Pinstripes & Pearls: The Women of the Harvard Law School Class of '64 Who Forged an Old-Girl Network and Paved the Way for Future Generations

by Judith Richards Hope, Stephen Breyer (Foreword), Kathleen Sullivan (Afterword)

To illustrate the challenges facing women of her generation, author Judith Richards Hope describes the lives and careers of a handful of barrier-breaking women, including herself, from Harvard Law School's class of 1964, who fought and overcame preconceptions and prejudices against their entering what, at the time, was a male vocation. Despite their struggles in law school and in the workplace, they maintained their ambition and ultimately achieved remarkable success. They look back on law school as a time of enormous personal and intellectual growth.
Pinstripes & Pearls illuminates the extraordinary trajectories of these women - among them Pat Schroeder, Judith W. Rogers, and Hope herself - who forged an old-girl network and became lifelong friends. Through compelling and often witty anecdotes, unprecedented archival research of Harvard records, and revealing testaments to the difficulties faced by women harboring serious career goals, Pinstripes & Pearls personifies in these women the emergence of a new type of American female, one whose "goal is to reach the destination, not just to avoid humiliation on the way."

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, History, Law, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2003

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covered an important topic - the road traveled by pioneering women in the field of law. Specifically, this book charts the professional journey of Judith Richards Hope and the handful of women in the Harvard law class of '64. While there are many interesting and shocking anecdotes (particularly with regard to hazing experienced while at Harvard) I gave this book a low rating for two reasons: 1) the structure of the book was laborious and grating - telling the story of each woman in the author's law school class in short snippets which were hard to follow over the course of the book. I kept getting many of the women confused and 2) the author herself was an unsympathetic narrator, seemingly aware that she conducted herself in a manner that made her children feel devalued, but unwilling to acknowledge she would or could have done anything to change that. All in all, I am glad I read the book, but wish a different person had told the story.

[Alecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fascinating tale of the women of the Harvard Law Class of 1964. The first women were admitted to Harvard in 1950, but the class of '64 was part of the first generation to really deal with the feminist issue of choosing a career or family. The vast majority of the women chose both, with varying degrees of success.

Full review here on my blog.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

boring but an important time in feminism

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing group of women!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am graduating from Harvard Law School in a few days, and I was very involved in women's issues while I was here, so I have been saving up this book to read for some time. I finally got to it recently, and I was glad to have done so before I leave Cambridge for good. The book chronicles the women of the HLS class of 1964, as they are accepted to, attend, and graduate from Harvard Law and as make their way in life and in the profession afterward. For me, the material in the first half of the book was particularly special, as it paints a picture of what HLS was like then that was both familiar and showed how far women have come in many respects. The stories are told by the classmates (including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer) and hit on a lot of details, like being called on in class, who was dating who, etc., that I enjoyed. The second half of the book - about what came after HLS - was much more like the typical women's panel I might have organized in law school and was as discouraging about the potential for full time work and family balance as is the norm. But it was interesting to see what had become of the women and, particularly, to see the emphasis placed on networks of women being successful in the law.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative about one class of women. The paths they took were as unique as they. What I found interesting was the point that things were challenging because they are women, and they seemingly took it in stride. They bore through it and in the end persevered.

[Tonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very eye-opening account of the boys club mentality that has dictated operations at one of America's most celebrated academic institutions. Definitely worth the read, even if you don't care about gender politics.

[sima · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a cover-to-cover read, but it's inspiring to hear about women who are hungry for life and eager to break ranks.

[Amy Eckstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories about what life was like for women in the 60s. The sexism and obstacles to overcome were amazing. The only downside is that the writing is not the best.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good look into how hard it was for women to really have a career and family, and all the sacrifices they made along the way.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting memoir about what it was like for women in law school and practicing law before it was normal for women to do so. The histories of each member of the class are amusing. Also provides one very successful woman's perspective on the work/family life balance.