Interested in doing your own research on topics relating to coeducation or the history of women at the College? Look to the research guide below for information on where to start at the Bowdoin College Library and in the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives.
Secondary Sources
| Source | Topic |
| Kaufman, Michael J. Badges and Incidents: A Transdisciplinary History of the Right to Education in America. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2020. | Education in the U.S. |
| Du Bois, W E B. W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader. Edited by David Levering Lewis. Holt, 1995. | Diversity in Higher Education |
| Stulberg, Lisa M., and Sharon Lawner Weinberg. Diversity in American Higher Education toward a More Comprehensive Approach. Florence: Taylor and Francis, 2012. | Diversity in Higher Education |
| Faragher, John Mack, and Florence Howe. Women and Higher Education in American History: Essays from the Mount Holyoke College Sesquicentennial Symposia. New York: Norton, 1988. | Coeducation in the U.S. |
| Howe, Florence. Myths of Coeducation. Wellesley, MA: Center for Research on Women, 1978. | Coeducation in the U.S. |
| Newcomer, Mabel. A Century of Higher Education for American Women. Washington: Zenger, 1959. | Coeducation in the U.S. |
| Peril, Lynn. College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Coeds, Then and Now. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. | Coeducation in the U.S. |
| Calhoun, Charles C. A Small College In Maine: Two Hundred Years of Bowdoin. Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College, 1993. | Coeducation at Bowdoin |
| Forty Years of Woman at Bowdoin College, online project, 2011. | Coeducation at Bowdoin |
| Kellogg, Emma. “A Men’s College Without Women,” Bowdoin Honors Thesis, 2020. | Coeducation at Bowdoin |
| Kaster, Barbara. To Serve the Common Good: A History of the College. Video. 1993. | Coeducation at Bowdoin |
Archival Primary Sources
| Source/Collection | Topic |
| Sarah Orne Jewett Papers, 1876-1905 (M238). | Early Women Honorary Degree Recipients |
| Kate Douglas Wiggin Collection, 1867-1985 (M187). | Early Women Honorary Degree Recipients |
| Summer School of Science, July 1876. Attendance Books: Office of Student Records/Registrar Records (A02.02.03, volume 3). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Summer School of Science, 1876-1878 |
| History Scrapbook, July 1875-June 1879. Office of Communications and Public Affairs Records (A06.01.19, volume-folio 4). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Summer School of Science, 1876-1878 |
| Mary Sophia and Harriet Sarah Walker Papers, 1850-1904 (M184). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Mary Sophia and Harriet Sarah Walker |
| Walker Art Building files, maps, realia. College Building Records (A01.13). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Mary Sophia and Harriet Sarah Walker |
| Society of Bowdoin Women, correspondence, 1922. Kate Douglas Wiggin Collection, 1867-1985 (M187). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Society of Bowdoin Women |
| Society of Bowdoin Women, photographs. Images. | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Society of Bowdoin Women |
| Society of Bowdoin Women (1961-80). Willard F. Enteman Administrative Records, 1956-1981 (A01.0211.01, box 1). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s: Society of Bowdoin Women |
| Edith Sills material. Kenneth C.M. Sills Collection, 1816-1994 (M166) | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s |
| Bowdoin Wives Association, subject file, 1947-1948. Director of the Moulton Union Records, 1940-1973 (A01.19.03, box 1, folder 2). | Early Bowdoin Women and Societies, 1870s-1940s |
| President Chamberlain’s inaugural address, 1872. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Administrative Records, 1871-1883 (A01.02.06, box 1, folder 3). | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain |
| [C.F. Low and Chamberlain correspondence re: woman matriculating at the Medical School of Maine], 1872. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection, 1817-2014 (M027.01, box 2, folders 61-62). | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain |
| “Bowdoin Co-Eds.” The Bugle. Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College, 1890. The Bugle, 1858-2012 (A04.12, volume 3). | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s: Bowdoin Bugle, student yearbook |
| [Various other years depict contemporary attitudes towards women, as campus guests as well as students]. | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s: Bowdoin Bugle, student yearbook |
| DeWitt Hyde, William. The College Man and the College Woman. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Co., 1906. | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s |
| Forum: Recorded interview with President Coles, “Should Bowdoin go Co-ed”, March 2, 1965. WBOR Records: Student Groups and Organizations Records, 1804- (A04.08.13, digital files). | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s |
| “Better Coed Than Dead” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, Winter 1968. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06). | Pre-Coeducation Attitudes Towards Women, 1870s-1960s |
| Twelve College Exchange, 1970-1992. Office of the Dean of Student Affairs Records, 1940- (A04.01.14). | The Twelve College Exchange Program |
| Twelve-College Exchange, subject files, 1970. Roger Howell Administrative Records, 1952-1993 (A01.02.10.01, box 16, folders 20-21). | The Twelve College Exchange Program |
| Coeducation, subject files and faculty committee records. Roger Howell Administrative Records, 1952-1993 (A01.02.10). | The Process of Coeducation |
| Bowdoin College, Study Committee on Underclass Campus Environment. Report to the President and Trustees and to the Overseers of Bowdoin College: Study Committee on Underclass Campus Environment, 1969. | The Process of Coeducation |
| Curriculum, Special Committee on (Geary Report), faculty committee records, 1974-1977. Roger Howell Administrative Records, 1952-1993 (A01.02.10.03, box 1, folder 9). | The Process of Coeducation |
| “The Equalizers” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1970. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 5). | The Process of Coeducation |
| “Coeducation: A Very Brief History” in Bowdoin, 1991. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 7). | The Process of Coeducation |
| “The Impact of Coeducation on the Student Life of Bowdoin College,” student paper for Prof. Randolph Stakeman (HIST), 1980. Class Projects and Coursework, 1804- (A03.32.06, box 1, folder 15). | The Process of Coeducation |
| “The Implementation of Coeducation at Bowdoin College – What Was it All About?,” student paper for Prof. Randolph Stakeman (HIST), 1980. Class Projects and Coursework, 1804- (A03.32.06, box 1, folder 15). | The Process of Coeducation |
| Coeducation of fraternities, general records. Fraternities and Greek Letter Societies Records, 1818-1997 (A04.07.01, box 1, folder 9). | The Process of Coeducation |
| Jacobson, Susan D. [Commencement part], 1971. Class Records, 1806- (A01.6.166, box 24). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Mann, Deborah and Diane Bazell [Commencement parts], 1975. Class Records, 1806- (A01.6.170, box 24). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| To the Root, 1980-1995. Student Publications (A04.41.13). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Womyn’s Words, 1988-1993. Student Publications (A04.41.14). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Women’s Resource Center Records, 1980- (A04.38). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| “Something to Shout About” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1983. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 6). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Alpha Beta Phi (sorority), 1983-1991. Office of the Dean of Student Affairs Records (A01.04.13, box 1, folders 1-2) *Restricted until 2066 | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Bowdoin Women’s Association, 1974-. Student Groups and Organizations Records (A04.08.08). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| “A Women’s Resource Center,” The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1981. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 6). | The Early Years: Student Life, 1970s-1990s |
| Thompson, Ann L, Former Faculty/Staff Records. Office of Development Services Records (A01.03.06, box 7, folder 10). | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| Lou Emma Holloway, Tallman Lecture Recordings and Print material, 1971. | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| Holloway, Lou Emma, Former Faculty/Staff Records. Office of Development Services Records (A01.03.06, box 4, folder 1). | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| “Women at Bowdoin: Some Thoughts” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1974. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 5). | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| “Seven from Seventy-Five” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1975. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 5). | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| LaPointe, Sally, Former Faculty/Staff Records. Office of Development Services Records (A01.03.06, box 4, folder 65). | The Early Years: Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1940s-1980s |
| NCAA Gender-Equity Surveys, 1996-1997. Office of the Dean of Student Affairs Records (A04.01.12, box f, folder 8). *Restricted until 2072 | Gender Equality and Inclusivity |
| “Rise, Sons of Bowdoin” and “Raise, Songs to Bowdoin.” | Gender Equality and Inclusivity |
| “Here Comes the Sun” in The Bowdoin Alumnus, 1981. Office of Alumni Relations Records and Publications, 1809- (A01.05.06, box 6). | Gender Equality and Inclusivity |
| Report of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women and response; Residential Life Report, subject files. Robert H. Edwards Administrative Records (A01.02.13). | Gender Equality and Inclusivity |
| Bowdoin College Self-Study reports, 2006, 2016. Bowdoin College Self-Study Reports (A01.29). | Gender Equality and Inclusivity |
This is not an exhaustive list of resources, contact Special Collections & Archives staff to discuss your area of interest and what materials might best support your research.
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