A Step Away from 1918-1919: New Old Sources

We began this blog in part to share resources with students, alumni, and others interested in the history of coeducation at the College of William and Mary not yet as widely known as those we have been able to access online since the 1990s. People have been using the material in the online exhibits "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 and the Martha Barksdale Papers a great deal since they have been available online. Unfortunately, in some cases this meant that other sources in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) staff know of and are eager to share and see used were neglected both inadvertently and for lack of access (we know not everyone can travel to Williamsburg, Virginia!). The other many wonderful resources that were not being used included the student newspaper The Flat Hat, the Colonial Echo yearbook, the scrapbook of student Catherine Dennis, the records of the Board of Visitors, and the records of President Lyon G. Tyler, just to name a few. There are many more collections that we know about too! To find even more collections, you could spend a fair bit of time reviewing finding aids for those collections in the SCRC's Collections Database (try searches using terms like women and students) and we hope you will. We also hope we have raised awareness of the variety of formats of documents, scrapbooks, photographs, publications, and other sources available in the Special Collections Research Center.

In addition to all of these collections the staff of the SCRC knew about related to the College of William and Mary going co-ed in 1918-1919, coincidentally a "new" source was recently uncovered in the SCRC's holdings. In the course of researching and preparing the exhibit A "Most Thriving and Growing Place": Williamsburg Before the Restoration, Dr. Bea Hardy came across a scrapbook (seen at right) in the papers related to the family of Edward Lee, a graduate of the College of William and Mary. The scrapbook was created by either Elizabeth or Margaret Lee, sisters of Edward. To quote the interior of the scrapbook's front cover, it contains the memories of one (or both?) of the Lee sisters, both of whom were part of the first class of women students at William and Mary. In addition to wonderfully preserved photographs, the scrapbook also includes informative captions. The scrapbook also holds photographs that do not appear to relate to the College of William and Mary with dates ranging from 1915 thorugh 1921 throughout the pages. There are images of several, but not all, of the scrapbook pages at the SCRC's Flickr page. The scrapbook and the Lee Papers are available for researchers to use in the SCRC, but a record for it has not yet as of this writing been added to the SCRC Collections Database. It should be forthcoming soon and will no doubt make mention of this wonderful "new" (to both SCRC staff and researchers) source about the first years of coeducation at the College of William and Mary.

The exhibit A "Most Thriving and Growing Place": Williamsburg Before the Restoration can be viewed on the first floor of Swem Library in the Nancy Marshall (rotunda) Gallery and the SCRC during regular hours of operation.

April 15, 1919: The Death of a Board Member

James N. Stubbs, a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary from the institution's reopening in 1888 until his death, passed away on April 15, 1919. His death was noted on the front page of the April 16th issue of The Flat Hat. Stubbs attended the College of William and Mary from 1858-1860, was trained as a lawyer, served as a major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was a member of the General Assembly from 1869 until his death.

Faithful readers will remember Mr. Stubbs as the member of the Board of Visitors who offered a resolution at the June 25, 1918, meeting of that body "to the effect that the Strode Bill was in direct opposition to the 1906 contract by which the Commonwealth of Virginia had taken full responsibility for the College of William and Mary and that therefore the College should refuse to accept women."



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.

April 14, 1919: Dr. Chandler Accepts Offer

On April 14, 1919, Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler accepted the offer from the College of William and Mary's Board of Visitors to become the College's president with the pending retirement of President Lyon G. Tyler. Chandler served as president from 1919 until his death in 1934. President Chandler is credited with transforming William and Mary into a modern coeducational institution of higher learning. Chandler's acceptance is detailed in the April 16, 1919, issue of The Flat Hat.

Professor Carolyn Whittenburg has written and spoken extensively about President Chandler's impact on the College of William and Mary, especially related to women faculty and students. For more information, there is a short profile of President Chandler written by Prof. Whittenburg online; students from the Williamsburg Documentary Project interviewed Prof. Whittenburg in 2008 with the audio and index available through the College of William and Mary's digital repository; and her dissertation is available for checkout in Swem Library (call number LD6051 .W5m Educ., 2004, W58), reading in the Special Collections Research Center reading room, or for downloading via ProQuest database (linked from the dissertation's record in Swem Library's online catalog) for those with College of William and Mary privileges.

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.

April 2, 1919: Mary Praised or Patronized?

During their first year at the College of William and Mary, the women students had their ups and downs with their male counterparts. While some welcomed them, others were not as generous welcoming the women students. On April 2, 1919, The Flat Hat ran a front page article about the women's performances of two one-act plays: "Three Pills in a Bottle" and "A Flower of Yeddo." In the article, the author praised the women's collective acting abilities by writing "the plays were...pleasantly entertaining from rise to fall of curtain."

While the overall tone of the article is pleasant, one could read some of the words as a bit patronizing to the actors. At one point, the author wrote that "if...the girlish features of the amateur smiled behind the make up of the actor, it was not for boredom." Would a comparable description of the features of the actors or their non-professional status have been made about male actors? The plays' sets were also described as "simple but lovely."

At the end of the article, the author mentioned that the performance was to raise money for the war fund. Though peace was declared in November 1918, the impact of World War I and efforts on the home front had continued. This mention of the nature of these performances raises the question in my mind if this review of the performances would have been printed so prominently if it had been purely for entertainment and not also connected to the war effort?

Though the review of the women's performances of the two one-act plays may appear to be complimentary, I have to wonder if there is a patronizing tone to the review. But don't let my skepticism sway your interpretation. I have linked the original article above, click on it, and read it for yourself. Then, if you feel inclined, comment on this entry with your interpretation. We would be interested to hear our readers' interpretation.


This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.

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.