College Searching:
No early decision then - everyone found out in April
Deb - "That meant we had to work for our entire senior year and
not stop half way through."
Anne - went to boarding school. Found mount Holyoke a comfortable, very open and accepting place. "Most people went to Vassar or smith or junior college." She wanted to do something different, comfortable where she could "heard," and be herself; independent.
Nancy - Industrial background. No one in her family had ever gone to college before. Neither parents either. She didn't really want to go to college. Went to one year of prep school in North Hampton. "North Hampton School for Girls." Her mother really wanted her to go to Mount Holyoke College - if she went anywhere- she has no idea why her mother wanted her to go to MHC.
Deb - Went to
school in Philly. Wanted to originally go to Vassar College. She applied and
was accepted. There were five other friends who applied to the 7 sister schools.
One went to Smith, another to Wellesley, another to Bryn Mawr, and another
to Vassar. She said she wanted to be the odd one - and got to Holyoke. So
she came to MHC. Her parents also had an "agenda" she and her brother
went to Ivy League or Seven Sister schools. 1950's tuition was very high.
$1,650 for MHC and for Amherst it was $1,200.
Group: Average colleges applied to in the 1950's.2- 4
Quotes: "Education
costs the same as a Buick."
Tuition when they applied was $1,650. A Buick was around the same amount.
Tuition now is around $40,000 ; so is a Buick.
Jessica started by asking a question along the lines of : "when you were here, what was your opinion of gym requirements?"
Physical Education:
Only taken for one year
Expected to be fit
The posture pictures:
3 mirrors, standing in the middle - naked-
Degrading
*Mazlish - did not remember the photos.
Examined by the whole of the Physical Education department. If you didn't
pass the test - you were automatically placed in PE. They didn't see the injustice
of it until after graduation.
We then asked the
question about race, which later moved to the sheltered life here at Mount
Holyoke.
Minorities:
1 African American
A) Kathy K. was the name of the 1 black student - Dance Major
B) "Funny how we remember her, if it were any other person I wouldn't
have a clue what her major or name was."
No Asians (not to their knowledge)
Very much homogeneous
- They never thought of religion or race, etc. when they came to MHC.
They say they were Naïve:
1) "I didn't know the term lesbian."
2) "Never saw a tampon"
3) Deb mentioned that the girls often times were caught reading the directions
to another girl in the stall on how to use the tampon.
Homosexuality:
1) Still bothers all of them emotionally but not academically
2) They base their emotional reaction to homosexuality due to their childhood
and societal expectations.
We then continued deeper and asked about differences in status and class found on the Mount Holyoke Campus.
Status/Class:
1) Was not really an issue on the campus
2) They remembered limo's pulling up to the school on vacations and summer
break, packed with people and belongings.
The Conversation broke off on a tangent about Boys at Mount Holyoke. The interviewee's remembered how there was a limo/ car service available to take women of MHC to any college up and down the east coast.
Boys:
1) Bus or limo's would be available to take you to a boy's college - up and
down the east coast
2) Boys would look at the "Face book" and women at MHC would get
phone calls from up and down the east coast who were interested in meeting
them - based on their appearance.
3) If they left to go to another school - they had to "sign out"
and write the name of the chaperone.
4) No premarital sex - because there was such a great fear of pregnancy -
they said that the boys just seemed to carry condoms in their pockets "for
show.( Deb)."
5) They would be
all out on the porch kissing the boys away at 11pm at night - when Mary Lyon'
bell rang - they all went inside - and left the boys on the porch.
Dorms and policies:
1) There were smoke rooms in each dorm where you were allowed to smoke and
play bridge.
2) The smoke rooms were "Where the fun was (Nancy)."
3) Gracious Dinner : Sit down dinners - had linens, etc. each woman had her
own napkin box - to put her own napkin in - which was washed only on Wednesdays
and Sundays. They mentioned that they all wore red lipstick and it got all
over the napkins. They wore skirts and cashmere sweaters to dinner with stockings.
When they left dinner they could change into something more comfortable -
an example of this is Bermuda shorts, cashmere sweaters, and penny loafers.
How is your idea about race and sexuality now different, or the same, from you views during your time at Mount Holyoke College in the 1950's.
Changes during and
after MHC:
1) Learned to appreciate others' cultures
2) Civil Rights movement made them more aware.
3) Many of men 70-80 years of age find homosexuality totally unacceptable
Gained a stronger female voice through Mount Holyoke's experience.
Small quotes and notes recorded during the whole interviewing process:
Quotes:
"1970's was the beginning of women going back to work. I became a better
wife and better mother because I went back to work (Deb)."
"It was stimulating to be out in the workforce (Nancy)."
Cars:
A girl must have an average of a B to have a car.