Interview – Page 2 – Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

Interview with Linda Nelson ’83, by Coral Sandler ’12

Claiming Space for Bowdoin Women: A Discussion with a founding member of the Women’s Resource Center, Linda Nelson ‘83

As one of the founding members of the Women’s Resource Center and the Gay Straight Alliance, Linda Nelson helped claim new spaces for Bowdoin women in the early 1980s. To hear about how she entered Bowdoin as an out lesbian, experienced active support and real harassment, and persistently worked for social change at Bowdoin (and in the world), listen to the audio.

Audio: click below to begin listening

Intriguing Pieces:

Time: 00:07:44
Quotation: “Somebody tried to burn it [the Women’s Resource Center] down at one point. Um, we did receive threatening phone calls kind of on a regular basis. Some of us were followed around campus.”

Time: 00:14:28
Quotation: “And I think what we realized was that especially with the fraternity structure in which you had this physical structure of houses, that women really needed a space here. So that’s where the idea for the Women’s Resource Center came from. Needed a space, needed a collection.”

Time: 00:24:53
Quotation: [Linda on the message of a lecture she attended by Audre Lord]“Stop feeling guilty about it [privilege]. You know, those of you who got a good education, who have the privilege of being white, who have the privilege of being educated get out there and do something and make a difference with that. And I firmly believe that and I think everybody that helped to found that Women’s Resource Center as a collective really, really believed that.”

Citation: I, Coral Sandler, interviewed Linda Nelson on Saturday, October 14, 2011, in the Nixon Lounge of Hawthorne Longfellow Library at Bowdoin College. We discussed Linda Nelson’s experience at Bowdoin as a student and founding members of the Women’s Resource Center.

Interview with William Eccleston ’74, by Genevieve Barlow ’13

This interview attempts to get one perspective of the men who called Bowdoin home during the early years of coeducation. Bill Eccleston class of 1974 shares his stories of what life was like for women here at Bowdoin but from a perspective of a man. He adds an interesting view on every day life at Bowdoin that ranges from fraternities, to athletics, to curriculum. Bill provides a positive view on how Bowdoin changed with the implementation of women.

Audio: click tracks(s) below to begin listening

freshmen registering for the 1970-71 academic year, Bill Eccleston's first year on campus

Interview with Richard Moll, Head of Admissions, by Samuel Shapiro ’14

AK20.1 - Image of first applicants with Dick Moll

Audio: click title below to begin listening

Shaping Coeducation Through Admissions: An Interview With Former Head of Admissions Richard Moll

As the head of admissions during Bowdoin’s coeducational process, Richard Moll was instrumental in ensuring the success of women at Bowdoin. He was given great freedom, allowing him to determine how best to attract women to this newly coeducational institution. To hear how he helped shape the first classes of women at Bowdoin, and hear his take on the entire coeducational process in the context of the time period, click the audio link.

Intriguing Pieces:
Time: 00:02:57
Quotation: [In reference to what role the admissions office had towards the advent of coeducation] “A lot that we didn’t have at Bowdoin College is probably because we didn’t have women. For example we had very limited programs in the arts, in music, we had sort of a raucous social scene and many of us thought it would be somewhat more even and balanced and mature if there were women. And consequently, the administration at the time […] were very interested in hearing what the admissions office had to say…”

Time: 00:11:00
Quotation: [In reference to what changes Bowdoin made to prepare for the arrival of women] “We did not make a lot of changes before a large number of the young women arrived. But we certainly had our ear to the ground on what they wanted that we didn’t have…”

Time: 00:24:05
Quotation: [In reference to the impact of coeducation within the greater context of the time period] “I disagree with the point of going coed being the biggest factor at the time. Clearly our making SATs optional in 1969 was the biggest thing that has ever happened to Bowdoin. The applicant pool tripled almost overnight and suddenly we were considered a progressive college and alone in that progressive category of optional SATs…”

Citation: I, Samuel Shapiro, interviewed former head of admissions Richard Moll on November 2nd, 2011, in his home in Brunswick, Maine. We discussed the role that the admissions office had in the coeducational process, as well the influence administrators had and resulting changes that occurred on campus.

Interview with Patricia Pope ’75, by Angelica Guerrero ’11

Running with the Guys: A Conversation with Patricia Pope

A transfer student from Smith College, Patricia Pope came to Bowdoin in search of a more balanced experience socially and academically. While Ms. Pope describes her overall experience at Bowdoin as positive, she talks about the ways in which the difficulties she encountered during her time here prepared her for life. To hear about how this woman created a space for herself in the classroom, on the track and through the power of baking, listen below.

Audio: click below to begin listening

Intriguing Pieces:
Time: 00:08:10
Quotation: [In reference to a professor overlooking a footnote and giving Ms. Pope what she felt was an unfair grade] “I had one situation that was character building I could say now but was devastating for me at the time. I had written a paper on the first female secretary of labor, Francis Perkins. And I had written a term paper on her, and I received my first C ever,-in my life. The professor had not read my footnote indicating that there was no original research I could perform because Ms. Perkins’s papers were locked up for fifty years following her death. And so I had to use secondary sources in researching and writing my paper. He had missed that footnote and given me a C. Several history professors came to me, very, very concerned about that and that started a dialogue”

Time: 00:14:15
Quotation: [In reference to baking as a way of building community] “Interestingly, I lived in Pine Street my senior year, which was a lot of fun. And we discovered the power of baking because whenever I would bake chocolate chip cookies, within ten minutes, everyone in Pine Street would show up in our flat and we’d wind up making a big dinner together…”

Time: 00:17:20
Quotation: [In reference to discovering chewing gum in her braid after class] “I had very long hair. I remember one time I used to braid my hair back and I had someone sitting behind me who was just very upset with me because he thought that I was getting favorable treatment from the professor in that class, which I wasn’t, and to my amazement, I got out of class and he had put chewing gum all up and down my braid…”

Citation: I, Angelica Guerrero, interviewed Patricia Pope on Friday, November 4, 2011, in the Nixon Reading Room in Hawthorne-Longfellow Library at Bowdoin College. We discussed Patricia Pope’s experience at Bowdoin as a student, and in particular, as a member of one of the first classes of female students admitted to Bowdoin during Bowdoin’s transition to coeducation.

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.