Women’s Higher Education and Wartime College Life Wellesley Student Scrapbook 1939 to 1943 Documenting Campus Traditions and World War II Era

Wellesley College Scrapbook

Archive

Wellesley College student scrapbook, 1939–1943, documenting women’s higher education, campus traditions, and social life during the early years of the Second World War. Compiled by a student at one of the leading women’s colleges in the United States, the album records academic study, institutional culture, and peer networks at a moment when global conflict began to shape collegiate experience and future expectations. The contents provide direct evidence of women’s participation in higher education alongside emerging wartime realities, including military service among family members and shifting social priorities.

Scrapbook and photo album containing 160 original silver gelatin photographs and approximately 205 pieces of ephemera, including invitations, dance cards, Western Union telegrams, newspaper clippings, travel souvenirs, and correspondence. The album documents academic life through materials such as a report card listing courses in English composition, mathematics, music theory, hygiene, biblical history, philosophy, physics, economics, and sociology, annotated by the student with the remark “saved by the gong.” Campus traditions are extensively represented, including Float Night and Tree Day, as well as participation in student organizations such as Tau Zeta Epsilon, Zeta Alpha, and Phi Sigma. Newspaper clippings describe events such as the disruption of Float Night by Harvard students, noting that “the Wellesley girls just booed right back and cheered for Yale.” The album also includes materials relating to Wellesley alumna Soong Mei ling, with a clipping reporting: “Madame Chiang Makes History at Alma Mater…The eyes and ears of the nation were on Wellesley,” accompanied by a ticket to her campus appearance. Photographs depict friends on campus, commencement exercises in June 1943 including the tradition of hoop rolling, and numerous social events such as dances, beach outings, and travel.

Created during the opening years of World War II, the scrapbook situates collegiate life within broader national and international developments. Wedding announcements referencing military ranks, a photograph of the compiler’s brother captioned “in the marines,” and travel materials such as an American Airlines ticket for a Boston to Newark flight reflect the intersection of education, mobility, and wartime service. The album also documents leisure and social networks across regions, including visits to Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Cape Cod, and Maine, as well as correspondence with students at other institutions. Final pages extend into post graduation life with employment identification for Irving Trust and family photographs, marking transition from student to professional life. First page detached with some heavier ephemera items loosened; otherwise sound with light wear; overall very good. A comprehensive record of women’s collegiate experience and social networks during the early World War II period.

Item #16967

Price: $750.00