This year marks the 90th anniversary of the admission of women to the
College of William and Mary. In September 1918, twenty-four women enrolled
at the College of William and Mary, making it the first state-supported
four-year college in Virginia to admit women. 

In honor of this anniversary, the Special Collections Research Center at
Swem Library will, over the next sixteen months, maintain a blog, "Mary
Comes to the College With William, 1918-1919," posting contemporary College
records, newspaper accounts, diary entries, and other materials exactly
ninety years after they were created.  The blog begins with the Board of
Visitors' endorsement of the proposed legislation to make the College co-ed
on February 12, 1918, and will follow the path of the first class of women
through June 1919, the end of their first year.  The blog is available at
http://womenatwilliamandmary.blogspot.com/ and was inspired by the excellent
World War I blog, "WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier" at
http://www.wwar1.blogspot.com/.

By 1918, Virginia was the only state in the union which was not providing
its women residents the opportunity to obtain four years of public higher
education. There were several two-year normal schools, but women desiring
more than these had to offer, including graduate and professional education,
had to attend either private colleges or other states' universities, both
expensive alternatives. William and Mary had been a small college for many
years, but admission of women began a period of unprecedented growth in the
student population, academic departments, faculty, and the physical plant.

The Special Collections Research Center houses an extensive collection of
manuscripts and rare books as well as the University's archives.  Amy
Schindler, the University Archivist, conceived of the blog and is
responsible for its creation and upkeep.  She would be happy to answer any
questions about it.  For more information, please contact her at
acschi[at]wm.edu.

Bea Hardy, Director
Special Collections Research Center
Swem Library
College of William and Mary

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