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Quotations from Women at Penn

Dedicated to the memory of Ruth Branning Molloy, B.S. in Ed. 1930

Many of these quotations were used in
Jenny Holzer's Hill Square sculpture
commemorating 125 Years of Women at Penn

 

1750-1900

Painting of Hannah Sergeant Ewing (1739-1806) wife of Provost John Ewing. Sergeant Hall, the first women's dormitory at Penn, was named in her honor.1892 photograph of College Hall facade, with two towers and circular drivephoto of earliest women matriculants (Gertrude Pierce Klein Easby, Anna Flanigan, and Mary Thorn Lewis Gannett)in the chemistry lab, 1878

1910-1919

Photograph of Penn coeds walking down the street, 1918Detail of pen and ink sketch of elegant 'Ivy Girl'1912 photograph of Old Sergeant Hall Interior - Bedroom

1920-1929

1927 photograph of women students in gym uniforms having their feet measured during physical examinations, Bennett Hall gymnasium1928 photograph of Betty Funston kneeling with rifle1928 photograph of 'New' Sergeant Hall, the women's dorm built 1924, demolished 1975

1930-1939

Sepia photograph of 6 costumed actors in a Bowling Green dramatic production, late 1920sPhotograph of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members, 1930 1935 photograph of First day women were allowed to row: women and coaches on the Schuylkill, Philadelphia Art Museum in the background

1940-1949

Photograph of College for Women classroom during the 1940s1947 photograph of Bennett HallPhotograph of captains of women's sports teams in 1940

1950-1959

1950 photograph of Sergeant Hall (Women's dorm 1924-1971, demolished 1975) Interior - Dining Room, 34th and ChestnutPhotograph of Eisenlohr demonstration, 1952. Penn students, some with musical instruments, listen to Nancy Gross, Chair of Musical Education Students Assoc. The students seek to have courses in music education, business education and health education, restored to the School of Education curriculum.1951 photograph of Bennett Hall (built 1925) interior - Women's Lounge

1960-1969

Photograph of Hill College House women's residence c. 1965Color photo of dorm room in Sergeant Hall, c. 1960Photograph of Althea K. Hottel Award winner with Honor men, the first co-ed Ivy Day, 1963

1970-1979

Color photograph of woman running from 1977 Penn yearbookPhotograph of woman's dorm room from 1978 Penn yearbookColor slide of Roosevelt Hotel, which served as a women's dormitory in the 1960s and 1970s

1980-1989

1990-2003

Color slide of woman at graduationColor slide of woman softball playerColor slide of woman, wearing baseball cap, in class

 

Feminism will have succeeded not only when women have access to all fields, but when traditionally female professions like nursing gain the high value and solid social respect they deserve.

Ellen D. Baer, Faculty of School of Nursing, 1982-1997; full professor as of 1994

 

In the past, Locust Walk has embodied the old boy mentality that Penn has traditionally held and the Women's Center will be a real source of empowerment and comfort for women.

It's about time we get women on the Walk.

Ashley Sarah Paine, 1996 B.A.

1996 yearbook photograph of Ashley Sarah Paine
 Women should not need a women's center.

Jay Christopher Robbins, 1996 B.A.; Red and Blue Editor in Chief

 

I am proud of the women I have come to know here at Penn because they chose to focus on academics, on community service, on social action, on culture-on any number of things. They are brilliant, creative, diverse women.

And make no mistake, they are beautiful women. Their beauty lies in the work they do, in the meaning they have given their lives, in what they do for themselves and for one another.

Debra Pickett, 1995 B.A.

Color slide of female student in Perelman Quadrangle drawing College Hall
 Whatever inequalities exist I blame more on society than on Penn.

Cristobel Walstrom-Vangor, 1995 B.A.

 

Acquaintance rape, AIDS, Assertiveness, Child Care, Disability rights, Economics, Education equity, Health, International Women's issues, Lesbian and bisexual concerns/homophobia, Racial harassment/racism, Relationships, Reproductive health, Safety and security, Sexual harassment/sexism, Tenure, Violence against women, Women and athletics, and Worker rights and responsibilities - these are listed in the informational brochure, available on the coffee table next to the entrance door of the Women's Center, in case you are brave enough to venture there.

Daily Pennsylvanian.com, 1994

 

I think that the core of what education should do is help us love and appreciate those things, those qualities, and those people that are different from ourselves.

Andrea Darna Cherng, 1999 B.A.

Pro-woman is not synonymous with anti-male. I consider myself a feminist because I too believe in equal rights.

Hema Sarangapani, 2000 B.A.

Color photograph of three female students at 1997 Ivy Day

More on Women at Penn

 

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