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

Letter from Associate Dean at Wheaton (Evelyn Banning) to Dean of Admissions at Bowdoin (Richard Moll)

This letter (Document SB, 7) regarding the 10-College Exchange program was sent shortly after discussion of the program began in October of 1968. In the beginning stages, this program would coordinate the exchange of students between ten private Northeast colleges. Bowdoin was strongly interested in this program because it “would lead to other things”, as stated in the notes from the Ten College Exchange Meeting at North Hampton on January 8, 1969. These “other things” included the discussion of co-education, as these exchange students would be the first female Bowdoin students. This program mediated official coeducation. It was not long after that Trinity and Wellesley Colleges requested membership, thus changing the name of the program to the “Twelve College Exchange.”

As suggested by this letter, female student interest in Bowdoin was immediate. Bowdoin’s Dean of Admissions, Richard Moll, was forced to postpone the discussion of application procedures with Evelyn Banning because the program had not yet been formally approved. The Wheaton female students mentioned in this document represent a larger group of women who were excited about the prospect of receiving a Bowdoin education.

It was not until the end of January 1969 that the college information and relevant forms were to potential applicants. In 1970, the first 12 women were invited to study at Bowdoin as a part of the Twelve College Exchange. This opened the door to countless discussions of coeducation during the following years and finally to the admission of a full class of female students in the fall of 1971.

Letter from Associate Dean at Wheaton (Evelyn Banning) to Dean of Admissions at Bowdoin (Richard Moll)
SB7

Filed Under: Documents, Prehistory Tagged With: 1968, Dick Moll, Evelyn Banning, Letter, Richard Moll, SB7

First applicants with Dick Moll and First Proctor Belinda Bothwick

Early Applicants and Bowdoin’s First Female Proctor

These two images depict watershed moments in the history of coeducation at Bowdoin. First, Director of Admissions Richard Moll is shown with two young women who are identified as the first two to apply to Bowdoin in 1970 (Document AK, 20.1). Certainly these two were among the first, but another document featured on this site makes the claim that yet another woman, Elissa Berry, was officially the first to apply. Although the two women in this image did not ultimately matriculate at Bowdoin, it is interesting to note how easily they might fit into a picture of Bowdoin women in 2011, as fashion trends have seemingly come full circle.

The second image depicts the first woman to become a dorm proctor, Belinda Bothwick, a member of the 12 College Exchange Program from Wheaton College (Document AK, 20.2). This is an interesting example of how some of these exchange students became truly integrated within the larger Bowdoin community.

Ultimately, these two historically important images invite as many questions as they provide answers. Who took these pictures? Are they candid or posed? Certainly each photo suggests that the novelty of being a woman at Bowdoin was important enough for these moments to have been photographically documented.

AK20.1 - Image of first applicants with Dick Moll
AK20.1 - Image of first applicants with Dick Moll
AK20.2- First woman to become a dorm proctor, Belinda Bothwick, a member of the 12 College Exchange Program from Wheaton College
AK20.2- First woman to become a dorm proctor, Belinda Bothwick, a member of the 12 College Exchange Program from Wheaton College

Filed Under: Documents, Process Tagged With: 12 College Exchange Program, AK20.1, AK20.2, applicants, Belinda Bothwick, Dick Moll, Dorm, Proctor, Wheaton

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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