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 ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html