This poem (Document 3, GB) was published in 1890, in the Bowdoin College yearbook, which has been in continuous publication since 1847.  The mission of the yearbook states that it is “to document people, campus events, student organizations and athletics from a student’s perspective in a comprehensive volume to be published each academic year.”  By publishing this poem in the college yearbook, the editors make a statement that coeducation was not compatible with the values of the college.  In 1890, popular attitude still believed that women had no place in an institution like Bowdoin.

In 1890, men still felt superior to women and assumed that college, at least their college, was no place for women.  The picture that accompanies the poem depicts a wall separating the man from the woman symbolizes this definite separatism.  A century later, in 1971, Bowdoin finally became coeducational.  And today, in 2011, more women than men attend Bowdoin.