Letters, Dorothy Foster (September - October 1903) , 1903

Folder 5 contains letters from Dorothy Foster to her mother that cover the time from September 30th through October 29th 1903, the first month of Dorothy’s senior year. Present are discussions of student life and teas that are held on campus, while academics seem to have taken a backseat in her letter-writing to her mother. Researchers may find interest in the detailed descriptions of dinner party held by M. Carey Thomas at the Deanery, with its many expensive courses and ornate decoration. This frank view of student life on campus lends a new light to the view of college women, allowing female students to be free from parental control and remain in a space where they are able to assert their own agencies in joyous celebrations and impromptu teas. Dorothy Foster’s contemporaries seem keen to research this as well, as seen by a visit from an English commission sent to study Bryn Mawr students and present their findings at the St. Louis World Fair (discussed further in Folder 7). The social structure of college life depicted in these letters may be a valuable resource for those researching the history of women during the early 20th century.