EMILY TAYLOR, DEAN OF WOMEN: INTERGENERATIONAL ACTIVISM AND THE WOMEN‟S MOVEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS by KELLY C. SARTORIUS B.A., Kansas State University, 1993 B.A., Wichita State University, 1994 M.A., University of Maryland, 1996 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2011 Abstract Historians have often linked the route of the second wave of the women‟s movement on college campuses with the development of women‟s liberation as young women involved in the New Left came to feminist consciousness working in civil rights and anti-Vietnam protests. This dissertation considers a “longer, quieter” route to feminist consciousness on a college campus by considering the role of a dean of women, Dr. Emily Taylor, at the University of Kansas between 1956 and 1974. Through her office that centered on women‟s affairs, Taylor used the student personnel and counseling profession to instigate the dissolution of parietals at KU, a project that has long been associated with New Left student protests. A liberal feminist committed to incremental change to benefit women‟s equal status in society, Taylor structured her office to foster feminist consciousness in undergraduate students, and provided staff support to New Left and radical women‟s groups as they emerged on the KU campus. As a result, the intergenerational exchange that occurred within the KU dean of women‟s office illustrates one example of how liberal and radical feminists interacted to foster social change within an institution of higher learning. The projects undertaken within her office illustrate that these seemingly separate groups of women overlapped, collaborated, and sometimes clashed as they worked toward achieving feminist goals. Her career at KU also shows that the metaphor of a first and second wave of the women‟s movement may not be an accurate picture of the growth of feminism on co-educational campuses. Little scholarly work exists on the role of deans of women in higher education, or regarding women college students in the years immediately following World War II. This dissertation adds to the literature in both areas, showing that in the case of KU the administration was not a monolithic obstacle to student protest, the New Left, civil rights, and feminism. Instead, Taylor as dean of women pushed initiatives that bore on all of these areas. While Taylor is one example, her career illustrates patterns in deans of women‟s activities that deserve further study and consideration. EMILY TAYLOR, DEAN OF WOMEN: INTERGENERATIONAL ACTIVISM AND THE WOMEN‟S MOVEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS by KELLY C. SARTORIUS B.A., Kansas State University, 1993 B.A., Wichita State University, 1994 M.A., University of Maryland, 1996 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2011 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Sue Zschoche Copyright KELLY C. SARTORIUS 2011 Abstract Historians have often linked the route of the second wave of the women‟s movement on college campuses with the development of women‟s liberation as young women involved in the New Left came to feminist consciousness working in civil rights and anti-Vietnam protests. This dissertation considers a “longer, quieter” route to feminist consciousness on a college campus by considering the role of a dean of women, Dr. Emily Taylor, at the University of Kansas between 1956 and 1974. Through her office that centered on women‟s affairs, Taylor used the student personnel and counseling profession to instigate the dissolution of parietals at KU, a project that has long been associated with New Left student protests. A liberal feminist committed to incremental change to benefit women‟s equal status in society, Taylor structured her office to foster feminist consciousness in undergraduate students, and provided staff support to New Left and radical women‟s groups as they emerged on the KU campus. As a result, the intergenerational exchange that occurred within the KU dean of women‟s office illustrates one example of how liberal and radical feminists interacted to foster social change within an institution of higher learning. The projects undertaken within her office illustrate that these seemingly separate groups of women overlapped, collaborated, and sometimes clashed as they worked toward achieving feminist goals. Her career at KU also shows that the metaphor of a first and second wave of the women‟s movement may not be an accurate picture of the growth of feminism on co-educational campuses. Little scholarly work exists on the role of deans of women in higher education, or regarding women college students in the years immediately following World War II. This dissertation adds to the literature in both areas, showing that in the case of KU the administration was not a monolithic obstacle to student protest, the New Left, civil rights, and feminism. Instead, Taylor as dean of women pushed initiatives that bore on all of these areas. While Taylor is one example, her career illustrates patterns in deans of women‟s activities that deserve further study and consideration. Table of Contents List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi Note on Spelling and Capitalization ................................................................................ xiv Preface............................................................................................................................... xv A Brief Biography ........................................................................................................ xv Researching Taylor‟s Story ....................................................................................... xxiv Introduction ..................................................................................................................... xxx CHAPTER 1 - Higher Education for Women in a Changing World .................................. 1 National Trends in Post-War America ............................................................................ 7 The Effects of Cold War Culture on Women‟s Education ....................................... 11 Women‟s Associations, The Issue of Work, and Women‟s Educational Philosophies 15 The Reality: Working Women .................................................................................. 17 Women‟s Educational Philosophies ......................................................................... 20 Feminism and Women in Higher Education in Post War America .............................. 25 Mueller‟s Feminist Legacy: Education as a Tool for Social Reform ....................... 33 CHAPTER 2 - A New Dean of Women at the University of Kansas ............................... 41 The University of Kansas in Post-War America .......................................................... 44 KU AWS: A Microcosm of the National Partnership of the IAWS and NADW ......... 48 Taylor‟s Educational Philosophy and the Dean of Women‟s Office ............................ 53 Growth of the KU Dean of Women‟s Office ............................................................ 55 Taylor‟s Personal Style ................................................................................................. 72 Mentoring within the AWS ....................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 3 - Unlocking Parietals .................................................................................. 85 Living with Parietals ..................................................................................................... 86 Parietal Changes ........................................................................................................... 90 Experiment in Student Governance: A Rules Convention ........................................... 91 Impact of Taylor‟s Student Governance Approach .................................................... 100 CHAPTER 4 - Preparing for a World without Parietals ................................................. 113 viii Youth Navigate Social Conventions ........................................................................... 115 Sex Education in Institutions of Higher Learning ...................................................... 120 Birth Control ........................................................................................................... 125 Sex Education and Birth Control at KU ..................................................................... 128 Unplanned Pregnancies ............................................................................................... 141 Unplanned Pregnancies at KU .................................................................................... 146 Sexual Harassment, Violence and Rape ..................................................................... 150 CHAPTER 5 - Civil Rights and the New Left at KU ..................................................... 163 Racial Civil Rights at KU ........................................................................................... 165 Student Unrest ............................................................................................................