Yards and Gates: Gender in Harvard and Radcliffe History

by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (Editor)

In 1997 Harvard College dedicated a gate into the Old Yard to celebrate the 25th anniversary of housing female students in the dorms. Intended as a symbol of opening, it was also a reminder of separation. Women have always been an important part of Harvard, but they have often functioned "outside the gate." This compelling collection explores the fences, real and symbolic, that overshadow women from institutions--and reveals the importance of looking at history with gender in mind. From the early days of Radcliffe, one of the Seven Sisters, to the interaction of teachers and students, to the Harvard community of working people, non-whites, and women, these essays explore aspirations as well as marginality. They celebrate the resilience of Radcliffe, which has transformed its image, in one generation, from a stepping stone to eventual integration with "the men" to a significant institution focused on women--an end desirable in itself. These are stories about once-locked gates, and those who opened them.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2003

About the author

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She is the author of Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Early New England, 1650-1750 (1982) and A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (1990) which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991 and became the basis of a PBS documentary. In The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Making of an American Myth (2001), she has incorporated museum-based research as well as more traditional archival work. Her most recent book is Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History (2007). Her major fields of interest are early American social history, women's history, and material culture. Professor Ulrich's work is featured on the web at www.dohistory.org and www.randomhouse.com.

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~amciv/fac...