Cushing Memorial Library and Archives Texas A&M University
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Cushing Memorial Library and Archives
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
An Introduction by Barbara Finlay and Pamela R. Matthews Shortly before the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas opened in 1876, a Texas legislative delegation sent to inspect the new college reported that the school was “intended for all.” Making visible the hidden stories of women and their contributions to A&M—and, equally importantly, creating a fuller and more accurate history of our institution—are the goals of this exhibit. Recent scholarship in women’s history has shown that although women everywhere have contributed much more than we have known, the stories of women’s accomplishments need to be told more adequately. Delving into the history of women at Texas A&M University has brought us to the same conclusion: women have been here from the beginning, but their contributions to the history of the University have not been sufficiently recognized or preserved. Women’s contributions to campus life began soon after the College’s opening. The activities of daughters, wives, and female relatives of male faculty and staff members were documented as early as 1877, just one year after the official opening of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1876. In the 1880s, the teenaged daughter of the University’s third president became what might be the institution’s first historian by writing firsthand accounts of campus life in her diary. At least a few women attended classes from the outset; by 1893, the first female student whose name is recorded was attending classes. Two sisters completed degree requirements by 1903. Many women worked on the early yearbooks. The first woman officially recorded as a staff member—a nurse—arrived on campus in 1902; a woman librarian joined the staff in 1907.
An exhibit produced by the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M University, 2002 Yet these women were not on campus on the same basis as that of men. The earliest women active on campus hosted dinners for stranded male students or acted as surrogate mothers to homesick cadets. When attending classes, women students (called “campus girls”) were accorded “special” status as “lecture students” or “honorary” class members. Those who completed degree requirements were nonetheless denied official degrees. Women were active as agents in the Department of Extension, which became the Texas Agricultural Extension Service (TAEX) in 1912, but an endowment offered for establishing a Department of Domestic Science in 1915 was rejected by the Board of Regents because it feared the new department would force coeducation on the University. During World War I, in order to replace men who left for service, women for the first time filled regular teaching positions at A&M. Their appointments, however, were quickly terminated when the war ended. Most dramatically, when the first woman was awarded an official degree in 1925, the Board’s response to her graduation was to resolve never to admit women to Texas A&M again. Although the resolution was amended in order to allow women to continue attending summer school, women no longer could attend classes during the regular sessions and would not be allowed to do so for some time. Nationally, by 1930, women were receiving college degrees in record numbers: according to census figures, 40 percent of all B.A. degrees and 40 percent of all M.A. degrees in 1930 were awarded to women. (Those numbers would begin to decline later in the decade.) It is no wonder, then, at a time when large numbers of women elsewhere were attending institutions of higher education, that the 1930s saw the first lawsuit against A&M’s policies of excluding women: local women sued—unsuccessfully—for admission. During World War II, the summer school sessions that had been women’s main access to education at A&M were suspended, not to resume until 1946.
As is true of the women’s movement generally, every step forward toward the inclusion of women as students and in other roles at Texas A&M was the result of a struggle by determined women and their supporters in the face of strong opposition, often by the Board of Directors and former students. In addition to the women who attended classes, worked on the staff, and lived with their families on and around campus, officials of the College often were progressive in their attitudes toward women on campus. Two of the institution’s important early presidents, L. S. Ross and William Bizzell, favored coeducation and actively sought means to advance it. As early as the late 1890s, campus administrators joined with local business interests to lobby the Texas legislature (unsuccessfully) for the creation of a “Girl’s Industrial School” at A&M, and beginning in 1914, President Bizzell argued for the inclusion of women as regular students. In the early 1950s, a Texas senator introduced legislation to force A&M to admit women, and more university presidents pressed for the inclusion of women. But the legislation failed to pass, and the presidents subsequently resigned, unsuccessful in their attempts to persuade the Board that women belonged as students. In the late 1950s, three women whose applications to A&M were rejected brought suit against the university; the court found in the women’s favor, but the circuit court’s reversal was upheld in subsequent appeals. A similar lawsuit by three more women a year later resulted again in maintaining the status quo. With racial integration approved in 1963 and attrition rates at Texas A&M measured against astonishing growth at other Texas universities (increases of 29 percent for A&M, 70 percent at The University of Texas, and 117 percent at Texas Tech for the same 10-year period), campus officials, including President Earl Rudder and Sterling C. Evans as chairman of the Board of Regents, again pushed for integrating women. This time the result was more successful. Effective June 1963, women were to be admitted into graduate programs and veterinary medicine, while female staff members
and daughters and wives of faculty, staff, and students could enroll in undergraduate programs. Despite vociferous continuing efforts by some alumni, legislators, Mothers’ Club members, and students, women from this time on would be a visible presence on campus. By the late 1960s, women would begin to take their places on the Texas A&M faculty. The struggle for women’s full equality at Texas A&M University has taken a long time and is not over. Although the undergraduate student body is now almost half female, there are enduring signs of a tradition of excluding women. Especially in campus units traditionally identified with men, including some colleges and departments as well as student organizations, women are scarce or even absent. In spite of the large numbers of women earning doctorates nationally—by 1990, 36 percent of all Ph.D. degrees in the United States were awarded to women—at Texas A&M, over 93 percent of full professors are men, and women are underrepresented at every level compared to peer institutions. As we begin a new millennium, Texas A&M University can be proud of many positive signs of change: more women administrators; a new Women’s Center; and an increase in courses and programs dedicated to promoting awareness of gender issues and women’s achievements. Yet, there are still barriers to break and trails to blaze before Texas A&M fully realizes its early planners’ vision of a fully integrated university truly .
1876 –1892 The Early Years
Even though the Texas Senate committee that inspected the College shortly before it opened in 1876 reported that its “endowment was intended for all” and therefore “should be open to both sexes,”
women were not admitted as official, degree-seeking students until the 1960s. Nevertheless, women played vital roles in the establishment of A&M.
1 The first women on the campus were the wives, daughters, and relatives of male faculty and staff
members. In January of 1877, the Galveston Daily News published an article about a Christmas dinner
for cadets who were unable to return home for the holidays. A few of the individuals who helped host
the dinner were Anita Bee, Lula Hogg, “Miss Nannie,” and “Mrs. Clements.” This is the earliest record in
the University’s archives that lists specific names of women involved in campus activities.
2 Johanna Sbisa arrived with her husband Bernard Sbisa, manager of subsistence, in 1879. She was a 6
forceful and beloved personality. At the time of her death in 1919, T. D. Rowell, a former student, wrote:
“I loved Mrs. Sbisa almost like a mother. . . . When I was young, inexperienced, away from home, and
needed the consoling influence of considerate friends . . . [she] treated me like a son.”
3 Johanna and Bernard’s daughter, Rita, was active in many campus activities, serving, for example, as the
sponsor for a cadet company and for the band. She married Eugene W. Kerr, graduate of the class of
1896. He later became a distinguished professor, first at A&M and subsequently at other universities in
this country and abroad. Rita and Eugene sent their sons to A&M.
4 The diary of May W. Cole (shown here in later life—seated front row, first on the left), the 13 year-old
daughter of the school’s third president, James Reid Cole, provides a firsthand account of early events
at the College and the symbiotic relationship between it and the surrounding community. On 10
October 1884, she wrote: “There is sorrow in the College Campus tonight. Death has again entered
there and little Willie Bringhurst [grandson of Sam Houston] is an Angel. He was taken sick a week ago
. . . and this morning at 10 minutes of 4 o’clock he died . . . There was no school at the College today,
nor at our little school in the evening.”
5 Life on the early campus was not appealing for everyone, whether male or female. Elizabeth Ross, wife
of President Lawrence Sullivan Ross, found conditions so decrepit that she took her family back to
Austin shortly after her husband assumed the presidency in 1890. She eventually returned, however,
and lived happily with her family on the campus until her husband’s death ended his term as president.
6 Women were also present as students from the very earliest days of the College. In 1899, L. L. Foster
stated that “when the College was first organized a few girls who resided on campus and were related to
professors” were admitted to classes. The first woman known to attend classes was Ethel Hutson in 1893.
3
4
2
5
1
1876 –1892 Nettie Bringhurst P R O F I L E
O ne of the most prominent personalities on the early campus was Antoinette (“Nettie”) Power Houston Women played vital
Bringhurst, seventh child of Sam Houston. Nettie Bringhurst was Historian and Poet Laureate of the Daughters
roles in the
She was popular among the students and
always eager to share information on the
of the Republic of Texas. She was
popular among the students and always
establishment of A&M
eager to share information on
subjects that deeply interested her. Many, if
the subjects that deeply
not all, of the cadets would have been keen
interested her. Many, if not all,
to learn about her father and family and
of the cadets would have been
their role in Texas history.
keen to learn about her father
and family and their role in
Texas history. The San Jacinto Day celebration, in which she undoubtedly played an enthusiastic role,
was an important event on the early campus and may have influenced the evolution of the Muster
tradition. Her husband, W. L. Bringhurst, was on the faculty from 1880 to 1893, teaching physics and
English, and serving as vice president and acting president of the College.
From “San Jacinto Corn,” by Nettie Bringhurst.
April Blossoms offer incense,
April breezes round us play,
Just as, long ago they greeted
That first San Jacinto Day.
Who of us may paint the picture
Of that wondrous battle scene—
When an Army, built like magic,
Met the foe on prairie green?
Theirs the planting, ours the reaping;
Theirs the struggle, ours the gain—
For the heritage of Texas
Dates from San Jacinto plain.
The diary of May W. Cole. On 10 October 1884, she wrote: “There is sorrow in the College Campus tonight. Death has again entered there and little Willie Bringhurst [grandson of Sam Houston] is an Angel. He was taken sick a week ago . . . and this morning at 10 minutes of 4 o’clock he died . . . There was no school at the College today, nor at our little school in the evening.” Willie Bringhurst was the son of Nettie and W. L. Bringhurst
1893–1908 Campus Girls
T he years immediately before and after the turn of the century saw the first female students for which we have records of any kind. Their numbers were few, and they were not allowed to take degrees,
but there was a tolerance and even acceptance of their presence that stands in stark contrast to later years. Also in contrast to later years, campus officials were remarkably open to the idea of coeducation,
even going so far as to lobby for the location of a girls’ school at A&M in the late 1890s. This period also saw the first known women staff members. Their numbers were also few, and they occupied jobs
that have long been considered traditional for women (librarians and nurses). Nevertheless, they were trailblazers for the thousands of women that followed them as members of the A&M workforce.
1 Mary Hutson shown at her drafting table at the A.M. Lockett Co. in New Orleans circa 1912–13. Mary
and her twin sister, Sophie, completed a course of study in engineering at A&M in 1903. As women,
however, they were not awarded degrees. Mary later worked as an engineer in New Orleans. 6
2 Emma W. Fountain, the daughter of a professor of English, was an early “campus girl” (shown here in
1903). After studying at A&M for two years, she transferred to The University of Texas to complete
her degree. She remained devoted to the College, however. While a student in Austin, she would dress
in school colors on the day of the annual A&M/UT football game and lead the Aggies from the train
station to the field.
3 In the fall of 1902, Mrs. Carey Carr Neibert, a graduate of The University of Texas, was hired as a
“trained nurse.” Records indicate that there were nurses on staff or at least women serving in that
capacity before her, but she is the first female staff member whose full name is known.
4 W. H. “Willie” Thomas was hired as librarian in 1907 and stayed on the staff, with one interruption, until
her retirement in 1952. Her tenure included two stints as acting head of the library. She also played an
important role in founding two early campus literary societies, the Junto and the Fortnightly Club.
5 In the late 1890s, campus officials joined with local business groups to lobby for the location of a “Girls
Industrial School” at A&M. Among those supporting this action was L. S. Ross, president of A&M (pictured).
He felt that “the cadets would be improved by the elevating influence of the good girls, whose training
would go on under their eye. Both sexes are benefited.” Ross and others argued that A&M had the facilities
in place for such a school, and thus building the institution elsewhere would be much more costly than
integrating women into the A&M student body. L. L. Foster, another early A&M president, argued that there
was “nothing in the organic law of the A&M College to prevent the admission of girls on equal terms with
the boys.” Despite their efforts, in 1901 the “Texas Industrial Institute and College” for women, later Texas
Woman’s University, was established at Denton.
6 From the earliest days a primary and secondary school was located on the campus to provide for the
education of the children of faculty and staff and eventually for children from surrounding communities.
Instruction was always coeducational, and funding was at times provided wholly or partially by A&M.
The school was also allowed to use many of the College’s facilities.5
4
2
3
11893–1908 Ethel Hutson P R O F I L E
Ethel Hutson, daughter of a professor of history and English, was the first “campus girl,” early They were trailblazers for the
A&M lingo for females who were active in campus life. She began attending classes in 1893 as thousands of women that
a “lecture student” and was an honorary followed them as members of the
Ethel Hutson, daughter of a
professor of history and English,
member of the class of 1895. Although
early sources indicate that “when the
A&M workforce
was the first “campus girl,” early
College was first organized a few girls
A&M lingo for females who were
who resided on campus and were
active in campus life.
related to the professors” were admitted
to classes, Ethel is the first female
student whose name is known. While at A&M, she served on the editorial staff of the Olio
(1895), the first yearbook. During these years she also participated in the activities of the Anti-
Crinoline League, an organization of women based in Brenham, Texas, who protested against
“hoopskirt fashions” and other impractical women’s dress.
In March of 1893, Ethel wrote from Brenham to her father:
“Papa Darling, [. . .] The talk was on the horror of hoops now threatening the land, and each one had
some dismal story of accidents caused by those absurd garments . . . . Each one vowed that she could not
bear the idea of wearing a hoop[skirt], but that it would never do to be the only woman in town without
one. So I said: ‘Why should we wear them, here in Brenham; why not have our own fashions? What
difference does it make to us what New York wears?’ And Cousin Alice said: ‘Let’s organize an Anti-
Crinoline League.’ The idea was accepted with great enthusiasm . . . If a respectable majority of sensible
women in each town banded together and pledged themselves to uphold each other in defying such
senseless styles, one might dress reasonably. Certainly, there is no need for following idiotic fashions. . . .”
Written from Brenham, Texas, 2 March 1893.
Later in life she became a noted artist, worked in New Orleans as a journalist, and was active in the
women’s suffrage movement in Louisiana. She also took a strong interest in a number of civic causes
in New Orleans, among them education, public utilities, child welfare, the preservation of
the St. Louis Hotel, and public transportation.Ethel Hutson’s younger, twin sisters, Mary and Sophie, began taking classes in civil engineering in 1899. They completed their courses of study in 1903 but as unofficial students were not given degrees. The class of 1900 presented them with cadet jackets, for which they later made matching skirts. After finishing her studies, Sophie married and started a family. Mary later gained employment as a civil engineer at the A. M. Lockett Co. in New Orleans. Both remained active in campus life, returning for events and serving as sponsors for student organizations.
1909–1919 A&M Extended: Summer School, ‘Lady Agents,’
Influenza, and the War
The ’teens saw an unprecedented growth in the number of women as students, but they were still prohibited from earning degrees. As the programs associated with the school in its land grant capacity
grew and developed, more women were recruited to the staff. The war and its associated challenges also brought more women to the A&M work force and created the first opportunities for a few of them
to serve in regular classroom teaching positions. These years also saw a hardening of the policy against coeducation in the very highest levels of the administration, despite the fact that this period also
coincided with the hiring of one of the school’s most influential presidents, and one that favored coeducation.
In 1909, the state legislature granted A&M permission to conduct regular summer sessions with the
1
stipulation that women were allowed to attend. The school previously conducted summer classes in 8 One of the most prominent women Extension employees was Minnie Fisher Cunningham. A longtime
editor for TAEX, she was also an active member of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and a lifelong
1899 and 1900 that were open to women, but had not done so in the following years. The summer worker for progressive causes. In 1928, she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate. President Roosevelt
sessions were so well attended by women that in 1919 a building was set aside as a dormitory for later gave her the popular nickname “Minnie Fish.”
female summer school students. By 1930, nearly 2,000 women had attended summer school. Women
also continued to attend school during the regular sessions, though most of these were relatives of
faculty and staff. 9 The Agricultural Experiment Station, established in 1888, also provided an employment path for
women. In 1917, Edith Phillip became the first woman “appointed to a scientific position” on the
station staff.
2 Perhaps reflecting a more conscious stance against coeducation on the part of the Board and other
campus officials, Estelle Tatum and Bernice Carter were listed in the 1916 yearbook as “Special
Students.” The term had earlier been applied to males who were graduate students or in other
programs, but previously had not been used in reference to women. 8
3 Virginia Spence, daughter of D. W. Spence, dean of Engineering and director of the Engineering
Experiment Station, was campus editor for the 1918 Battalion. She followed in what was already a
tradition of female involvement in student and campus publications. Ethel Hutson and Mrs. J. H. Connell
were involved in the publication of the first yearbook in 1895. Hutson was an editor and illustrator, and
Connell provided photographs. Through the years, women continued to be involved in student
publications, especially during the summer school sessions.
4 Many women were hired to teach during the summer. Wesa Weddington (pictured), principal of Bryan High
School from 1920 to 1946, was “Preceptress of Women” and an instructor during the summer of 1919.
The first women in regular teaching positions were hired during World War I to replace male instructors
called up for service. Wanda Farr, wife of an A&M biology professor, was appointed acting instructor in
biology in 1917 when her husband was drafted. Yolande Renshaw was the second woman appointed. She
taught in modern languages. Over the next year or so five other women were hired. All of their
appointments were terminated and filled by men “as soon as possible” after the war ended.
The school had at least one opportunity to extend its programs for women even further during this
decade. In 1915, Clara B. Dismukes Vander Las, an Austin philanthropist, left a substantial gift to A&M for the
establishment of a “Department of Domestic Science.” The Board refused the gift, stating that it would
force the College to become coeducational.
5 In 1912, the Department of Extension was organized and two years later became the Texas Agricultural
Extension Service (TAEX). The establishment of TAEX led to the largest influx of women into the A&M
workforce prior to World War II and offered the first opportunity for significant numbers of women to
gain permanent, professional employment.
6 Edna W. Trigg, hired as a home demonstration specialist in 1912, was the first “lady agent.” By the end
of the year, 16 more women were hired.
7 In 1918, Laura Neale, as head of the TAEX women’s programs, ranked as one of the top TAEX
administrators.9
5
4
6
3
7
1
21909–1919 Irene “Mom” Claghorn P R O F I L E
In 1918, the influenza epidemic brought many women to campus as nurses. Irene “Mom” Claghorn, one of In 1918, the influenza
the most “beloved employees” in the history of A&M, came as an army nurse. The following year she was hired epidemic brought
as superintendent of the campus hospital, a job she would hold for nearly four decades. In 1956, she was injured
many women to
in a serious car accident. Her treatment and convalescence drained her savings, and thus she found herself on the
verge of retirement with no resources. A group of former students, led by Jack Blankfield, ’42, raised money to
campus as nurses
build her a home, the first she had ever owned. During her years on the staff she always lived in the hospital.
“ We didn’t know much about the flu in those days. A number of Aggies died
from it. Right after I got here, I was asked to stay with some patients who were
dying. In one of the rooms, a man was standing by a boy’s bed. We were real
busy, so I asked him to leave after learning that he was not a relative. Later, I
was introduced to the man. He was Dr. William B. Bizzell, president of the
College. He asked me to run the hospital for at least a year. After a year, they
couldn’t run me off. . . . The Aggies helped me night and day during the flu
epidemic. Some of them dropped out of school to help. We had about 300
patients in a hospital intended for eight beds in two wards. We even had planks
across the basement to accommodate more boys. . . . Years ago, they used to ‘air
out’ the freshmen. They put them out of the dorm on Saturdays and told ’em
not to come back until Sunday night. I’d hide some of the asthmatics and boys
who had been sick.
”
“Mom” Claghorn on her early days on the campus, from a 1966 Battalion interview.In 1914, William Bennett Bizzell became president of Texas A&M. During his tenure, he publicly expressed support for coeducation, arguing that the College should be open to all women “who seek admission . . . because of specific advantages offered in the institution that are not available in other state supported institutions.”
1920–1929 No Girls Allowed (sort of)
In the 1920s women gained new levels of influence and prominence on the campus. One woman officially graduated, the only one prior to the 1960s. Another would occupy the highest office of
campus governance. Perhaps because of this increase in status, this was also the decade in which the school made its first official statement against coeducation.
1 In 1921, Mrs. J. C. George was appointed to the A&M Board of Directors. She was the first woman on
the Board and would serve until 1927.
2
2 In August 1925, Mary Evelyn Crawford, sister of the head of the Engineering Department, was awarded an
official degree in liberal arts (English). (Crawford is shown on the far right). She attended TWU and UT in
addition to A&M. The degree was not awarded at the regular commencement, however. Crawford later
recalled that she got an unexpected “call from the registrar’s secretary. She told me to come over to her
apartment to get my diploma. I was so glad to hear that I did get a diploma I would have crawled over to
that apartment.” Perhaps only coincidentally, President Bizzell resigned in July 1925. In his last meeting with
the Board, he advocated opening the school to women who were not relatives.
3 The 1923 yearbook lists 14 women as “special unofficial students.”
4 In reaction to Crawford’s graduation, the Board of Directors resolved that “no girls should ever be
admitted to the College.” This action ended the practice of allowing female relatives of A&M staff to
attend. It also, inadvertently, prohibited the attendance of women during the summer. At the Board’s
meeting in February 1926, Mrs. J. C. George offered a motion to rescind the prohibition on summer
school, bringing A&M back into compliance with the 1909 legislative ruling that granted A&M
permission to hold summer sessions on the condition that the sessions were open to women. Women
who attended in the summer were still not eligible for degrees, however.
5 The number of women on the campus continued to grow during the 1920s. As the number of male
staff and faculty increased, there were more daughters, wives, and other female relatives at A&M. Many
women from other schools attended social events on the campus. Women were here as students in
the summer and occasionally, at least before 1925, in the regular sessions. From the beginning of the
College in 1876 to the end of the 1920s, nearly 2,000 women furthered their educations at A&M.1
2
3
5
41920–1929 Jessie Whitacre P R O F I L E
The number of women employees also rose during this time. Jessie Whitacre, a pioneer in the study of human From the beginning of
nutrition, was one of these new employees. Her research was influential in the adoption of the “Four Food Groups” the College in 1876 to
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1956. She was head of the Department of Rural Home
the end of the 1920s,
Research, TAEX, from 1926 to 1954. Before coming to A&M, she earned a B.S. degree from Ohio State
nearly 2,000 women had
University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Her publications include over 20 research bulletins and
furthered their
The number of women employees
numerous articles and papers in scientific journals.
She was chairman of the State Nutrition Council, a
educations at A&M
also rose during this time. Jessie member of the American Association for the
Whitacre, a pioneer in the study of Advancement of Science, a fellow of the Texas
human nutrition, was one of these Academy of Science, and was active in many other
new employees. professional and scholarly organizations. In 1948, she
was one of 11 delegates chosen to represent A&M at
the annual meeting of the Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C. She was
named “Woman of the Year” by Progressive Farmer magazine in 1956 and “Home Economist” of the year in 1957
by the Texas Home Economics Association.
In her publication, “The Diet of Texas School Children” (TAEX Bulletin 489, March 1934), Dr. Whitacre wrote:
“Despite the large number of studies in human nutrition that have been made in the last half century in the United
States, relatively little attention has been given to the diets of individual children of school age. The influence of race, of
seasons, and of regional differences in climate and industry have been even less considered. The important problems of the
relation of human diet to various aspects of health deserve extensive investigation. A vast amount of data is yet needed to
fill in the gaps in our information concerning human nutrition. These considerations suggested that a study of the diet of
Texas school children be undertaken.”P R O F I L E Ada Brooks Allen (Mrs. H. L.) Peoples 1920–1929
In 1922, Ada Brooks Allen (Mrs. H. L.) Peoples founded the first A&M Mothers’ Club In the 1920s
in Dallas. Clubs in Fort Worth, Brown County, San Antonio, and elsewhere soon
women gained new
followed, and in 1928, the statewide Federation of A&M Mothers’ Clubs was
levels of influence
established. From their
and prominence on
“ [I was] concerned with the poor quality of life
on the campus—no entertainment, no culture,
beginning the Mothers
took an active role in
the campus
and a complete lack of women’s influence.
” the welfare of the
students and in
improving campus
facilities. In founding the Mothers’ Club, Mrs. Peoples stated:
“[I was] concerned with the poor quality of life on the campus—no entertainment, no culture,
and a complete lack of women’s influence.” She also stated that her goal in establishing the
Clubs was to “contribute in every way to the comfort and welfare of the students, and to
cooperate with the faculty of the University in maintaining a high standard of moral conduct
and intellectual attainment.”1930–1939 The First Wave Assault
The 1930s saw the first legal challenge to the school’s policy against coeducation. The decade also saw increasing numbers of women on campus, though still not as degree-seeking students.
President Roosevelt, visiting A&M in 1937, remarked: “My only surprise today came because President Walton had told me that this was not a coeducational college. Now I am wondering where all
the ladies came from.” The growth of the College created more opportunities for women in the workforce. The tremendous economic challenges of this era also forced the school to confront the issue
of coeducation more directly than before.
3
1 The Cushing Library opened its doors in September 1930, and for many years served as the general
library for the campus. The growth in library services provided many women with jobs at A&M. Prior
to World War II, the library was second only to TAEX in providing full-time, professional employment
for women.
2 In 1933, several staff and faculty members asked President T. O. Walton if their daughters could attend A&M.
The financial setbacks of the Depression, including a 25 percent pay cut for A&M employees, had rendered
college elsewhere beyond their means. Walton proposed a temporary, emergency reprieve of the Board’s
prohibition on coeducation. He assured the Board that this measure would result in the attendance of no
more than 20 women, all of whom would live at home. The Board approved the proposal.
Hearing of the Board’s decision to allow the daughters of staff and faculty members to attend A&M, a Mrs. O. A. Fox
3
group of local women—Mrs. O. A. Fox, Mrs. Louise B. Jones, Mrs. W. E. Neely, Maurine Neely, Alia
Stanford, Francis Locke, Jane Singletary, and Lucille Vick — applied. They were rejected and so they
were forced to file suit for admission. Ironically, they were required to file in the names of their
husbands or male guardians since at the time Texas law prohibited women and minors from bringing
suit in their own name. C. C. Todd, a graduate of the class of 1897 and a former commandant of the
Corps of Cadets, represented them.
4 In 1939, the Battalion was published for the first time in the summer. Sara Allen Cofer, Margaret
Hollingshead, and Peggy Campbell all wrote for the Battalion and served on the editorial staff. Through the
years several coeducational activities and traditions were established during the summer. In June of 1939,
for example, Josephine Perkins was voted the best all-around girl athlete for the first summer session.
5 The “unanimous opinion” of the Board, meeting in emergency session, was “that this suit should be Jane Singletary
defended by the best legal talent that can be secured and if necessary . . . take the case through the
Supreme Court of Texas.” Among the evidence entered on behalf of the Board were petitions and
letters against coeducation from the A&M Mothers’ Clubs of Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Waco,
and San Angelo.
6 In January 1934, Judge W. C. Davis found in favor of the Board, stating that the “unbroken policy and
custom” of Texas A&M in admitting only men had “crystallized into the force and effect of law.”
Reaction to the threat of coeducation was expressed in many student publications. The cartoons Alicia Stanford
shown here are from the 1934 yearbook.
Francis Locke1
6
5
6
2 41940–1949 War, Wives, Veterans, and Anxiety
During World War II, summer sessions were disbanded as the College went on an accelerated, trimester schedule to graduate more men, more quickly. Thousands of U.S. service personnel, some of
them women, were trained in various federally run programs on the campus. Women were still present as staff members and relatives, and a few, interestingly, were allowed to take classes during the
regular sessions. But perhaps not since the earliest days of the College was there a lower ratio of women to men on the campus. The end of the war quickly changed this situation and led to what one
historian has termed A&M’s “Age of Anxiety.” More married men than ever before enrolled as students. Women who had broken out of traditional roles elsewhere during the war were also on campus in
greater numbers. The College struggled to deal with new demands in the post-war era, demands that in some ways solidified its restrictive policies toward women, but in other ways contributed to the
eventual demise of those policies.
In 1942, the regular summer sessions were disbanded due to the war, and thus for the first time since 6
1 1909, women were not in attendance as A&M students during the summer. There were, however, some
women taking classes at A&M during the regular sessions, and there were also women on the campus
in various defense-related training programs.
2 Women from off campus also continued to play a role in A&M activities. In October 1942, a visiting
“delegation” of female journalism majors from Baylor, TWU, Texas, and TCU edited an "all-girl" issue of
the Battalion.
3 In 1946, regular summer school reopened, and women returned as summer students for the first time
in four years. Ruby Bauer, a former private first class in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and wife of a
veterinary medicine student, was the first female veteran to enroll on the GI Bill.
4 Kathy Wilson joined the Battalion staff as a reporter for the summer of 1946, re-establishing a tradition
of female participation on the summer newspaper that began before the war. In 1949, Nancy Lytle
joined the Battalion as editor of the Women’s Page.
5 The Veterans’ Wives’ Club, which appealed to the administration for the admission of wives to the
regular school sessions, was organized at this time.
6 The English Department hired six women faculty members, the first ever in that department. One of
these was Grace Fitzwilliam, a graduate of The University of Texas.
7 In October 1946—in an effort to deal with the growing number of married students, most of them
WWII veterans—three dorms were designated for married couples. A few months later, three more
dorms were designated for couples.
8 The large number of men coming to college with wives and families increased the pressure to develop
and open academic programs for them. Many wives attended summer school. For a short time in the
late 1940s, wives were also allowed to take classes for credit during the fall and spring semesters,
though they were still prohibited from graduating. Sometimes these classes were open only to women
and at other times were open to both male and female students.5
7
1
3 4
8
21950–1959 The Battle Widens
The battle for coeducation widened during this decade, and, in response to increasing pressure, the movement against it also became better organized and more intense. The second and third rounds of legal
assaults were launched, and the prohibition on women was also challenged for the first time in the halls of the Texas Capitol. In addition to the courts and the legislature, the fight also went on within the
highest offices of the administration. Women continued to play prominent roles as summer students and in student organizations. Individual women also made progress in the ranks of the staff and faculty.
1 On 3 March 1953, state Senator William T. Moore, class of 1940, introduced a resolution to force the
A&M Board of Directors to admit women. The measure was first approved in the senate by a voice
vote without debate or objection. But on March 5, the measure was voted down 27 to 1. Ironically,
Mrs. Neveille H. Colson, who attended A&M as an unofficial student and was the only female in the
senate at the time, was one of the senators voting against the resolution. Soon after this challenge,
O. S. Gray, graduate of the class of 1917, wrote to state Senator Searcy Bracewell: “The time will surely
come—this question [of coeducation] is neither dead nor buried. It is alive and stirring. It cannot be
drowned . . . a new generation will rise above tradition and prejudice and in the dawn of a new day
bring to pass those necessary things to insure the future greatness of our loved A&M.” 4
2 David H. Morgan became president of A&M in 1953. In response to declining enrollment rates, he
asked the Academic Council of the A&M faculty to evaluate the College. The council recommended the
admission of women and the end of compulsory military training. In response to these and other
matters, the Board made military training optional in September 1954, but the ban on women as
degree-seeking students stood. Morgan pressed for coeducation throughout his administration. He
resigned in 1956, and David W. Williams was appointed acting president. Williams continued to raise
the question of coeducation. In August 1957, when Williams’ term as acting president ended, the offices
of president and chancellor were combined under Chancellor Marion Thomas Harrington. Shortly
thereafter, the Board reinstated compulsory military training.
3 In 1957, Alice Stubbs was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Home Economics,
TAEX. She became head of the department in 1961 and in 1974 achieved the rank of full professor.
4 In January 1958, William Boyd Metts established the Aggie Association for the Advancement of
Coeducation (AAAC), though he withdrew the AAAC charter after a homemade ammonia bomb was
thrown into his dorm room.
5 In January of 1958, Myrna Gray, a local nurse, applied for admission and was rejected. Shortly thereafter,
two other women, Lena Ann Bristol and Barbara Gilkey Tittle, were also rejected and joined Gray in a
lawsuit charging discrimination. John Barron, class of 1935, represented them. The Bryan Daily Eagle set
up a charitable fund for their legal expenses.
6 Judge William T. McDonald, class of 1933, found on behalf of Gray, Bristol, and Tittle and ordered A&M
opened to women. In the wake of his ruling he was twice hanged in effigy on the A&M campus .
7 Both effigies carried a sign that read: “Judge McDonald—A True Aggie?” McDonald’s ruling was the first
of its kind. Never before had a publicly funded, single-gender school been ordered by a court to open
its doors to all students.
Judge McDonald’s ruling did not stand, however. In September it was reversed in the 10th Circuit
Court of Appeals on the grounds that the Board of Directors was vested by the state with complete
sovereignty in admission matters. The Texas Supreme Court upheld the reversal. The case was appealed
to the U. S. Supreme Court but was not heard.
8 In July of 1959, three more women applied for admission—Mary Ann Parker, Sara Creed Hutto, and
Margaret Allred—and were denied. Parker and Hutto, unlike the earlier litigants, applied to pursue
majors that were not offered elsewhere in the state. In February, the case went to Judge McDonald’s
court. Citing the earlier case, he stated he had no choice but to rule against the women. The case was
appealed up through the Texas Supreme Court and was not overturned. Again, the U. S. Supreme
Court declined to hear the case.6
7
2
3
8
1
51950–1959 Vivian Castleberry P R O F I L E
One of the most potent forces for change in the post World War II years were the wives of students at A&M. One of these Women continued to
women was Vivian Castleberry, the first “Women’s Editor” for the Battalion. Previous to her tenure, women had edited a play prominent roles
“Women’s Page” and also written and worked on the Battalion in other capacities. Castleberry, however, was the first person
as summer students
One of the most potent forces for
given responsibility for the newspaper’s expanded efforts to appeal to and
and in student
change in the post World War II
address the concerns of a growing female audience. During her time as
editor she also wrote a popular column entitled “The Last Word.”
organizations
years were the wives of students
at A&M. One of these women was A graduate and later a “Distinguished Alumna” of Southern
Vivian Castleberry Methodist University (SMU), Castleberry was a lifelong
journalist. She edited her high school newspaper and the
SMU student newspaper. After leaving College Station, she
went to work for the Dallas Times Herald, eventually becoming the first woman named to the paper’s editorial
board. She won numerous journalistic honors, among them two United Press International awards. In 1959, she
was a participant in the first conference held for women editors by the American Press Institute at Columbia
University, a benchmark gathering of American women journalists. She was also a founder of many women’s
organizations, including the Women’s Center of Dallas, the Women’s Issues Network (WIN), and the Dallas
Women’s Foundation. She served on the advisory panel for the founding of the Family Place, Dallas’ haven for
battered women and their children, and was an adviser for SMU’s Symposium on the Education of Women for
Social and Political Leadership since its beginning in 1966. In 1984, she was inducted into the Texas Women’s
Hall of Fame.
“For years upon end man has complained that women always have the last word. In most places, where women exist in
equal quantities to the stronger sex, this is probably not so difficult. But in this man’s world [A&M], where there are
approximately three males to every female, we have to keep plugging away to get in the last word.”
Vivian Castleberry introducing her column, “The Last Word,” in the 5 April 1951 Battalion.
“Our hat is off to the student wives who take any job that comes along in order to help their husbands through school.
Over at the MSC coffee shop, among the girls who bring that cup of coffee and doughnuts are student wives Frances
Rodgers, Juanita Willis, Erma Mayben, and Virginia Hendricks. If they are a bit tardy sometimes . . . [remember that
their] husbands have the same chemistry quizzes and same grade point problems that you, your husband, or your
students struggle over.”
Also from Castleberry’s first “The Last Word” column in the Battalion.In January 1958, the Eagle endorsed the admission of women to A&M. The Battalion also went on record about this time in support of coeducation and voluntary military training. In response, the Student Senate called for the resignation of the editor.
1960–1970 The Wall (Slowly) Comes Down
As elsewhere in the country, the 1960s were years of tremendous change at A&M. One of these changes was the admission of women as official, degree-seeking students. Two other important
developments were the change in the school’s name (from AMC to TAMU) and the admission of African-Americans. Many factors combined finally to bring about coeducation. All the previous efforts and
sacrifices by and on behalf of women were crucial. The desires of many faculty, staff, and former students for the school to achieve a more prominent place in higher education played an important part.
Changes in leadership at the highest levels made the administration more sympathetic to the issue. The admission of women as official students also opened employment doors as the University began for
the first time to recruit women to the faculty and staff.
1 Sterling C. Evans, class of 1921, joined the Board of Directors in 1959. His influence would be crucial
in finally establishing coeducation. 9 By the end of spring in 1964, 183 women were enrolled. The use of the term “Maggies” to refer to
female students became common at this time. By 1965, 321 women enrolled for the spring semester.
2 Earl Rudder was appointed president of the College during the same year. As graduates and loyal 10 In August 1963, Robert Rowland, ’57, and Derrell Chandler, ’62, founded the Committee for an All-Male
supporters of the school, Rudder and Sterling C. Evans seemed unlikely agents for change. Their Military Texas A&M. A student chapter was established two months later. Another group, the Senior
leadership, however, would prove crucial to settling the question of coeducation at last. In 1963, Evans Committee for the Preservation of Texas A&M, initiated a letter-writing campaign. In January 1964, the
became president of the Board, and in February of that year, the Board announced that beginning in Association of Former Students (AFS) passed a resolution stating that it did not endorse the activities
the fall, the A&M College of Texas would be known as Texas A&M University. In May of that year, the of these groups. The next year, the Executive Council of the AFS recommended unlimited coeducation
Board approved racial integration. and non-compulsory military training. The student body narrowly endorsed this recommendation in a
Student Senate poll.
3 In 1960, the Eagle reported an attrition rate among freshman of 56 percent, with many of the dropouts
citing A&M’s all-male character as their reason for leaving. Between 1952 and 1962, A&M’s enrollment
increased by only 29 percent. Over the same period, The University of Texas grew by 70 percent and 11 Stella Haupt, a sixth grade teacher in Bryan, was the first woman to enroll under the new policy. In
1964, she earned an M.A. in education.
Texas Tech by 117 percent. In 1962, A&M was only the fifth largest college in the state. In April 1961, the
Board ordered a long-range planning study, which addressed the issues of coeducation and compulsory
military training. The Battalion announced in March 1963 that the Board had been confidentially 12 In that same year, Darleen Morris earned her undergraduate degree in education.
considering the admission of women. On 27 April 1963, the board ruled that effective 1 June 1963
eligible women would be admitted into graduate programs and veterinary medicine as day students. Wives 13 Maureen Turk and Nancy Nielson were the first women to study nuclear engineering at A&M. When
Nielson graduated in 1970, she was the first woman since the Hutson twins to complete a course of
and daughters of faculty and staff, wives of students in residence, and women staff members would also be
study in engineering and the first ever to receive a degree in the field. Turk graduated in 1972.
admitted to undergraduate programs.
The announcement of the admission of women drew stiff resistance. In a meeting called by the Corps
4 of Cadets, President Rudder was booed by 4,000 students when he stated that with coeducation the
future of the school and the Corps was “bright.” There was also resistance off campus. In May 1963,
state Representative and A&M graduate Will Smith introduced an anti-coeducation resolution in the
House of Representatives. Five hundred gathered in the rotunda of the State Capitol in support of the
resolution, including 300 cadets in full uniform and several representatives of the A&M Mothers’ Club.
There were also many voices of support, however. Letters by former students from around the
country poured into the offices of both Rudder and Evans. Hollis Bible, class of ’30, wrote: “I believe
this is one of the greatest steps taken in many years toward achieving the status of greatness for our 8
fine university.” A group of alumni, led by Geneos Cokinos, class of ’38, wrote: “We applaud the
decision.” Several cadets also contacted Evans and Rudder privately to express their support.
5 In 1966, the Board further opened the door, stating that any woman “associated with the faculty and staff”
or any woman pursuing a program only offered (or even a “goal” best pursued) at A&M was eligible for
admittance. President Rudder was also given authority to admit any woman who did not qualify under the
stated policy. Women attending during the summer sessions were also deemed eligible for degrees. These
changes had the overall effect of completely ending the prohibition on coeducation.
6 In February 1970, the admissions policy in the General Catalogue was finally changed to state what had
already been the policy for over five years: “Texas A&M University is a co-educational university
admitting men and women to all academic studies on the same basis.” This was the first official and
unqualified articulation of the coeducation policy.
7 The pictures of the first women to enroll under the new policy were arranged in the form of a
question mark in the 1963 yearbook.
8 Some of the first women to enroll were required to sign a contract stating that they would withdraw if
the new policy was reversed.5 12 9
7
3
1 11
6
2
10
13
41960–1970 Betty Miller Unterberger P R O F I L E
Aspecialist in U.S. foreign relations, Betty Miller Unterberger is an internationally recognized scholar. Her study of the The University began
development of U.S. policy toward Czechoslovakia, quoted below, is now considered a classic. Dr. Unterberger joined the for the first time to
History Department in 1968 at the rank of professor and was the first woman at A&M to hold that rank. She was later
recruit women to the
Dr. Unterberger joined the
named the Patricia and Bookman Peters Professor of History. Before
coming to A&M, she earned an M.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D.
faculty and staff
History Department in 1968 at
from Duke University. She is the author of numerous books and
the rank of professor and was the
articles in scholarly journals. In 1975, she won the Association of
first woman at Texas A&M to hold
Former Students’ Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching,
that rank.
and in 1986–87, she gave the Texas A&M University Faculty
Lecture. She was one of nine American experts selected to visit the
U.S.S.R. in 1983 in the first meeting of its kind to discuss history and economics. In that year she was also included in
“Who’s Who in America” and selected as a “Notable Woman of Texas.” In 1990, she was appointed to the Advisory
Committee on Naval History.
In reflecting on life at A&M as one of the only female faculty members, Unterberger stated:
“When I would walk into the classroom on the first day . . . students used to think I was the secretary. . . . When I received a
fellowship to study at Duke, the head of the department spent two-and-a-half hours telling me why I had no right to be there,
that I was taking bread out of the mouths of deserving male students who were going to get married and have families to support.
I wonder where they thought my bread was coming from.”
From 1984 and 1993 interviews with the Battalion.
In her classic study, The United States, Revolutionary Russia, and the Rise of Czechoslovakia (UNC, Chapel Hill, 1989; rpt.
2000, Texas A&M University Press), Unterberger wrote:
“When Soviet troops moved into Czechoslovakia in August 1968 to end the ‘liberalization’ policies of the incumbent Czech
government, few persons in either Czechoslovakia or the United States expected the American government to do more than exercise
moral pressure to aid the Czechs. Fifty years earlier, however, in the midst of the First World War, when Czech and Slovak peoples
opposed the autocracy of the Austro-Hungarian regime at home and the Czecho-Slovak Legion in Russia became involved in a
struggle against the Bolsheviks and Austro-German prisoners of war, the American government responded quite differently.”On 27 April 1963, the Board ruled that effective 1 June 1963 eligible women would be admitted into graduate programs and veterinary medicine as day students. Wives and daughters of faculty and staff, wives of students in residence, and women staff members would also be admitted to undergraduate programs.
1971–1980 The Struggle Continues
In the 1970s, the University began the slow process of integrating women more fully into the traditions and activities of the campus. The school also struggled to adjust to its new image as a coeducational
institution. Women had been attending as official, degree-seeking candidates for almost a decade, but many parts of the school remained closed to them. The first women joined the Corps of Cadets during
this period. They also began to agitate for full participation in all of the Corps’ activities and units. Women’s sports began during this decade. Women also began to play a more prominent part in the
governance of the University, both as students and employees. The growth sparked by coeducation during the 1960s skyrocketed in the 1970s.
1 In the early 1970s, as more and more women joined the student ranks at A&M, the University
struggled to integrate them into the school’s traditions and to adjust its self-image. 14 The first women to join the Corps drilled for a semester in civilian clothes. The uniform for female
seniors did not include boots until 1980.
2 Krueger Hall opened as the women’s dormitory in 1972. For the first time in the history of the 15 Roxie Pranglin, shown here leading W-1 in the 1977 Kansas march-in, was the first female cadet to lead
University, single women students had year-round on-campus housing. a unit who had also served all four years in the Corps.
3 In 1971, 1,767 women were enrolled. Four years later the number had climbed to 7,182 and by 1980 16 Squadron 14, the second all female cadet unit, was formed in 1978.
nearly doubled to 12,207.
Champion golfer Brenda Goldsmith signed with A&M in 1973 and was thus the first female athlete
4 recruited by the school. There was not an official women’s golf team, however, because the Southwest
Conference prohibited competition among women. Goldsmith instead “represented” A&M at 6
tournaments and other competitions. Through the late ’60s and early ’70s women’s athletics were limited
to “club sports” status and could not begin in earnest until the rules of the SWC were changed.
5 Linda (Cornelius) Waltman was the first woman on full athletic scholarship in 1976. In 1980, she was a
member of the Olympic Team and later the first woman inducted into the A&M Sports Hall of Fame.
6 Kay Don joined the Athletic Department as the Assistant Athletic Director for Women in 1975.
7 During this period many academic, social, and support services and organizations for women were
founded. In 1971, Toby Rives (pictured) was appointed Dean of Women, and Patricia Self was appointed
Counselor of Women. Two years later the Texas A&M chapter of the Society of Women Engineers was
established. The first sorority was organized in 1975.
8 Susan Gurley McBee, graduate of the class of 1969, was elected to the Texas House of Representatives
in 1974. In 1980, she was the first woman named “Man of the Year in Texas Agriculture.” 1
9 More women than ever before reached positions of influence and power. In 1971, Ruth Schaffer of the 5
Sociology Department became the second woman to achieve the rank of full professor. Lola Wheeler
Smith (pictured), a graduate of Texas Tech University, was appointed to the Board of Regents in 1973,
thus becoming the second woman on the Board and the first since coeducation.
10 In that same year, Anne Marie Elmquist was named head of the Department of Modern Languages. She
was the first female department head outside of the Extension Service.
11 In November 1974, Irene Hoadley was named director of libraries. She was the first woman to head
the library on a permanent basis and, at the time of her appointment, the highest placed female
administrator in the institution.
12 The first pathways for women to participate in many of the school’s traditions and activities were
blazed at this time. A few women ran for student office in 1971 but were not elected. During their
campaign, some of their political posters were burned. In 1972, Mary Hanak was elected student body
vice president.
13 Participation in the Corps of Cadets was opened to women in 1974. About 50 women were
organized into an all-female unit, W-1. The members of this unit were called “Waggies.”
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