Penelope "Penny" Baskerville begins this interview by recounting her family life and early education in New Jersey. In Part 1, she discusses the experience of being a racial minority at Pembroke (Penny was one of six African-American women in her class) as well as the general novelty of the college social experience, stressing the strength of the friendships she developed. Penny recounts her extracurricular involvement, the founding of the Afro-American Society, and the unique nature of college in the 1960s. In Part 2, Penny describes the larger African-American Ivy League community, her scholarships, her academic performance, and the social expectations placed on her gender at the time, such as marriage. In Part 3, Penny discusses life after Brown and her continued involvement in the field of education. She ends by reflecting on the positive experience she had at Pembroke.
Notes:
Class year: 1968
Biographical note: Penelope "Penny" A. Baskerville was born in South Orange, New Jersey. She arrived at Pembroke College as one of six African-American women in her class, the largest class group to date. At Pembroke she studied German and helped found the Afro-American Society, a social group that helped to develop a network for Ivy League African-American students. She lived almost all her life in New Jersey, raising two children, working in personnel administration, and volunteering extensively within her community. Penny passed away on July 7, 2014 at age 67.
This collection contains oral history interviews with alumnae of Brown University, which admitted its first women students in 1891. The Women's College at Brown was renamed Pembroke College in 1928, and in 1971, Pembroke College merged with the Men's College …
