Pembroke College in Brown University was the name given to the Women’s College in 1928. The first women students had arrived in October 1891, after some years of negotiations. It was not until 1896 that the Corporation finally passed its “Legislation Founding the Women’s College in Brown University.” That legislation recognized the women’s college as a department and provided that the dean appointed by Brown University President Elisha Andrews would report directly to Andrews, and furthermore, that the women’s tuition payments would cover the cost of their instruction plus a ten percent payment to Brown University. In 1903, the Women’s College was given its own faculty – composed of all department heads in the University and the faculty members who taught courses for women – to supervise all academic matters except admission and graduation.
Over the years Brown and Pembroke students merged their student organizations, attended coeducational classes, and in 1969 began living in coed dormitories. On November 12, 1970 a motion adopted by the Advisory and Executive Council of the Corporation announced, “It is the sense of this meeting that it would be in the best interests of the University that appropriate steps be taken to consolidate the administrative functions at Pembroke College with corresponding functions at The College.” On July 1, 1971, the offices of the two colleges for admission, financial aid, placement, housing, and counseling were merged in the final act of making Brown a truly coeducational university.
For many years, these records were stored in the attic of Alumnae Hall unbeknownst to university staff. In 2017, the facilities department brought the records to the attention of the Pembroke Center archivist. After that, archives staff gathered and processed the records that remained.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, available on the John Hay Library website or by request, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Pembroke College Records from Alumnae Hall, OF.1ZP.2017.007, Brown University Library.
The Pembroke College records from Alumnae Hall document daily life on campus and include change of address slips, freshman student directories, room guest tickets and receipts, and memos. This collection spans from 1917-1970 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1962-1970, and is arranged into one series alphabetically by record type.
This collection is arranged into one series alphabetically by record type.