972. Universities and colleges, along with Bowdoin were slowly beginning to make the change to becoming coeducational.

The picture above the article shows the image of changing times a Bowdoin, with women now applying for admission.

GB16 - "Tale of Another Gender" The Bowdoin Orient

Letter from Richard Moll to Liddy Berry

This letter (Document 17, SB), from the Director of Admissions, Richard [Dick] Moll, to Elissa [Liddy] Berry, marks receipt of the first formal application from a female in Bowdoin’s history. Bowdoin matriculated its first class of women in the fall of 1971. There had been female students at Bowdoin as early as 1969 as part of the Twelve-College Exchange, but they stayed at most one year. Elissa Berry was one of the first women to spend four years as a Bowdoin student, graduating in 1975.

Berry came from a long line of Bowdoin grads: from a young age, she had set her sights on Bowdoin. There was only one problem; Bowdoin was an all-male institution. This did not deter Berry who planned to study at Bowdoin by any means necessary, and who considered applying to a Twelve-College Exchange institution so she could apply for a semester at Bowdoin. During the fall of 1970, Bowdoin announced that it would go coed the following academic year. Once Berry heard the news, she had her application completed and submitted within the week.

This letter reveals the excitement surrounding coeducation at Bowdoin. Berry was one of 147 women on Bowdoin’s campus during the 1971-1972 academic year. These courageous women served as the trailblazers for future Bowdoin women. Their enthusiasm overshadowed the potential risks of being in a significant minority. Like the applicants, Bowdoin staff members were also excited about coeducation. Richard Moll’s words in this letter affirm this as he describes the “appreciation and excitement” felt on campus.

SB 17

In Father’s Footsteps – Sue Jacobson and President Howell

Susan Jacobson, Bowdoin’s first college graduate, is pictured sitting next to President Dr. Roger Howell peering at her father’s signature in Bowdoin’s famous matriculation book (Document 18, GB). Jacobson, who recently passed away on October 4, 2011 graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English, then pursued a masters in library science at Simmons. She then worked at Yale and Youngstown State University as an acquisition librarian.

Native of Portland, Jacobson attended Bowdoin through the Twelve College Exchange Program and eventually transferred to Bowdoin from Connecticut College. Along with her interest in the small but highly touted English department at Bowdoin, Jacobson also wanted to attend the same college her father enjoyed during his undergraduate years. The administration of Bowdoin allowed alumni’s daughters a chance to attend Bowdoin helped the college transition to coeducation. Alumni would be in favor of coeducation because it was giving their daughters an opportunity to their alma mater.

Jacobson’s signature proudly holds its place as one of the first female names in this matriculation book. The tradition of signing the matriculation book at Bowdoin still holds firm where students meet briefly with the President of Bowdoin before signing the famous book themselves. Students have a brief one on one conversation with the President and are then invited to sign the book to become a part of Bowdoin’s history. The signing now takes place during orientation for freshman every fall.

GB18 - In Father's Footsteps - Sue Jacobson and President Howell

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

Time: 4:18

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.

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

Intriguing Pieces:

Time: 00:03:35

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.