Title Information
Title
Lillian Shoushan Berberian, class of 1957
Title Information: Alternative (displayLabel="Pembroke title")
Title
Lillian Shoushan Berberian Klanian, class of 1957
Name: Personal
Name Part
Berberian, Lillian Shoushan
Role
Role Term: Text (marcrelator)
interviewee
Name: Personal
Name Part
Gates, Michael
Role
Role Term: Text (marcrelator)
interviewer
Type of Resource
mixed material
Origin Information
Date Created (keyDate="yes", encoding="w3cdtf")
1988-05-12
Language
Language Term: Code (ISO639-2B)
eng
Abstract
This interview concentrates on Lillian's family life and her experiences as a commuter student. She explains that her parents expected her to live at home while she attended Pembroke, and she describes her days on campus  as "an outsider." She reminisces about life-long friendships with other city girls (they had celebrated their 30th reunion together shortly before this interview). Lillian discusses Brown's fraternities and the changes that have taken place to the campus with the interviewer, Michael Gates '91. This leads to a conversation about her Armenian parents, their history, language, and behavioral expectations, and also about the interviewer's Polish family. Lillian participated in International Club and volunteered at Nickerson House. She recounts her early teaching career, meeting her husband through the Armenian community, choosing to stay at home with her children, and returning to teaching in 1979 as a substitute. She and Michael end the interview by addressing three topics: the rigor of their college experience, minority students, and, finally, Lillian's daughter's impression of Brown as she awaited acceptance.
Note: biographical/historical (displayLabel="Class year")
1957
Note: biographical/historical (displayLabel="Biographical note")
Lillian Shoushan Berberian Klainian was born in Providence in 1935 to Agavne and Misak Berberian, Armenian natives who were proprietors of several small neighborhood businesses, including a grocery store and theatre. Lillian's mother had immigrated with her parents; her father's died in a massacre in Turkey. She describes her neighborhood as an ethnic neighborhood. Lillian taught school after graduating from Brown in 1957 with an AB in Sociology.
Subject (Local)
Topic
1950s
Subject (Local)
Topic
Academics
Subject (Local)
Topic
Children
Subject (Local)
Topic
City Girls
Subject (Local)
Topic
Employment
Subject (Local)
Topic
Family
Subject (Local)
Topic
Gender Expectations
Subject (Local)
Topic
Marriage
Subject (Local)
Topic
Minority Students
Subject (Local)
Topic
Physical Education
Subject (Local)
Topic
Race Relations
Genre (aat) (authorityURI="http://vocab.getty.edy/aat/", valueURI="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300202595")
oral histories (literary works)