Time Period 2: 1900 - 1937

Simone Becque, Mary Tressider and Tily Weyl

In regards to both the time period we were working in, about 1900-1937, and in regards specifically to how the science curriculum at Mount Holyoke changed over time, we found in the archives several interesting moments. Since college entrance was just becoming more standardized, there was a long recommended list of texts with which a young woman should be familiar, and importantly students were also required to sit entrance exams held at the college in the early summer.1 Also interestingly a student wishing to sit the entrance exam in Chemistry had to present a satisfactory lab notebook that had been properly endorsed.2 We did spend time looking at some of the department reports for Zoology, which was the precursor to Biology, and found an interesting emphasis on student work, “Undergraduate students seeking to attend medical school pursued less demanding research process, also known as special work. While those who were interested in graduate study or teaching pursued honors work.”3 Meanwhile, a certain number of the Zoology Department classes were evaluated positively because medical schools accepted them in lieu of their own courses.4

Also in this time period the American Medical Association was starting to create credentials for getting into medical school. In 1931, Academic Dean H.M. Allyn sent a letter to Prof. M. Sherill asking her to be on a committee to research the admission requirements for top medical schools and possibly tailor the Mount Holyoke curriculum based on her findings.5 This request suggests that some students were continuing on to medical schools and that the College was interested in continuing that tradition.

From the charts that were included in the Appointment Bureau reports, it seems that teaching was the most popular choice and had the most opportunities for graduates, in that teachers were needed in a wide variety of locations and levels. It is also worth noting that there is no way to track how long these graduates went on to hold the jobs they had right after graduation, one might expect a young woman to teach for several years after graduation and then stop teaching when she got married and the same is true for all fields.6 The demand for teachers only increased in the period following ours, particularly in the late 1940’s, following an increase in American births at the end of World War Two.7

References

1. Catalogs of the College, 1900-1920, Archives and Special Collection, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
2. Ibid.
3. Annual Reports: 1884/85; 1930/31-1937/38 , Zoology Department Report 1930-31. A. H. Morgan, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
4. Ibid.
5. (Tilly.)
6. Career Development Center Records, Annual Reports 1917/18, 26/27-29/30, 33/34-34/35, Archives and Special Collection, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
7. Career Development Center Records, Annual Reports 48/49, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA