From Dr. Kathleen A. Dunn, professor emerita of Simmons College, a new book

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About the book

In 1899, Simmons University was founded with the radical goal of preparing women to earn an independent livelihood. Dr Kathleen A. Dunn, who interviewed and surveyed alumnae from 1906 through 1980, paints a vivid, personal picture of women’s lives as they built their careers. Alumnae overcame challenges: to create a career, to marry or stay single, to work while raising children, to face discrimination, and to age gracefully. They demonstrated that pursuing higher education, which included occupational education, fieldwork, and internships, enabled young women to lead powerful lives at work and home

Reading stories of alumnae and seeing how their lives and careers were affected by the times and/or by marriage and/or by having children was interesting. I love how she wove all of that together. I was impressed by the number of women throughout the century who worked during their lifetime. John Simmons would be proud. And to think that some of the issues working women had to deal with 50+ years ago, like sexual harassment and childcare, are still issues today. (Diane Armstrong, Assistant Dean for Administration and Academic Services, Simmons University, retired.)

About the Author

Dr. Kathleen A. Dunn, professor emerita of Simmons University in Boston, rose through the faculty ranks at Simmons and chaired its Education Department for 15 years. After retirement, she and her husband moved to Sweden, Maine. She currently divides her time between Sweden and Brunswick, Maine. Dr. Lyman gardens, walks her Havanese, writes, and tells stories at the local historical society.

Why Read Women’s Work and Family Life in the 20^th Century: Simmons College Alumnae – Educated to Work

Why should anyone not connected to Simmons read this book?

This book describes the life course of college women, and how they grappled with issues that all young women still face.

Why go to College? What to study?
What will I do after college?
Can I or do I want to move away from home?
How do I get a job and negotiate my salary
How do I negotiate a higher salary or a promotion?
How do I cope with salary or promotion discrimination
How do I cope with sexual discrimination? Even with the “me too” movement, sexual harassment is still alive and well.
Some of these issues are hard to talk about with the young people in your life, but this book might make it easier for you to bring up these issues.

Why did I decide to write this book?

When I began as an instructor at Simmons College, I was struck by the career orientation of my students. When I received my first sabbatical, I asked: Did Simmons alumnae fulfill John Simmons’ goal to prepare women to work within the context of the liberal arts.

I first studied the graduates of the College from 1906 through 1926 through interviews and questionnaires. and then expanded the study through 1980. Those alumnae, who graduated before the 1960s knew that when they married or had children, they were supposed to stay home, even if they had been developing their career before marriage or children, but many chose to buck the usual social strictures of staying at home. Eighty percent of Simmons graduates, who married and had children, worked with children at home. They had long work lives, waited on average more years to marry than most female college graduates, and had fewer divorces than most other groups of college graduates. They fought discrimination and prepared for their old age.

Simmons Experience

Simmons alumnae graduated after fieldwork experiences, an internship in their senior year, and often had their first job in hand before graduation. During their course work at Simmons, they had mastered new skills, expertise, and professional knowledge and gained a sense of their own voice, independence, and self-worth. As expected of all college graduates, they developed skills in writing and critical thinking as well as background in art, music, literature, history, and the sciences, all of which became part of their lifelong learning adventures. They were imbued with a professional work ethic, which led them to choose to work before and during their marriages, long before it was common for college-educated women to work with children at home.

Research and Findings

I studied Simmons graduates from the first graduating class in1906 through 1926 using interviews and questionnaires and then expanded the study through 1980. Those alumnae, who graduated before the 1960s knew that when they married or had children, they were supposed to stay home, even if they had developed career before marriage or children, but many chose to buck the usual social strictures by returning to their careers. Of Simmons graduates who married and had children, 80% worked with children at home. They had long work lives, waited on average more years to marry than most female college graduates, and had fewer divorces than most other groups of college graduates. They fought discrimination and prepared for their old age.

An Early Example: Gertrude Franz Brew

GERTRUDE WAS PERHAPS THE FIRST MARRIED WOMAN TO COMMUTE BETWEEN HER MANAGEMENT POSITION IN PITTSBURG AND HOME IN NEW YORK CITY.

Gertrude graduated in 1918 from the School of Household Economics with a focus on institutional management. She developed her career in retail management. When she married 11 years after graduation, she was the buyer for a men’s clothing department in a New York department store. She then received an offer to head a men’s department in a Pittsburgh department store. She took the position as one of the first women to head a men’s department and commuted back to New York City several times a month.