Letters, Dorothy Foster (March - May 1903)

Folder 4 contains letters Dorothy Foster wrote to her mother from March 6th 1903 through the end of the semester, on the topics of both life at Bryn Mawr and her family’s financial situation. Many of the letters detail campus life and the changing seasons, alongside an enlightening look into the study of the sciences during the early years of Bryn Mawr College. Researchers may find interesting the discussion of the Junior-Senior Dinner, a tradition that is no longer practiced at Bryn Mawr. These letters provide an interesting point of view to women’s education in the early 20th century, especially that in science. Dorothy’s unbridled propensity for Biology labs and studying the mice in her room highlight an enthusiasm for Biology and Psychology that seemed distant to women just decades before, while her experiences such as frogging with Miss King, picking and identifying flowers, and holding impromptu teas in the physics lab highlight the compromise between science and perceived domesticity that allowed the institution these types of courses in women’s college curriculums.