Class Year
2025
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2022
Department 1
History
Abstract
Women studying at Gettysburg College in the years following World War II (from 1945 to 1955) were given many freedoms and opportunities not previously experienced by female students of the college. The inclusion of sororities and co-educational social clubs open to both men and women expanded the social lives of female students at Gettysburg. Meanwhile, the dormitory environment and intramural sports teams helped women at Gettysburg create a sense of community through healthy competition. With all of these new social, academic, and extracurricular opportunities, there were still setbacks for women. Rules dictated how a woman could dress in certain settings or wear her hair, a concept that now seems ridiculous. Expectations surrounding a woman’s place in society led many women to not continue their studies after getting engaged or married during their college years. All that considered, women at Gettysburg had rich academic and social lives, complete with opportunities to expand their horizons inside and outside of the class, even if they were not always considered equal to their male classmates.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Olivia N. and White, McKenna C., "Co-education and Collaboration: Women at Gettysburg from 1945-1955" (2022). Student Publications. 1036.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/1036
Comments
Written for HIST 300: Historical Methods