Case 1: Envisioning a Place for Women at the University
1. William Rainey Harper to Marion Talbot, August 1, 1892. Marion Talbot Papers.
In the summer of 1892, University President Harper encouraged Marion Talbot to join the administration as Assistant Dean of Women, taking on "the care of young ladies" with Dean Alice Freeman Palmer.
2. Portrait of Marion Talbot, [1895]. Archival Photographic Files.
3. Women's Club of Chicago. An Appeal on Behalf of Women Students. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1892. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
As part of his earliest outreach, President Harper addressed an important group of potential University donors: Chicago's clubwomen.
4. "Proper Function of College Presidents," ca. 1892. Archival Photographic Files.
5. Residents of the Beatrice Hotel, October 1892. Archival Photographic Files.
Marion Talbot and some of the first women students moved in to rooms at the Beatrice Hotel on South Dorchester Avenue in the fall of 1892. First-year students living at the Beatrice included (left to right) Margaret Purcell, Elizabeth Butler, Cora Howland, Grace Clark, and Demia Butler.
6. Diary of Demia Butler, 1892-1893. Demia Butler Papers.
Undergraduate Demia Butler (Ph.B. '98) kept a detailed journal documenting her first year at the University of Chicago.
7. World's Columbian Exposition, Women's Building Exterior, 1893. Archival Photographic Files.
The grand Women's Building of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition stood in Jackson Park, just blocks away from the new University of Chicago.
8. "Marion Talbot and Kelly House." Cap and Gown. Vol. 1, 1895. Archival Reference Collection.
As part of her supervisory duties, Marion Talbot resided in the women's dorms on the University's main quad, where she watched over her female students' social and academic lives.
9. The University of Chicago. Annual Register. July 1894-July 1895. Archival Serial Collection.
"Somatic and Psychic History of Woman" is the first known course on the subject of women taught at the University of Chicago.
Case 2: Marion Talbot - Dean of Women
1. Marion Talbot at her desk, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
2. The University of Chicago. Annual Register. July 1, 1892-July 1, 1893. Archival Serial Collection.
Marion Talbot taught a number of courses in the University's first year, including a "Seminar in Sanitary Science," "House Sanitation," and "The Economy of Living" for the Department of Social Science and Anthropology.
3 .William Rainey Harper to Marion Talbot, June 2, 1896. Marion Talbot Papers.
4. Anonymous letter to Marion Talbot, ca. 1900. Marion Talbot Papers.
A Hyde Park resident complained to Dean Talbot that women students were choosing to socialize, without supervision, with men in neighborhood apartments.
5. Discipline Record, 1924. University of Chicago Recorder's Office Discipline Record Book.
Gladys Pearl Chester was placed on probation after sneaking into her dormitory at midnight through the fire escape, causing "disturbance and alarm."
6. William J. De La Mater to Marion Talbot, November 22, 1910. Marion Talbot Papers.
Concerned parents relied on the University to take over the care of their daughters during the college years.
7. Marion Talbot to William J. De La Mater, November 25, 1910. Marion Talbot Papers.
Mabel De La Mater (Ph.B. '14) eventually returned to the University of Chicago, despite her father's concerns.
7a. Mabel De La Mater. Cap and Gown. Vol. 19, 1914. Archival Reference Collection.
8. Marion Talbot's parlor, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
9. Marion Talbot (1858-1948). More than Lore, Reminiscences of Marion Talbot, Dean of Women, The University of Chicago, 1892-1925. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1936. Archival Monographs Collection.
Case 3: The Debate Over Sex Segregation
1. Marion Talbot to William Rainey Harper, April 19, 1901. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
Marion Talbot recognized that the University's answer to the "sex question" would attract attention beyond Chicago.
2. "Memorial to President W.R. Harper and the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago," July 1902. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
Fifty-eight University instructors signed off on petition rejecting the administration's proposal to segregate the sexes in the Junior College.
3. Marion Talbot to William Rainey Harper, November 10, 1902. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
Just months after the Junior College sex segregation went into effect, Talbot overheard a young man in Cobb Hall announce, "the women will soon be put off the campus."
4. Cap and Gown. Vol. 8, 1903. Archival Reference Collection.
5."Agnes R. Wayman Most Perfectly Formed Woman," September 19, 1903. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
During the era of sex segregation, the physical director of the Chicago Business Women's Club celebrated women's basketball team captain Agnes Wayman (AB '03) for possessing "a physique so splendid indeed that it might safely be called ideal in its dimensions."
6. Harold Swift to Ernest Burton, December 1, 1924. Harold Swift Papers.
Swift, a University Trustee, asked President Burton to consider the fact that "women have not made the progress in our Faculty that they might have done" at other institutions.
7. Harold Swift notes on women's status, ca. 1924. Harold Swift Papers.
Swift kept notes about women's status in the University. Here, he notes that in terms of pay and opportunity, able women did not receive a "fair shake."
8. Elizabeth Wallace to Harold Swift, December 5, 1924. Harold Swift Papers.
On the eve of Marion Talbot's retirement from the University, faculty member Elizabeth Wallace conversed with Harold Swift about an increased role for women on the faculty and on the Board of Trustees.
9. Marion Talbot's retirement ceremony, June 4, 1925. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 4: Women's Academics
1. Letter to Madeline Wallin from Charles E. Peet, January 3, 1892. Madeline Wallin Papers.
Madeline Wallin (Ph.M. '93) was one of the first female graduate students at the University of Chicago. Here, the President of the University Union informs Wallin that she has been chosen to present her research on grasshoppers at the organization's first public meeting.
2. Mary Calvert, Astronomy Assistant, 1900. Archival Photographic Files.
3. Virginia Woodson Frame. College Girls' Record. San Francisco: Paul Elder, 1903. Shirley Farr Papers.
Shirley Farr (Ph.B. '04) annotated a copy of The College Girls Record during her senior year. After graduation, Farr went on to teach at Ripon College and made significant contributions to University of Chicago fundraising campaigns.
4 and 5. Student Matriculation Card, 1919 and Student Grade Book, 1921. Anna Gwin Pickens Papers.
Pickens (Ph.B. '23) went on to receive an A.M in History from the University in 1948.
6. "To the President of the University and the President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago," ca. 1924. Marion Talbot Papers.
7. Edith Abbott's fellowship award notice, 1903. Edith and Grace Abbott Papers.
8. Art Class, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
9. Placement Examinations, September 1945. Archival Photographic Files.
Eight hundred students-including a visible number of women-sat for placement exams at the University of Chicago Field House.
Case 5: Housing Women on Campus
1. Ralph Drury to the Registrar of the University of Chicago, August 25, 1900. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
Drury echoed the sentiments of many parents and relatives of women students living away from home for the first time.
2. Students outside of Lexington Hall, ca. 1904. Shirley Farr Papers.
The University built Lexington Hall during the era of sex segregation on campus. Before the construction of Ida Noyes Hall, it was one of the few spaces students available to women on campus for hosting meetings and social events.
3. Invitation to Green Hall reception, 1941. Edith and Grace Abbott Papers.
4. Beecher House Winter Formal financial report, 1930. Beecher House Papers.
5. Letter to Dr. Goodspeed from Sophonisba Breckenridge, June 20, 1907. Marion Talbot Papers.
Breckenridge inquired about the housing options for women of color on campus.
6. Beecher House Dues and Spring Quarter Expenditures, 1907. Beecher House Papers.
7. Letter to Miss Anderson, February 14, 1909. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
Hand-drawn illustrations depict a "Class Night" ceremony in Nancy Foster Hall.
8. Foster Hall residents, ca. 1895. Archival Photographic Files.
The donor of this photograph labeled it "Prom Night for those who did not attend the prom."
9. Students outside of Beecher Hall, 1902. Archival Photographic Files.
10. Ruth Cohen, Pearl Hood, and Sara Barney in front of Beecher Hall, ca. 1901. Archival Photographic Files.
11. Student room in Beecher Hall, 1900. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 6: Women's Clubs
1. Quadrangler members to Marian Talbot, 1895. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
2. The University of Chicago Weekly. Vol. 9, No. 22, March 14, 1901. Archival Serial Collection.
The Weekly's female staffers published a special "Women's Edition."
3. Women's club letter, ca. 1900. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
4."Campus Types - The Club Girl." Cap and Gown. Vol. 12, 1907. Archival Reference Collection.
5. Mortar Board club, 1940's. Student Papers and Ephemera.
6. Mortar Board Pledge Booklet with annotations, n.d. University of Chicago Mortar Board Records.
While early campus administrators perceived women's clubs as an acceptable alternative to sororities, the clubs increasingly resembled the sororities on other university campuses. As in sororities, new recruits to Mortar Board entered a provisional membership prior to their formal initiation. The annotations indicate that pledges and full members may have struggled over the terms of new member obligations.
7. Mortar Board Constitution and Bylaws, n.d. University of Chicago Mortar Board Records.
The clubs carefully recorded their ritual and traditions to provide intergenerational continuity and distinctiveness from other clubs on campus.
8. Debate Team, 1916. Archival Photographic Files.
While university women created female-only organizations, they also participated in extracurricular activities alongside men.
9. YWCA membership card, ca. 1929. Student Papers and Ephemera.
10. "Comad Club (Business School)." Cap and Gown. Vol. 39, 1935. Archival Reference Collection.
Case 7: Women's Athletics and Physical Culture
1. "Women's Baseball Team." Cap and Gown. Vol. 7, 1902. Archival Reference Collection.
2. Photo of women on athletic field, n.d. Shirley Farr Papers.
The fence surrounding the women's athletic field was likely intended to ensure the women's privacy as they exercised.
3. Courtenay to Amos Alonzo Stagg, 1909. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
4. WAA June-Fest, 1911. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
Women's athletics included both the highly competitive and the artistic and ritualized.
5. Ticket to use Bartlett pool, 1912. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
6. Women's Athletic Association Programs, 1916. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
Both Amos Alonzo Stagg and his wife attended the annual WAA year-end ceremony honoring the past and future of women's physical culture at the university.
7. Scrapbook photos of women on University athletic fields, n.d. Shirley Farr Papers.
8. Varsity Women's Letter Sweater, n.d. Department of Physical Education Papers.
9. "Extracurricular Activities" pamphlet, 1938. Office of Student Activities Papers.
The WAA encouraged all women to join by emphasizing the social, rather than competitive, aspects of physical activity.
10. Hutton to Amos Alonzo Stagg. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
While campus administrators were vocally committed to women's physical activities, women had to ensure that the facilities they required were not already in use by male students. Men's athletics received more resources from the University.
11. Dudley statement. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
When University administrators contemplated eliminating the college physical education requirement, Gertrude Dudley compared the benefits of physical activity to the services provided by the student health clinic. "Both the Health Service and the Department of Physical Education attempt to serve the same purpose-to develop in this university a finer, more vigorous, saner type of man and woman," she wrote.
12. Winifred W. of Kelly Hall w/ Frank Scudder, 1910. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 8: Ida Noyes Hall-A Center for Women on Campus
1. Ida Noyes portrait, 1915. University of Chicago. Office of the President. Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations.
Six months after the death of Ida Noyes (1853-1912), her husband, LaVerne Noyes, declared he wanted to build a women's building dedicated to her memory at the University of Chicago.
2. Letter to Miss Anderson, July 18, 1916. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
Students and alumni attended the grand opening celebrations for Ida Noyes Hall in June 1916.
3. Student Handbook, 1916-1917. University of Chicago Student Papers and Ephemera Collection.
4. Ida Noyes Refectory, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
5. Ida Noyes Gymnasium, ca. 1925. Department of Physical Education Papers.
6. Committee on Dedication of Ida Noyes Hall, ca. 1916. Marion Talbot Papers.
7. Edith Foster Flint to Frederic C. Woodward, November 2, 1926. University of Chicago Office of the President, Max Mason Administration Records.
Flint, a professor of English and chairman of the Women's University Council, wrote in support of informal dancing hours in Ida Noyes Hall.
Case 9: Social Life
1. University Public Lectures ticket, 1923. Anna Gwin Pickens Papers.
2. Junior Promenade Dance Booklet, 1906. Amos Alonzo Stagg Papers.
3. Federation of University Women Information Card. Department of Physical Education Papers.
4. Federation of University Women Third Annual Fashion Show, 1924. Department of Physical Education Papers.
The stated purpose of the fashion show was "to give all women of the University of Chicago an opportunity to show what they consider is practical, suitable and attractive in the way of wearing apparel."
5. Student date book, April 30-May 13, 1916. University of Chicago Student Papers and Ephemera Collection.
College student Alice Johnstone's date book reveals the social and athletic activities women students balanced with their coursework.
6. "Hop Baby Phoenix" Dance Program, ca. 1924. Department of Physical Education Papers.
According to the dance program, attendees could expect to meet women like "Agnes, the woman's rights advocate...[who] goes about campus hatless on windy days" and "Joanna, an athletic girl. Not a man hater, but thinks marriage is a lottery, because every wife does not become a widow." For all women in attendance, avoiding "the Greek toe dancer" was likely a priority.
7. Washington Prom, 1900. Archival Photographic Files.
Some years, the campus gymnasium doubled as a ballroom.
8. Washington Prom, 1930. Archival Photographic Files.
9. Phi Delta Upsilon Dance Card, 1929. University of Chicago Student Papers and Ephemera Collection
College students attended both university-wide social events and those sponsored by men's fraternities.
10. Men's Athletics Ticket Book, 1930. University of Chicago Student Papers and Ephemera Collection
Josephine Mirabella's ticket book included passes to men's home basketball, baseball and football games.
11. Chinese Student Assocation Choir, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 10: Home Economics
1. Home Economics 50 course listing, n.d. Marion Talbot Papers.
2. Department of Home Economics and Household Administration, 1920. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
3. Marion Talbot (1858-1948) and Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (1866-1948). The Modern Household. Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows, 1912. General Collections.
4. William Rainey Harper to Marion Talbot, February 16, 1901. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
5. Sophonisba Breckenridge, n.d. Eva Watson Schütze Photographs.
6. Home Economics and Household Arts Club, 1916. Archival Photographic Files.
7. Doctors of Philosophy, 1931. LD 909.A1R33 v 21 n 19
8. Women's Chemistry Class in Kent Chemical Laboratory, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 11: Alumnae Club and Early Women Graduates
1. Cosmopolitan Cabaret, ca. 1930s.Chicago Alumnae Club Records.
Defying the Depression-era doldrums, the Chicago Alumnae club invited women graduates to bring their husbands to a light-hearted affair.
2. Invitation to Tea, 1919. Chicago Alumnae Club Records.
Alumnae club teas were both social and professional networking events.
3. Invitation to Emerson Tea, 1924. Chicago Alumnae Club Records.
4. Nu Pi Sigma graduates on the Women's Quad, 1930. University of Chicago Student Papers and Ephemera Collection.
5. "Student Aides and Student Marshalls." Cap and Gown. Vol. 45, 1941. Fiftieth Anniversary ed. Archival Reference Collection.
6. Air Hostess Applicants, 1942. Archival Photographic Files
With their wartime graduation from the University of Chicago only a few months away, college seniors apply for airhostess jobs with TWA, which required at least one year of college education.
7. Typists, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
Clerical employment was a typical form of paid employment for women students and graduates alike.
8. Rush Medical College graduates, 1884. Archival Photographic Files.
Rush Medical College, originally affiliated with the University of Chicago, granted admission to a limited number of women students as early as the 1880s.
9. Nursery School "Story Time," n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
Caring for children, both at home and as educators and childcare workers, was also a frequent occupation of women graduates.
10. Irene Hyman to Helen Drew, 1918. Helen L. Drew Correspondence.
Irene Hyman wrote her friend Helen L. Drew (MA '15) about the challenges and excitement of working as a librarian in Harper Library. Hyman wrote, "I am no believer in unrestrained emotionalism-that leads to Bolshevism. But I do heartily believe in sunlight and freedom and a chance to express one's individuality within the limit of reason."
Case 12: Women's Philanthropy and Social Settlements
1. T.W. Goodspeed to "My Dear Madam," April 4, 1895. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
2."The New Woman's Building" pamphlet, 1895. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
3.Subscription ticket, 1895. University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton Administrations Records.
4. Green Hall Entrance, ca. 1899. Archival Photographic Files.
[Items 1, 2, 3, and 4 go together with one caption]
University administrators urged Chicago's women philanthropists to contribute to the building of a new women's dormitory to join Beecher, Foster, and Kelly Halls on the main quad. Women's dorms, this 1895 fundraising solicitation argued, "enable them to lead and give character to the social life of the entire University." Green Hall was completed four years later, in 1899.
5. University of Chicago Settlement League President's Report, 1934-1935. University of Chicago Service League Records.
By the 1930s, the League provided both philanthropic assistance to settlement house residents and social outlets for club members. The club included a book review group, bridge group, current events discussion group, a music group, and more.
6. University of Chicago Settlement League, 1910-1911. University of Chicago Service League Records.
League members raised money through membership fees, pledge drives, and fundraising events. They provided the University Settlement with milk, fuel, school supplies, and more.
7. University Settlement Exterior, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
8. Settlement Library, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
League members conducted book drives to bring used books from Hyde Park to the Settlement library.
9. Sewing class at the University of Chicago Settlement Trade School, 1918. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 13: Women's Politics and the Welfare State
1. Chicago woman suffrage brochure, 1910s. Marion Talbot Papers.
This pamphlet argues that Chicago women deserve the ballot, for "Chicago herself needs the help of enlightened women in her efforts toward a clean city administration. She is weakened now by the absence of the electorate of the most moral, most law-abiding and most nearly unpurchasable of her citizens."
2. Reading List, 1947. Edith and Grace Abbott Papers.
The Abbott sisters pioneered the field of social work, teaching courses on public welfare, the family economy and rehabilitation of the indigent.
3. Jane Addams to Edith Abbott, 1930. Edith and Grace Abbott Papers.
A former resident of Hull House, Edith Abbott was invited to attend the 40th anniversary celebration of Jane Addams' social and cultural experiment.
4. Grace Abbott to Elizabeth S. Dixon, May 19, 1924. School of Social Service Administration Records.
Grace Abbott served as Chief of the Child Labor Division of the U. S. Children's Bureau from 1921 to 1934. From 1934 until her death in 1939, Abbott taught at the School of Social Service Administration and helped to draft the Social Security Act of 1935.
5. Members of the Social Service Club to the Hon. Medill McCormick, May 1924. School of Social Service Administration Records.
SSA students kept abreast of national developments in the fields of labor and public welfare. Thousands of SSA graduates went on to work in state and local social service agencies.
6. Women for Hoover, ca. 1932. Archival Photographic Files.
Students supporting Republican President Herbert Hoover stand over an ailing donkey, symbol of the Democratic party.
7. Campus protest, ca. 1935. Archival Photographic Files.
8. SSA description and photo of Dean Edith Abbott. Cap and Gown. Vol. 39, 1935. Archival Reference Collection.
Case 14: Women in the Era of World Wars
1. Enrollment Pledge, 1918. Marion Talbot Papers.
World War I compelled college women to pledge to prepare themselves "for some essential occupation" to help the war effort.
2. "Work and Fight: Together We Win" flyer, ca. 1918. Marion Talbot Papers.
University of Chicago women adapted President Woodrow Wilson's famous "work or fight" provision, which asked American men to fight abroad or work in war industry at home. Campus women proclaimed themselves "eager to take up their share of work in the world," fighting the war abroad through domestic activities at home.
3. Julia C. Lathrop to Marion Talbot, April 18, 1917. Marion Talbot Papers.
Julia Lathrop, Chief of the Child Labor Division of the U. S. Children's Bureau, admired Talbot's efforts to prepare University of Chicago women to serve their nation.
4. Women at Mandel Hall Coffee Shop, 1942. Archival Photographic Files.
According to the Maroon, these college sophomores "achieve ideal harmony of costume with lumberjack shirts, tails of which may be tucked inside jeans or left hanging sloppily outside. Note pigtail hair-dos." These students embody the outward confidence and low-maintenance style of many wartime women in campus.
5. Pulse, University of Chicago's Student Magazine. Vol. 4, no. 11, October 1940. Archival Reference Collection.
During WWII, a women's defense group sponsored by Pulse magazine included (left to right) Lois Regnell, Betty Headlin, Fay Trolander and Frances Megan. Pulse editors suggested that in wartime, the nation should require a six-month intensive training course for unmarried women without dependents.
6. Rifle Marksmanship, 1940. Archival Photographic Files.
7. University of Chicago Youth Committee Against the War, 1939. Archival Photographic Files.
8. Wartime Fashion Show, 1943. Archival Photographic Files.
University of Chicago Sigma Club members held a fashion show at the Shoreland Hotel, featuring "the ideal wardrobe of the wartime co-ed."
9. Campus Style Show at Hutchinson Commons Garden, 1947. Archival Photographic Files.
Note the difference in iconic women's fashions just four years later. Admired by several young girls, the ideal postwar co-ed wears jewelry, taffeta, and black gloves.
Case 15: Courtship and Dating at Mid-Century
1. House Discussion on Dating Relationships, ca. 1947. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
2. Questions and Areas for Discussion at Green House, November 4, 1947. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
3. Questions submitted for discussion at the February 6 meeting on "Sex Education" at Blake House, ca. 1947. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
4. Frankie Etherton parades for fellow students, April 1941. Archival Photographic Files.
Local newspapers covered a student parody of "Typical Miss Campus 1941," played by Frank Etherton, a member of the all-male Blackfriars student theater troupe. The Blackfriars did not admit women members until the 1950. In 1986 the group merged with the University Theater.
5. All-Campus C-Dances booklet, 1950. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
6. Washington Prom ticket, 1953. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
7. Washington Prom, 1954. Archival Photographic Files.
Janice Porter (AB '56, center) was crowned Miss U of C in 1954.
8. Student Dance, n.d. Archival Photographic Files.
Case 16: Married Women and the Postwar University
1. Prefabs on Midway, 1946. Archival Photographic Files.
2. Mrs. James R. Ahrens and Candace Benton, 1946. Archival Photographic Files.
Local media covered the phenomenon of returning male GIs on campus and the resulting community of wives that formed in the prefabs. "There's a lot of neighborliness," one newspaper reported, "such as visiting in each other's houses, at the clothes lines, and over the fence that holds the garbage pails."
3. Apartment & Prefab Newsletter. May 1954. Archival Reference Collection.
The Apartment & Prefab Newsletter published birth announcements in its "Spring Storkline." The newsletter also advertised activities for couples on campus, including cooperative food buying, voter registration, shared childcare, and a "great books" club.
4. Outing club photo, 1954. Archival Photographic Files.
University of Chicago students and faculty prepared to hike twelve miles from Hyde Park to Palos Park "to determine the minimum time required on foot to reach safety in the event of an H-bomb attack on the city."
5. "Your Bad Neighbors" flyer, 1969. Cleaner Air Committee of Hyde Park-Kenwood Papers.
Led by writer and activist Laura Fermi, wife of physicist Enrico Fermi, the Cleaner Air Committee of Hyde Park-Kenwood educated the community to the dangers posed by air pollution. Members also volunteered to monitor the smoke emitted by neighbors' chimneys to ensure Hyde Park air did not become contaminated.
6. "Housing Information for Prospective Graduate Students," ca. 1976. Henderson House Papers.
Until recently, the University offered separate buildings for graduate students in Hyde Park, separating out "Married Students Housing" from "Single Students Housing."
7. Married Student Housing, 1961. Archival Photographic Files.
8. Cartoon, 1946. Archival Photographic Files.
9. Mr. and Mrs. James R. Ahrens and children, 1946. Archival Photographic Files.
The Ahrens family lived in a three-room prefab unit, consisting of two bedrooms and a "living room-kitchenette." James Ahrens (AB '42, JD '48) was among the first WWII veterans at Chicago eligible for the prefabs because of his service record and previous enrollment at the University.
Case 17: Expansion of Student Housing
1. Earle Ludgin and John J. McDonough to alumni, May 23, 1956. University of Chicago Office of the President, Kimpton Administration Records.
Fundraisers for the new dorm invited alumni to visit their old stomping grounds, where they would see "the girls on campus are remarkably pretty these days."
2. New Dorm construction, ca. 1957. Archival Photographic Files.
Eero Saarinen's "New Dorm," a modern four-story U-shaped complex, was built to house 500 undergraduate and graduate men and women. It was demolished in 2002 to make room for The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
3. Cap and Gown orientation brochure, 1964. University of Chicago Department of Buildings and Grounds Papers.
4. James E. Newman to J. Lee Jones, November 11, 1964. University of Chicago Department of Buildings and Grounds Papers.
When a yearbook sales brochure made it to the desk of Assistant Dean of Students James Newman, he was appalled to see the ease with which women could pass through the fences surrounding the new Woodward Court dormitory.
5. Henderson House party, ca. 1965. University of Chicago Henderson House Records.
6. Henderson House Punch Party Invitation, 1975. University of Chicago Henderson House Records.
7. Lower Flint House to Henderson House, 1975. University of Chicago Henderson House Records
8. "Lower Flint/Lower Rickert house pictures." Cap and Gown. Vol. 62, 1977. Archival Reference Collection.
Coed dormitories sometimes posed new social dilemmas for the undergraduate student body. In October 1975, residents of Woodward Court's coed Lower Flint house were annoyed to find that only the female "Lower Flintians" received invitations to a party at Pierce Hall's all-male Henderson House.
Case 18: Faculty Wives' Dinners
1. McNeill and Maroon, 1970. University of Chicago Maroon.
2. Reply to Reply, 1970. University of Chicago Maroon.
One caption for items 1 and 2: Faculty wives and women faculty sparred in the Maroon over the proper role and representation of women at the University.
3. Photo of Mrs. Schulman, 1970. University of Chicago Faculty Wives' Dinners Records.
This photograph from the Chicago Tribune depicts a faculty wife as campus administrator.
4. Faculty Wives' Dinner Invitation, 1947. University of Chicago Faculty Wives' Dinners Records.
For the 1947 faculty wives show, entitled "Cat's Cabaret," faculty wives transformed the Quadrangle Club into the "Feline Club."
5. Faculty Wives' Dinner Invitation, 1967. University of Chicago Office of the President, Beadle Administration Records
The 1967 faculty wives' show explored the life of a faculty wife frustrated that her personal ambitions took a backseat to the needs of her husband and children. By the end of the show, she was happily readjusted to her role as a supportive faculty wife.
6. Faculty Luncheon at Quad Club, 1958. Archival Photographic Files.
Faculty wives typically accompanied their husbands to departmental functions, which often merged the social and the academic.
7. Songs, 1938. University of Chicago Faculty Wives' Dinners Records.
Early faculty wives dinners entertainment consisted of songs celebrating friendship and the wives' joy in each others' company.
8. Press release, 1962. University of Chicago Faculty Wives' Dinners Records.
The faculty wives informed local newspapers of their annual shows. The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and Hyde Park Herald typically published a short informational piece each year.
9. Faculty Wives' show cocktail hour, 1960. University of Chicago Office of the President, Kimpton Administration Records.
10. Faculty Wives' Dinner Invitation, 1970. University of Chicago Office of the President, Levi Administration Records.
The 1970 show, titled "Never Underestimate," suggested if faculty wives were to oust their husbands from university leadership, campus priorities would be shifted from the academic to the aesthetic.
Case 19: Postwar Student Movements
1. "Paternalism" flyer, ca. 1950. University of Chicago Student Government Papers.
2. "Janice Porter, Student Government President." Cap and Gown. Vol. 49, 1956. Archival Reference Collection.
During the 1950s, student government began to protest aspects of in loco parentis.
3. "Back Beadle?" poster, 1962. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
4. Committee on Racial Equality Sit-In, 1962. Archival Photographic Files.
In January 1962 thirty students occupied President Beadle's office in protest, claiming the University practiced racial discrimination in its off-campus rental policies.
5. Joan Baez program of resistance, ca. 1963. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
Note the disapproving suited men literally looking down upon student resisters.
6. "Year of the New Left" 1968 photo essay. Cap and Gown. Vol. 61, 1968. Archival Reference Collection.
The Cap and Gown yearbook declared 1968 "the year of the new left on campus," for over half of incoming freshman joined the University's Students for a Democratic Society chapter.
7. Movement Women poster, 1967. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
By the late 1960s, campus women openly questioned whether the male-dominated revolutionary movement on campus worked to liberate women, or further subordinate them.
8. Women students with Eugene McCarthy, 1968. Archival Photographic Files.
As in past decades, campus women took part in national as well as campus political activities.
Case 20: "Second Wave" Feminism on Campus
1. Women for Radical Action in Politics Student Organization Registration Form, 1966. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
2. Women's Radical Action Project (WRAP) meeting poster, October 1968. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
3. Meeting of Radical Women agenda, [1968]. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
4. WRAP Student Organization Registration Form, 1968. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
Between 1966 and 1968, WRAP radicalized in both its stated aims and membership.
5. The Chicago Experimental College course list, 1969. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
To those dissatisfied with the formal curriculum, the Chicago Experimental College offered women courses in self-defense, computers, cooking and more.
6. "What it is to be a Woman in the University" conference flyer, ca. 1969. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
Both women students and faculty challenged barriers to their success in the university community. Women demanded to choose their course of study and to be promoted and supported alongside of men.
7. Skip Landt to Walter Hass, November 30, 1970. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
8. Women's Coffee Shop poster, ca. 1970s. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
Feminist activism on campus ranged from the overtly political to the creation of realms for women's artistic and personal expression.
9. Women's Lib Rock Band Concert and Dance poster, ca. 1972. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
10. Gay and Women's Lib Dance poster, ca. 1970s. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
In gay student activists, campus feminists found staunch allies in their efforts to challenge gender norms.
11. Teach-In on Sexism poster, ca. 1972. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
Case 21: Women's Health and Abortion Rights
1. Gael Greene. Sex and the College Girl. New York: Dial Press, 1964. General Collections.
Publishers promoted Greene's book as "a frank, up-to-date, first-hand report from the American college campus on sex in the sixties."
2. "Student Health photo, 1968." Cap and Gown. Vol. 60, 1967. Archival Reference Collection.
3. Reproduction of "Gynecology" in Women and the University, a Special Section of the Maroon, May 23, 1969. Archival Serials Collection. University of Chicago Office of the President, Levi Administration Records
In 1969, the Maroon included a special section on women's status at the university. Maroon editors hoped that the section "will be read by both men and women, and that it contributes toward destroying the prejudices that now oppress the lives of women and that make our society a poorer place."
4. Women's Radical Action Project poster, ca. 1969. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
WRAP members pushed for both campus day care and legalized abortion.
5. JANE brochure, ca. 1970. On loan from the Chicago Women's Liberation Union.
JANE's purpose was to both provide a health service for women, and to educate them about their reproductive health and options.
6. JANE song lyrics, ca. 1970. On loan from the Chicago Women's Liberation Union.
The JANE song helped women remember and share the referral service's local phone number with potential clients.
7. JANE curette, ca. 1970. On loan from the Chicago Women's Liberation Union
Members of JANE used medical implements like this curette to perform an estimated 11,000 abortions over four years
Case 22: "The Woman Question in Academia"
1. Event poster, ca. 1969. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
To many campus women, the "woman question in academia" was both pressing and consequential. Speakers at this event included Marlene Dixon, the sociologist whose tenure denial sparked the 1969 Administration Building sit-in.
2. Women for Childcare poster, ca. 1969. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
A pressing concern of women at the University, as well as the wider women's movement, was the availability of affordable childcare for working women.
3. Law Women's Caucus to Dean Phil C. Neal, February 4, 1970. University of Chicago Office of the President, Levi Administration Records.
The Women's Law Caucus pressured the Dean of the Law School to refuse discriminatory firms the right to recruit University of Chicago students.
4. Women in the University of Chicago, Report of the Committee on University Women, May 1, 1970. Prepared for the Committee of the Council of the University Senate. Chicago: The University, 1970. Jerald Braeur Papers.
The Neugarten Report resulted from an investigation by the Committee on University Women into "the status and opportunities open to academic women on this campus, giving special attention to the question of equity regarding salaries, promotion, and tenure for faculty women."
5. "Attention Womankind!" poster, ca. 1970. University of Chicago Office of Student Activities Records.
While the Neugarten report proclaimed the university's treatment of women to be generally sound, women faculty openly discussed their objections to its findings.
6. Jane Adams to Edward H. Levi and Morris Janowitz, February 11, 1969. University of Chicago Office of the President, Levi Administration Records.
Feminists in other cities felt sympathy for Marlene Dixon's plight, writing to President Levi about the importance of her scholarship.
7. Examinations, 1962. Archival Photographic Files.
Amidst a variety of movements to reshape campus culture and university policies, students maintained their courses of study.
8. Eckhart Hall Tea Room, 1969. Archival Photographic Files.
The Library's Bibliographer for Education, Psychology and Sociology, Ruth Murray (center), began compiling a bibliography for women's studies in the early 1970s. In recognition of her commitment to research, a Ruth Murray Prize is awarded by the Center for Gender Studies for the best essay written by a University of Chicago undergraduate or graduate student in the area of women's studies, feminist criticism or gender studies.
9. Photo of Law School graduation, 1980. On loan from Mary Lee Turk.
At the Law School, women criticized the patriarchal culture of academia. In a recent interview, Martha Albertson Fineman (J.D. '75) remembered one incident:
"When I was a second-year student at the University of Chicago Law School the only woman law professor I knew-Soia Mentschikoff-left to become Dean at the University of Miami. The few women students at the school petitioned requesting that another woman be hired. We were told that 'there is not a woman in the country qualified to be a law professor at the University of Chicago.'"
10. Reproduction of Carol Kleiman. "What Are You Rearing Your Daughter To Be?" Chicago Tribune, Jan. 28, 1973. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
Women's activism often centered on representation in fields from which they had generally been excluded. In 1970, the Rev. Peggy Way, an assistant professor at the University's Divinity School, gave a sermon entitled "You Are Not My God, Jehovah!" in which she condemned male-dominated interpretations of Protestant theology.
Case 23: Women's Place in the University, Revisited
1. "Vivat Hanna - inauguration images, 1978." Cap and Gown. Vol. 63, 1979. Archival Reference Collection.
2. Directory of Researchers on Women and Femaleness at the University of Chicago. Produced by the Graduate Committee on the Study of Women. [Chicago: The Committee, 1980.] Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
While many colleges and universities formed programs in the study of gender and sexuality, the University of Chicago did not establish its Center for Gender Studies until 1996. Despite the absence of a formal center, scholars interested in gender and "femaleness" pooled information and resources more informally.
3. "Percentage of Women in the College," 1991. Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
Data from the early 1990s reveals that women had yet to reach parity in undergraduate enrollment. Perhaps surprisingly, the proportion of women undergraduates in 1989 did not vary dramatically from their proportion in 1939.
4-7: Workshop posters, 1980s-1990s. Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
4. Feminist Theory Workshop
5. Women in Science Conference
6. Forum for Feminist Scholarship
7. Family Values Conference
Campus events in the 1980s focused on both improving women's status in male-dominated fields and expanding the study of women as an academic discipline.
8. Tim Obermiller. "The Big Chill." The University of Chicago Magazine. Vol. 84, no. 5, June 1992. Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
This news story questions whether the university's stated policy of gender-blind meritocracy disadvantaged women. One undergraduate claimed, "I don't have a status as a woman on this campus," arguing that "the University's attempt to remain academically gender-blind" forced women to "lose their identities."
9. Problems in Gender Studies syllabus, 1993. Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
While the University did not offer a formal concentration in Gender Studies until 1998, the topic made its way into the Humanities core by the early 1990s.
10. The Center for Gender Studies Newsletter. Vol. 1, issue 1, Winter 1997. Elizabeth Helsinger Papers.
The inaugural issue of The Center for Gender Studies Newsletter promised to provide both programming, extracurricular activities, and social opportunities focused on gender and sexuality at the University.
Case 24: Student Life Today
1. "New Women's Sororities, 1988." The Gargoyle. Vol. 69, 1988. Archival Reference Collection.
The University of Chicago is now home to three sororities: Alpha Omicron Pi, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Delta Gamma. In a twist on tradition, Kappa Alpha Theta's annual fundraiser takes the form of a "Mr. University" male beauty pageant.
2. A Woman's Guide to the U of C. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1997. 1997-1998 ed. John Crerar Library.
This publication, designed to orient women students to University resources, included information about student health services, support groups, violence, nutrition, sexuality, and more.
3. Student "zine," ca. 1998. On loan from the Center for Gender Studies.
Women students continue to express themselves through written work, visual art, and photography.
4. Vita Excolatur. Vol. 1, no. 3, 2006. Art Reading Room.
The student-produced sex magazine Vita Excolatur made its debut in 2006. In the New York Times that year, Vita editor-in-chief Charlotte Rutherfurd (AB '07) declared "It's distinctly U. of C. There's no Miss January. There's a hot girl - and she's reading a book!"
5. Genderfuck event and University of Chicago, Where the Girls... t-shirts, ca. 2007. On loan from the Center for Gender Studies.
Genderfuck is an annual dance held by Queers and Associates, a student group on campus. The back of the Genderfuck shirt reads, "As far as I'm concerned, being any gender is a drag."
6. University of Chicago Women's Rugby annual prom dress game, 2008. On loan from the University of Chicago Women's Rugby team.
Each year, Women's Rugby challenges gender conventions, playing their physically demanding sport in feminine formal wear.
