June 1919: Physical Director of Women

The June 1919 Bulletin of the College of William and Mary, which published the academic year catalogue 1918-1919, listed a new physical director of women, Bertha Wilder. This is inline with the hiring of new staff to oversee and educate the newly admitted Marys. Although Ms. Wilder is listed in the catagloue, her hire is not mentioned in the Board of Visitors meeting minutes. The catalogue defines and describes the necessity of physical education for women as

"The physical training for women includes various forms of gymnasium exercises, folk dancing, basket-ball, field hockey, baseball and tennis. Every student is required to take three hours a week of regular gymnasium work, unless excused for reasons of health; in which case special exercises will be adopted by the physical director to suit the individual needs of the student."

In addition to the 1918-1919 catalgoue, Ms. Wilder appears in the 1919 Colonial Echo yearbook with the title of "Athletic Director."

This post was composed by Jeffreen Hayes.


For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.

January 11, 1919: "Exclusive Party at Tyler Hall"

The first month of 1919 proved to be a busy time for the first class of women at the College of William and Mary. Along with finishing coursework and exams from the previous year, there were events to attend as well.

A calendar of events in The Colonial Echo gives this enigmatic entry for January 11: "Exclusive party at Tyler Hall. Gent's suits and shoulder bars are borrowed, and the shades are drawn tight???? Skulking figures slink down Gloucester Street. Every man a girl and every girl a lady." The event? The Manless Dance. While some female students opted to wear their normal clothing, the point of the dance was for the women to dress like men. They borrowed suits and uniforms from male friends in order to look as masculine as possible. The dance was such a success that it became an annual event among the women students.

Editions of The Colonial Echo and Catherine Dennis' scrapbook are available in the Special Collections Research Center.

This post was composed by Kate Hill.

For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.

November 23, 1918: Dance Recital

Unlike many of the classes at the College of William and Mary in 1918, physical education was not coeducational. Activities such as basketball and tennis were popular in the women's class, as well as "aesthetic dancing." Female students learned themed dances during class and later presented them to an audience - fully costumed. On November 23, 1918, The Colonial Echo noted that the women students "entertain[ed] with choral dances, Spanish and Russian specialties. The audience remained throughout."

These photos from the day are from Catherine Dennis' scrapbook.

Catherine Dennis, in Italian Dance costume

Marceline Galting, women's physical education instructor, in costume

Women's gymnasium class in costume

top row, left-right: Margaret Lee, Martha Barksdale, Florence Harris, Louise Reid, Elizabeth Scott, Alice Person, Margaret Bridges, Elizabeth Lee, Edna Reid, Janet Coleman

bottom row, l-r: Ruth Conkey, Margaret Thornton, Hope Baines, Evelyn Palmer

Editions of The Colonial Echo and Catherine Dennis' scrapbook are available in the Special Collections Research Center.

This post was composed by Kate Hill.

For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.

Sports at William and Mary

It is the start of the 2008 Homecoming week at the College William and Mary. Ideally, this post would detail homecoming at the College in 1918, focusing on student activities leading up to an exciting football game. However, little information is available on the football season in 1918 and Homecoming was not marked at the College until 1926. With the demands of the Students' Army Training Corps, scarce equipment, and no head coach, the success of the football team suffered. The Colonial Echo yearbook of 1919 was understated in describing the season as "incomplete and rather unsuccessful."

Despite the lackluster performance of the football team, athletics played an important role on campus, and sports like basketball and baseball regained popularity after the end of World War I. Janet Coleman Kimbrough remembered the strong level of school spirit among the students in her oral history interview in the 1970s:

It was a period when college spirit was very strong. There wasn't any question about supporting your team; you just naturally did. We used to have rallies, (so-called), just before the big games of the season, and part of the initiation of the ducs [underclassmen] was that they were required to learn certain cheers. We didn't have girl cheerleaders at all. I don't remember even considering them. The cheerleader would have a megaphone and would direct the cheering, but there wasn't any special costume or special activity on the part of the cheerleader; he was just to see that everybody made noise.

Basketball was especially popular on campus. Women students played among themselves, separated into the "Orange" (sometimes called "Yellow") and "Black" teams. Student Martha Barksdale was widely recognized as one of the best players, and even admitted to letting the other team win once in a while to keep them interested in playing. They also participated in "aesthetic dancing," drilling (during the war), tennis, and swimming.

Members of the "Orange" team (top): Martha Barksdale, Catherine Dennis, Alice Person, Ruth Harris, Edna Reid, Celeste Ross. Members of the "Black" team (bottom): Elizabeth Scott, Margaret Thornton, Mary Haile, Margaret Bridges, Janet Coleman, Louise Reid, Alice Burke. From The Colonial Echo.

How male students might have supported women's basketball is unclear, but everyone seems to have cheered on the men's basketball team. According to Barksdale, students would ring the bells on campus after the men won a game, then gather for a celebratory bonfire and rally either on campus or on Duke of Gloucester Street. The police monitored these celebrations, occasionally arresting students for being too loud or for making the bonfire too large.

As part of Homecoming festivities, check out The Wham Bam Big Band performing at Swem Library on Friday October 24th at 3:30pm in conjunction with the exhibit "Ringing Far and Near: Student Music and Song at the College of William and Mary." Other events in Swem Library include: tours of the library this Friday and Saturday at 1:30, 2, 3:30, and 4pm; tours of the Media Center on Friday from 3-4:30pm; and Ben & Jerry's ice cream from 3:30-4:30pm.

Mary Comes to the College with William encourages students, alumni, and other visitors to enjoy Homecoming and celebrate responsibly (please, no bonfires).

Editions of The Colonial Echo are available in the Special Collections Research Center and Swem Library. An excerpt of the transcription of Kimbrough's interview is available online and the complete transcription is available from the University Archives Oral History Collection in the Special Collections Research Center.

This post was composed by Kate Hill.

For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.

May 1918: The Colonial Echo on Coeds

As the class of 1918 prepared to graduate from William and Mary, there were some mixed messages from the student body about their feelings of being the last all male class at the College in the yearbook, the Colonial Echo.


At the end of the senior class history on page 36 of the yearbook, the class historian remarked on the “melancholy fact that we are the last class to graduate from this old college before it is defiled by co-education.” While this may imply the historian’s dismay with the College becoming co-educational, twenty-one pages later on page 57 the Colonial Echo “affectionately dedicates this page to the future Co-Eds.”

This yearbook is an excellent example of the conflicting opinions about co-education at William and Mary in the months leading up to the first twenty female students’ arrival in September 1918. As previous entries about Flat Hat opinion articles have shown, there was a small, but vocal, contingent against co-education, which is represented in the yearbook by the historian’s parting line in the class history. At William and Mary, there were also quite a few students and faculty who were either indifferent or supported the arrival of women.

Click to enlarge the senior class history:

For more information on co-education’s reception on campus, as well as other questions, please contact the Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.


This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.


For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.