Overview
| Repository: |
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520 Email: mssa.reference@yale.edu Phone: 203-432-1735 Fax: 203-432-7441 |
| Call Number: | RU 821 |
| Creator: | Yale University. Office on the Education of Women. |
| Title: | Office on the Education of Women, Yale University, records |
| Dates: | 1968-1995 |
| Physical Description: | 21.5 linear feet (51 boxes) |
| Language(s): | The materials are in English. |
| Summary: | The records of Office on the Education of Women (formerly the Coeducation Office) document all aspects of Yale University's transition to undergraduate coeducation, as well as the status of women at Yale and women in academe. Planning for incorporating women in Yale College and the residential colleges, admissions, and the first undergraduate female students are particularly well documented. The records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, admission applications and other student data, and printed articles and news clippings, primarily maintained by the Special Assistant to the President on the Education of Women. |
| Note: | Forms part of Yale Record Group 2-B (YRG 2-B), Records of Yale presidential assistants. |
| Note: | Former title: Elga Wasserman as Special Assistant to the President of Yale University for the Education of Women records. |
| View/Search: | To view and/or search the entire finding aid, see the Full HTML or the Printable PDF. |
| Finding Aid Link: | To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ru.0821 |
| Catalog Record: | A record for this collection may be available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. |
Administrative Information
Provenance
Transferred by the Yale University Office on the Education of Women, 1975 and by Elga Wasserman, 2006.
Information about Access
Access to the records is partially restricted. Details provided in Collections Contents.
Ownership & Copyright
Copyright for materials authored or otherwise produced as official business of Yale University is retained by Yale University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Cite As
Office on the Education of Women, Yale University, Records (RU 821). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Processing Notes
Except as needed, materials were not refoldered. Folder titles appearing in the Collection Contents section of the finding aid are based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. When folder labels contained no or too little information, processing staff supplied titles based on a cursory examination of folder contents and appropriate national content standards. Additional processing may be done in the future if usage of the collection suggests that would be appropriate.
Appraisal
Routine administrative and financial records are not maintained based on departmental policy.
Historical Sketch
Kingman Brewster, president of Yale University, announced in 1968 that Yale would admit 500 women into Yale College in the following Fall. The impact of coeducation at Yale was far reaching, in addition to the integration of female students into Yale College and the residential colleges, services and regulations such as housing, dining, parietal rules, and health services were examined and changed as necessary. Additionally, a small number of new services and programs were created, such as gynecological services, sex counseling, and courses on human sexuality. Coeducation brought other women's issues at Yale, including women faculty and women's studies, to the forefront.
Brewster appointed Elga Wasserman as Special Assistant to the President on the Education of Women to serve as advisor and to oversee the planning and implementation of coeducation in its undergraduate program. Wasserman chaired the Planning Committee on Coeducation (1968-1969), which oversaw every aspect of planning. In 1969, the University Committee on Coeducation was formed and was also chaired by Wasserman. The Committee continued to oversee the transition and facilitate integration of the female students. The Coeducation Office, headed by Wasserman, was also established to facilitate programs initiated by the Committee and to serve as a resource for the undergraduates, as well as graduate students, other women on campus, and administrators.
Wasserman left Yale in 1972. Mary Arnstein became Acting Special Assistant to the President and chair of the University Committee on Coeducation. The Committee voted to terminate the position of Special Assistant and the Coeducation Office and transfer responsibilities to existing offices and a reorganized University Committee on the Education of Women in 1973. Some functions of the Coeducation Office were assumed by the new Office on the Education of Women. The University Committee on the Education of Women served as an advisory group to the president on issues related to women at Yale until 1977. There was a separate University Council Committee on the Education of Women that was a Yale Corporation Committee.
Description of the Papers
The records of Office on the Education of Women, including records of the Special Assistant to the President on the Education of Women, document all aspects of Yale University's transition to undergraduate coeducation. Operations and programs of Yale College and the residential colleges were most directly impacted by the change. Planning for incorporating women in undergraduate life, admissions, and the first undergraduate female students are particularly well documented. The records, arranged alphabetically by topic, include correspondence, memoranda, reports, meeting agendas and minutes, admission applications and other student data, and printed articles and news clippings. In addition to administrative files, the records include subject files related to women and women's issues maintained as a resouce by the Coeducation Office. Researchers interested in women at Yale, coeducation, and women in academe will find the records a rich resource.
Arrangement
The records are arranged by accession and topically therein as received from the creating office.