Group 4a small group interviews

The discussion started out easy. " Say your name and what your major was when you were at Mount Holyoke." Joan was a Zoology major, who stayed at Mount Holyoke for two years after graduation to get her MA. Nancy was an Economics and Sociology major. This was a set double major (one could not be just a Sociology or just an Economics major) because, according to Nancy, neither one on its own was an acceptable choice for women in the 1950s. Judy was a "PolySci" major (Political Science).
We then jumped to what they do with their time now. Bill, Joan's husband, is retired and works a lot in non-profit organizations. In their household, he also does the dishes, walks the dog, goes shopping and makes the bed. Joan still teaches first year medical students at Columbia Medical School, which she has been doing for over 20 years. She got her PhD once all of her three children were in school full time. Nancy is a realtor in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Judy retired from her job at Nabisco and now works for a lot of nonprofit and community organizations.
All three said that they just expected that they would go to college; it was the next logical choice. Their reasons for choosing Mount Holyoke were very different, however. Joan's family expected her to go to William and Mary. However, their neighbor was a Mount Holyoke graduate, a woman Joan thought was really fascinating. Moreover, said neighbor had two attractive sons that went to Amherst, so Joan decided the Pioneer Valley would be a good place to go. Nancy's parents were very focused on the Ivy League, but since that was not available to women the next logical choice was the Seven Sisters. She fell in love with Holyoke, and found it more inviting than either Smith or Wellesley. Judy went to a big co-ed high school and wanted to go to a women's college. She looked at brochures and decided she liked Holyoke. In this discussion we also discussed SAT's, which were very important when they applied to schools, one had to have a certain score. All of them agreed that it is much better that it is not required now. Nancy notes that only the wealthy have the resources to do really well, and that in her day women were not encouraged in Math and Science so their scores were always worse than men's. It is not a fair or representative system.
When asked if they were happy with their decision to come to Mount Holyoke, all three alumnae said they were. Joan felt more challenged here than at her high school. Nancy was homesick and felt overwhelmed at first, but then really settled in. Judy realized what a wonderful education she had gotten here, when she went to Tufts for her masters and it seemed so easy. Nancy also noted that she felt more respected when she entered the work force. We asked if they knew anyone who did not go to college and, while only 10% of Joan's high school went on to college, none of them had been in touch with people their age that did not go to college. All three went to public schools, but Judy's and Nancy's were more college focused.
The conversation then turned to social groups on campus in the 1955s. Discussing their own social lives: Joan: "I wasn't a socializer. I never learned to smoke. I never went in the smoking rooms where you learned to socialize. I never learned to play bridge. I spent all of my time in the lab." Judy: "I was the same. I spent my time in the library. I loved the smell of the stacks." Nancy: "I did smoke and I did play bridge. My father taught me how to play bridge when I was in high school." They all agreed that there were distinct groups of friends but that it was not really exclusionary. People had their separate groups, but it was hard to distinguish what these groups formed around. There were, for instance, the party girls, Judy remembers her group sitting around "wringing hands and talking about philosophical issues." Joan noted that there were black sheep at the college, to which Bill replied "But not blacks." There was one black girl, Joan said. "But she was as dark as I am," said Nancy. Judy noted that she seemed to get along with everyone, but no one has seen her at any reunions so it seems not much has come from that. Joan lived in the Co-op house and said those students were isolated. Nancy inquired as to whether or not that was self-imposed, to which Joan said she was not sure.
None of the three alumnae felt that there was a social divide on campus. Judy did recall one instance in which she really noticed a class difference: "There was one girl who only had one pair of stockings and she would put them on with gloves…. she said she washed them and hung them with gloves because she only had one pair. I had never seen such a thing." Judy also noted that the lack of distinct social groups might have to do with the fact that people had to move from dorm to dorm every year. That way different people always surrounded you. For what groups there were, she noted, there were distinct types of cultures. But what would've happened if someone from Culture A knocked on the door of Culture B…she doesn't know.
One unifying characteristic of Mount Holyoke students, regardless of social group, was their work ethic. Nancy: "The whole atmosphere was for academic achievement." Judy: "You were competing with yourself." Joan: "No one ever skipped classes." Judy: "And when you got that bibliography at the beginning of the semester you were just compelled to read all the books." While they all worked really hard during the week, they geared up for the weekend. Everyone was expected to have dates and often friends would fix each other up. Dating was the only way they really knew anyone off campus. They did not have much interaction with Holyoke, except there was a movie theater and a restaurant. It was a treat to go off campus. Earlier in the conversation Joan noted that it was hard for those without money to get off campus.
Nancy also remembered going into the bars at Holyoke. One would have to borrow an ID (which did not have photos). Drinking on campus was not prevalent however. Judy: "I mean the guys drank beer, the guys at Amherst." Joan: "The house mother in Safford had little Vodka bottles, for girls who had menstrual cramps." But otherwise, there was no alcohol in dorms that they knew of.
Not many students had cars, as only seniors were allowed to have them and not many families had an extra car for them to take. All of them had their driver's licenses, however. To go off campus, on football trips, etc. they would take the bus or train or the guys would drive.
When the conversation turned to foreign students we returned to the original question of social groups. There were only a small number of foreign students, mostly from Europe though there were some from India. They were well accepted in other groups and not isolated. They were seen as exotic, said Joan. And the American students were in awe of them because they had a much better education and where much more experienced.
We then asked the alumnae what types of extracurricular activities they participated in, Joan could not remember any. Both Nancy and Judy were in Glee Club and concert choir. Judy also worked on the yearbook. All three also remembered volunteering at the Veterans home in Northampton.
We noticed throughout the conversation that the relationship between faculty and students was not the same as it is today. Joan said that she was close with faculty, but that was because she stayed here to get her masters. In interactions with professors as undergraduates, however, she remembered just being in awe of them. When they had gracious dinners the faculty would all sit at one table and the students were too intimidated to sit with them. Judy related a story of seeing one faculty member later in New York and crossing to the other side of the street she was so afraid the professor would ask her a question.
As our time was coming to a close we asked the alumnae: "What do you perceive to be the biggest difference between the Mount Holyoke you attended and the Mount Holyoke you see today?" Joan, pointing out that it was a really superficial observation, said that the physical plan of the college was the most notable difference. That, and that students dress so differently--not just from the 50s but from each other. "We of course had a uniform, everyone dressed alike, if you looked around the campus in 1955 and now you would see the student body certainly looks more diverse." Judy: "The word freedom comes to mind. We had more restrictions we had to obey…. The work ethic seems to be exactly the same. You work really, really hard."
The discussion turned to conformity. Joan asked if maybe it had something to do with the eating parietals. Everyone had to sit down and eat together at lunch and dinner. They would wait for the housemother who said grace, and then sit down. Also, everyone went to chapel together. When asked if they saw the chapel requirement as a problem, Judy and Nancy said they were just happy to get to sing. Nancy: "For me it wasn't, but for other I can see it as an imposition on their freedom."
Once again comparing students today to the class of 1955, Bill asked, "I would imagine the students are more liberal today." Nancy noted that when she came to college she was still conforming to what her parents believed in. But, from Mount Holyoke she became more liberal, even her parents became more liberal after she came here. She believes the way she was taught to think at Mount Holyoke allowed her to become more liberal over time. Mount Holyoke taught them how to accept change and more liberal views overtime.
In a final note, Nancy shared that all of her close friends are Mount Holyoke graduates, and not only from her class. Also, all three were very happy with the interview process.