Libraries & Collections at Rutgers: Special Collections and University Archives:
Towards a New History of Douglass College
Essays by Students from the Douglass Scholars Program

Introduction Table of Contents

Douglass College Seal

Introduction

In Fall 2000, the Douglass Scholars Program sponsored the sophomore-junior seminar "Issues and Debates in Women's Higher Education." This seminar uses Douglass College as a case study to focus on the development and history of women's higher education in the United States. Douglass College, originally know as New Jersey College for Women (NJC), was founded in 1918 by Mabel Smith Douglass and the State Federation of Women's Clubs. In spite of scant resources, NJC developed into one of the premier women's colleges in the country. During the semester, the six students (Allison Badertscher '01, Suzanne Boyle '03, Jacqueline Green '03, Kathryn Mogol '03, Bernice Rosenzweig '02, and Amanda Winter DC '03) explored this history through using the archival records of the college preserved in the Rutgers University Archives. The archives enabled the students to go beyond the standard account of the college, George P. Schmidt's Douglass College: A History (Rutgers University Press, 1968), and cast new light on controversial issues such as Mabel Smith Douglass' leadership style, student rebellion and unrest in both the 1920s and 1960s, and the sweeping changes which occurred at Douglass College and in the university as a whole during the 1970s and 1980s. The students investigated these topics in a series of short papers, several of which are available on this web site illustrated with photographs from the Rutgers University Archives.

We would like to thank Deirdre Kramer and the Douglass Scholars Program, which provided generous funding for the creation of this web site, and the following students who worked on the site: Allison Badertscher DC '01, Carlos Ron RC '01, Veronica Meyer SC '03 and Luis Martinez RC '04. Special thanks go to Sam McDonald, Rutgers University Libraries Webmaster and his student assistant for providing technical assistance and support. Most of all we would like to thank the six students who worked so hard in the seminar and inspired us with their enthusiasm.

Fernanda Perrone
Thomas J. Frusciano

Table of Contents

• Jacqueline Green '03
  Mabel Smith Douglass: Champion or "Compromiser" of Women's Education?

• Amanda Winter '03
  Mabel Smith Douglass: Conservative Feminist

• Suzanne Boyle '03
  Applying Ingenuity and Passion to Create Change: The Career of Mabel Smith Douglass

• Jacqueline Green '03
  In Search of Youth: The 1920's at New Jersey College for Women

• Suzanne Boyle '03
  Bob or Behave? How NJC Dealt with the Pressures of Fads and Traditions in the 1920's

• Amanda Winter '03
  Student Culture at New Jersey College for Women in the 1930's

• Kathryn Mogol '03
  Within the Pages: A Closer Look at the Portrayal of Women in Student Publications

• Jacqueline Green '03
  The Impact of Coeducation at Rutgers College on Douglass College

• Allison Badertscher '01
  Unity and Diversity in the Black Student Protest Movement

• Bernice Rosenzweig '02
  The Black Student Protest Movement at Douglass College

• Suzanne Boyle '03
  Academic Reorganization at Douglass College: New Perspectives for a New Era

For more information on this web site, please contact:
fruscian@rci.rutgers.edu or hperrone@rci.rutgers.edu