Women at Davidson

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Around the D is delighted to welcome Dr. Carol Quillen as the college’s 18th president. This seems a good time to look at some of the groundbreaking women faculty and staff.

The first woman employed by the college was Ann Brown in 1857. She was the college steward and oversaw the college’s dining hall and guest house.

The next women on campus were hired by students as music teachers: Miss Gertrude Williamson taught mandolin and guitar in 1896-7, Miss Eulalia Cornelius of Statesville taught vocal class in 1896-7 and 1924 Miss Carol Baker directed the Glee Club.  The interest of the students and work of these women helped convince the college to create a music department in the 1930s.

In 1906, Miss Cornelia R. Shaw came to campus as librarian, registrar, and presidential secretary. Campus historian Mary Beaty wrote of her, ” It is possible to think that, for a while at least when she was the president’s secretary, and with him, the only administrator actually on the campus, Miss Shaw practically ran the place.”  Shaw worked on campus, primarily as the library director until 1936.

By then she had been joined by:

Alice Robson, Superintendent of Infirmaries (1908-1937)
Orrie Steele, Presidential secretary (1916-1948)
Hattie Thompson, Assistant to Treasurer (1917-1945)
Dorothy Finlayson, Secretary to Treasurer (1921-1926) & Secretary to Dean of Students (1921-1937)
Nancy T. Smith, Superintendent of Dormitories (1922-1943)
Jean V. Martin, Secretary to Registrar/Assistant Registrar (1925-1930)
Carolyn Will, Secretary to Treasurer (1926-1927)
Jessie M. Averill, secretary to Treasurer (1927-1929)
Julia Passmore, Assistant Librarian (1930-1941 / Circulation Librarian 1941-1953)
Frances G. Neal, Secretary to Treasurer (1930-1934)
Adele Taylor Arbuckle, Secretary to Treasurer (1934-1940)
Caroline Lingle, Assistant Alumni Secretary (1936-1941)

By 1937, 8 out of 17 staff on campus were women but it would take another 20 years before the first woman joined the faculty.  That honor goes to Caroline T. MacBrayer, Visiting Associate Professor of Psychology, 1956-1960.

The first woman professor to get tenure was Cora Louise Nelson, who taught in the Economics Department from 1964 to 1988. Both women taught before the campus went co-ed.

The Board of Trustees went coed in 1974 and around 30 women have served as trustees.

The first woman to become a vice-president was Nancy Cable. She served as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, 1992-2001 and Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, 2001-2005.

Who are the women you remember from your campus days?