In this interview, Jeannette Dora Black discusses her family, her education at Providence's Classical High School, and her reasons for attending Pembroke College. She remembers her requirements and classes at Pembroke, her feelings about coeducation, the Pembroke administration, and Dean Margaret Shove Morriss. Black recalls working at the John Hay Library and the effects of the stock market crash of 1929 and World War II on Pembroke.
In this interview, Rose Beatrice Miller discusses the reasons she attended Pembroke College, her graduate studies, and career in bacteriology. She recalls Deans Margaret Shove Morriss and Eva Mooar, and biology professor Magel Wilder, her sole female professor at Pembroke. Mikker also shared memories of sex and dating, attending Pembroke as a "city girl," life during the Depression, and her work with Planned Parenthood.
In this interview, Katherine Perkins talks about her family and her upbringing in East Providence and how she came to attend Pembroke College. She discusses her travel as a day student to campus, the courses she took, extracurricular activities, the one Black woman in her class, and the Great Depression. Perkins describes her first career as a social worker and her later work as a French teacher at East Providence High School. At the end of the interview she discusses her activities in retirement, including the Brown Street Series and the Pembroke Club.
In Part 1 of this interview, Katherine May Hazard begins by discussing daily life at Pembroke College. For her, this meant commuting to campus and becoming used to the regimented life at Pembroke. She explains some of the requirements, what it was like to date mathematicians, and her involvement on campus. Outside of class, there were a variety of activities and, oftentimes, formal dances. She remembers Dean Margaret Shove Morris telling them that Pembrokers were not preparing for a specific career, but for life.
Esther Amelia Dick begins this interview by speaking of her childhood in Reading, PA and struggling with Meniere's Syndrome. She recalls her reasons for attending Pembroke College and discusses campus rules, requirements, clothing standards, alcohol and smoking restrictions, and access to the Brown campus. She gives her opinions of several professors and talks about being deeply affected by the Great Depression and, as a result, cooking all her meals in the science labs.
In this interview, Harva Zelda Fisher explains her reasons for attending Pembroke College, particularly citing geographic proximity to her home and small student population. She recalls Dean Margaret Shove Morriss, Physical Education Director Bessie Rudd, and Professor George Downing, but says one of her favorite professors was Israel Kapstein. She gives a brief educational and personal background of her parents and moves on to vaguely remembering some Pembroke traditions and more clearly remembering Sophomore Masque.
Clara Elizabeth Goodale ‘39 is the niece of Nettie Goodale Murdock who was a member of Pembroke College’s first class in 1895. This interview captures the memories Murdock shared with her niece of her time at Pembroke.
Margaret "Peg" Mary Porter begins Part 1 of her 1988 interview discussing her family background and her motivation for both going to college and choosing Pembroke College. She reflects on what is was like to attend college during the Depression years, Franklin Delano Roosevelt becoming President of the United States, and the beginnings of WWII. She considers her freshman year, required courses, and her classes, telling vivid stories of professors. Porter speaks on the then archaic social and academic rules for Pembroke students, and her extracurricular activities on campus.
In this interview conducted in 2012, Theresa Elizabeth Gagnon ’39, discusses her auspicious start at Pembroke College at the age of fifteen. She remembers being interviewed by Dean of Admissions Eva Mooar and being denied Spanish classes by Dean Margaret Shove Morriss because they were full of men. She also recalls the character of President Henry Wriston. Gagnon shares her favorite memories of attending proms, passing the swimming test, and participating in field hockey, bowling, and basketball under the supervision of the Director of Physical Education Bessie Rudd.
