- Title Information
- Title
- Ruth Lilian Wade, class of 1933
- Title Information:
Alternative
(displayLabel="Pembroke title")
- Title
- Ruth Lilian Wade Cerjanec, class of 1933
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Wade, Ruth Lilian
- Role
- Role Term:
Text (marcrelator)
- interviewee
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Smith, Jennifer S.
- Role
- Role Term:
Text (marcrelator)
- interviewer
- Type of Resource
- mixed material
- Origin Information
- Date Created
(keyDate="yes", encoding="w3cdtf")
- 1982-11-18
- Language
- Language Term:
Code (ISO639-2B)
- eng
- Abstract
- This interview begins with biographical and family information about Ruth, whose
mother was a supporter of female suffrage and determined that her daughter should attend
Pembroke College. In Part 1, Ruth also describes her experience at as a "city girl" from
Central Falls and the attitudes of her classmates. She discusses the limited job opportunities
for women during the Great Depression, taking courses at the Rhode Island College of
Education, and her own career path, which included jobs teaching English and Americanization
classes, teaching public school in Central Falls, and eventually working as head librarian at
Quonset Naval Air Base. Part 1 also includes stories about Ruth's activities with the French
Club, the relationships between freshmen and upperclassmen, and the attitudes that Brown men
held about Pembrokers. In Part 2, Ruth discusses the benefits of attending a coordinate
college and remembers aspects of her academic and social life at Pembroke, including her
public speaking class with Miss Jinks, mandatory physical education, the dress code, and her
position as class secretary. She describes the atmosphere at Pembroke during the Depression
and how hard economic times altered the expectations of marriage for both male and female
students.
- Note:
biographical/historical
(displayLabel="Class year")
- 1933
- Note:
biographical/historical
(displayLabel="Biographical note")
- Ruth Lilian Wade
Cerjanec was born in Central Falls, RI on April 22, 1913 to John T. and Susanna McDowell Wade.
She graduated from Brown Phi Beta Kappa and earned a Master's degree in Library Science from
Simmons College. During World War II, she was head librarian at the U.S. Naval Air Facilities
under the Quonset Command. An extremely active alumna, she was granted the Brown Bear award in
1980. Ruth was the wife of Earl F. Cerjanec '43 and mother of Nicholas Wade Cerjanec '71 and
Derek McDowell Cerjanec '73. She died November 3, 1989.
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- 1930s
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Academics
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- City Girls
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Employment
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Feminism
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Great Depression
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Marriage
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Pembroke College Traditions
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Pembroke-Brown Merger
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Physical Education
- Subject (Local)
- Topic
- Social Life
- Genre (aat)
(authorityURI="http://vocab.getty.edy/aat/", valueURI="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300202595")
- oral histories (literary works)