Description
- Abstract:
- Barbara, Anne, Jane, Carol, and Raya begin their interview by reminiscing about their reasons for choosing Pembroke. All five women came to Brown from different backgrounds and with diverse interests, shaping the way they interacted with Pembroke as an institution. Common to all of their academic experiences was the abundance of intellectual stimulation and the desire to do as much as possible. They speak regretfully about having to choose classes and majors, and speak about distribution requirements and memorable courses. When Raya mentions choosing her boyfriend over an honors major in creative writing, the women discuss whether or not she could have had both a boyfriend and an honors degree. They all agree that at Pembroke they were malleable and inexperienced, ignorant about what the possibilities were and lacking guidance. The alumnae move on to consider the expectations of women in the 50s. Carol says she felt hemmed in by a lack of opportunity. "If felt that I was 10 years too old. That if another decade had passed, I would have had so many options open to me that I would've been interested in ... I didn't want to go into retailing, and I didn't want to be a nurse. So, I thought, what's open to me?" Jane recounts a similar experience of expecting to work but being restricted by her circumstances and overcome by familial commitments. Raya synthesizes that although the expectation was to go to college and find a husband, which most of them ultimately did, none of them necessarily intended to follow that path. The five women reflect on life in the dorms, which they describe as lovely and great fun. They remember their various houses, gracious living, parietal rules, compulsory gym and Chapel, and the presence of religion at Brown. They speak fondly of the lectures they attended, including those of Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, e.e. cummings, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Niels Bohr, before remembering the era of the 50s--television, cigarettes, typewriters, knitting, and attending football games in heels. Barbara brings up her economic circumstance at Brown, the difficulty of working 40 hours a week to afford her education, and her appreciation that Brown is now more helpful for students in her situation. The alumnae all voice their gratitude for their Pembroke education, and end their interview thankful for the opportunity to stimulate their memories and reinforce their experiences
- Notes:
- Class year: 1958
- Biographical note: Barbara Fontaine attended high school at St. Claire's in Woonsocket and earned a medical technologist degree before attending Brown, where she studied chemistry. Barbara taught chemistry and physics for over twenty years before attending law school in 1977, after which she practiced law part time. At the time of the interview, Barbara decided to try something new - violin lessons. Raya Goff (née Maraya McCully) grew up in the Midwest before coming East to go to Brown, where she studied American Literature. According to a 1987 issue of Brown Alumni Monthly, her daughter, Cindy Goff '82, was a nationally ranked sailor and competed in the Olympic trials in 1988. Raya continues to serve as a cabinet officer of the Brown University Class of 1958, maintaining active involvement with Brown. Carol Hansen (née Jadick) studied American Civilization at Brown and was particularly interested in the new revelations in history since the 1950s. During her time at Brown, she worked at a department store, but was dissatisfied with the limited career opportunities open to her during that time and instead dedicated her life to volunteer work and organization. Jane Howard (née Loveless), grew up in Rhode Island and came to Brown as a "City Girl." She studied Nursing at Pembroke in an intensive program of 3 years at Brown, and then 2.5 years at local hospitals. Interested in music and arts as well as medicine, Jane was very involved with chorus at Pembroke. She met her husband, who was in the Navy, at Brown, and moved to a South Carolina navy base with him before moving to Arlington, Massachusetts, after college. She had four children, and for 22 years took care of people in her family with Alzheimer's while doing nursing in the healthy community program and at MIT. A community leader, in 1990, Jane founded Vision 2020, a collaborative organization for studying and acting upon issues important to Arlington. Anne Lowenthal (née Rayanne Walter), grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois, before attending Pembroke as an art history major. During her time at Pembroke, Anne worked at the admissions office and was very involved in the art department at Brown.
Citation
"Class of 1958"
(2008).
Pembroke Center Oral History Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:715973/
Relations
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Class of 1958
- Type: Video
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Class of 1958
- Type: Stream
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Class of 1958
- Type: Pdf
- Order: 2
Collection:
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Pembroke Center Oral History Collection
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 …...