February 12, 1918: Board of Visitors Endorsement

On February 12, 1918, the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary adopted a resolution of support for the Strode Bill, the legislation which would open William and Mary to women. The Board of Visitors' resolution passed with three dissenting votes: Rector Robert M. Hughes, Samuel W. Williams, and H.F. Hutcheson.

College President Lyon Gardiner Tyler was a long-time supporter of women's rights speaking on the issue numerous times including off campus in 1911 and 1912 (see page 4).

Proposed by Senator Aubrey E. Strode of Amherst County, the varying versions of legislation to establish a women's college in Virginia had been proposed at each session of the General Assembly since 1910. In the version of legislation submitted by Strode in late 1917, making the College of William and Mary co-ed was included.


For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.