Mary H. Swope, class of 1955 Swope, Mary H. interviewee Bernstein, Elizabeth interviewer mixed material 1986-01-04 eng Mary Swope begins her interview discussing her childhood and family background, especially her family's emphasis on education. She explains her decision to transfer to Pembroke from the Women's College at the University of North Carolina for her junior and senior year of college, making her decision largely due to Brown's art program. Mary also speaks on her mother's expectation that she would marry, while she preferred to pursue academic and professional interests. An art major, Mary reflects on her courses and teachers at Brown and RISD. She also examines the relationship between Brown and Pembroke students, expressing feelings of separation and inferiority in terms of gender divisions. Mary also discusses her career after Pembroke, moving to California, and teaching at an all-girls school. She ends the interview appreciating both her academic and cultural education at Pembroke. 1955 Mary H. Swope grew up in Wayne, Pennsylvania, with three sisters and a brother. Her father was an electrical engineer, and her mother was a housewife. When she was ten years old, her father got a job at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the family moved to Newton, MA. Mary attended a mix of public and private schools for her primary education, graduating from the Cambridge School in Weston, Massachusetts. Mary enrolled in the Women’s College at the University of North Carolina in 1951. After two years there, she transferred to Pembroke College, majoring in art. Upon her graduation in 1955, Mary worked as a library assistant at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 1960, she moved to San Francisco, working a number of jobs, traveling, and receiving a Master’s degree in art at San Francisco State University. At the time of the interview, Mary was teaching at an all-girls school in San Francisco. 1950s Academics Dormitories Employment Family Feminism Gender expectations Marriage Professors Sexism oral histories (literary works)