A History of Brown Women
A publication about the history of women's education at Brown was published as part of the celebration of 100 years of women at Brown. Following is an excerpt from The Search for Equity: Women at Brown University, 1891-1991, edited by Polly Welts Kaufman '51:
During the early 1930s, as financial strains of the Depression mounted, the Brown and Pembroke administrations permitted more and more women to take courses with men on the Brown campus, rather than organize additional sections for women on the Pembroke campus.
This change, although presumed at the time to have been a financial decision resulting from an increasing shortage of funds, nonetheless came at a point when educators were no longer insisting that women receive the same training as men, when it was increasingly understood that women students were not in competition with male students because they were not preparing themselves for the same careers as men. Simultaneously as an equal education for women was being defined in terms of a different education, the fears that had previously led to segregating the sexes lessened, and separation was cast aside with little feeling of regret (Search for Equity, p. 93).
Copies of this book are available through the Pembroke Center or by writing:
Alumni Relations Office
Box 1859
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912-1958
Additional Information about the History of Brown Women
- Please click here to see a PDF of A Brief History of Women at Brown University. The building in this image is Pembroke Hall on Brown University's campus.
- Please click here to see a PDF version of a timeline of Women's Sports at Brown.
Click here to download the free Adobe PDF reader