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Story Two

What were your favorite subjects in college?

By now you realize that I never really liked going to school from kindergarten right through graduate school, but although I wasn't Phi Beta Kappa like Marian I did graduate with honors from Northwestern where I had been in a special program for seniors who wanted a BA, not a BS which is what everybody in NU's Liberal Arts College got when I was there. My special programs were history and English Lit and it seemed ridiculous to get a BS with those. I don't know whether that makes any sense to you or is of interest, but I'm open to more questions and would love to help.

I was at NU in the days of Bergen Evans who was a famous teacher in his day. I took his classes and enjoyed them, but I can't say I knew him. So, no, I don't have any professors I remember with great affection. I've always thought I might have been happier in a smaller school or maybe a girls' school. I was accepted at Wellesley (SP?) and Mount Holyoke, but Father felt that after Marymount I'd do better in a coed setting. He wanted me to meet some boys, but it took a few more years for me to meet Peter.

With love always...

Exploring Her College Years

Bergen Evans, the Seven Sisters, and women's education in the 1940s

Bergen Evans - The Celebrity Professor

Bergen Baldwin Evans (1904-1978) was Northwestern's most famous professor during Nancy's years there. His "Introduction to Literature" course enrolled more students than any other course at the university. A Rhodes Scholar with a Harvard PhD, Evans became a national television personality while teaching full-time at Northwestern. He hosted multiple game shows including "The Last Word" (for which he won a 1957 Peabody Award), "The $64,000 Question" (as the expert authority), and "Down You Go." Known for his dry wit and engaging style, he made learning fun and accessible. He taught at Northwestern for 42 years (1932-1974), and his colleagues loved him so much they voted unanimously to let him continue teaching past retirement age. Nancy's comment that she "can't say I knew him" makes perfect sense—with hundreds of students in his lectures, he was more celebrity than mentor.

The BA/BS Distinction at Northwestern

Nancy mentions being in a "special program for seniors who wanted a BA, not a BS which is what everybody in NU's Liberal Arts College got" in the early 1950s. This appears to be a historical quirk that has since been lost—today, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences awards BA degrees as standard. Nancy's history and English literature double major made a Bachelor of Science degree seem "ridiculous," so she enrolled in this special program. Her academic achievement is documented in the 1952 Northwestern Commencement Program (her name on page 7, honors on page 65).

The Seven Sisters - The Road Not Taken

Nancy was accepted to both Wellesley College and Mount Holyoke College—two of the prestigious "Seven Sisters" women's colleges founded as counterparts to the all-male Ivy League. The Seven Sisters (Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley) were officially named in 1926 after the Pleiades from Greek mythology. These elite institutions offered smaller class sizes, intimate learning environments, and a focus on women's empowerment and leadership. Mount Holyoke, founded in 1837, was the oldest. Wellesley, known for producing leaders like Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, was highly selective with world-renowned faculty. Nancy's choice of Northwestern over these smaller women's colleges represented a fundamental decision: large coed research university (8,000+ students) versus intimate single-sex college (300-1,000 students), Midwest versus East Coast, broad diverse experiences versus focused women's empowerment.

Marymount - The Catholic Girls' Boarding School

Before Northwestern, Nancy attended Marymount, most likely Marymount College in Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson. Founded in 1907 by Mother Marie Joseph Butler and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), it began as a boarding school for girls on a beautiful 25-acre estate overlooking the Hudson River. The school's philosophy emphasized that "religion is the rock on which character must be built" and aimed to provide "a happy home life surrounded by unusual advantages for culture and refinement." By 1918 it offered advanced two-year degrees, and in 1924 became a four-year college granting baccalaureate degrees. It was the first women's college in the United States to offer a study abroad program. The transition from this intimate Catholic boarding school to Northwestern's large coed campus must have been dramatic.

Women at Northwestern in the 1940s

Northwestern admitted women "on the same terms and conditions as young men" starting in 1869, making it one of the early coeducational universities. By the 1920s, the Women's Quads were built with residential halls and sororities. However, "coeducation" in practice meant a campus that included "men and 'coeds'"—not equals. Women had separate Deans of Women, a Women's Self-Governance Association, and higher behavioral standards than men. By the 1940s and 1950s, women and men followed divergent academic paths: women dominated education, music, home economics, and humanities (like Nancy's English literature and history), while men dominated engineering and sciences. The era was characterized by a "climate of unexpectation"—many women attended college with limited career ambitions, and societal norms emphasized finding a husband over building a career. Nancy's reflection that she might have been "happier in a smaller school or maybe a girls' school" captures this tension.
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