In 1901, Margaretta Morris and Louise Buffum Congdon, two recent graduates of Bryn Mawr College, edited a collection of short stories written by then-current students and alumnae, all focused on life at the College during the M. Carey Thomas era.
One of the most striking aspects of these stories is the degree to which the student experience at the Bryn Mawr of a century ago resonates with that of 21st century Mawrters: the intense engagement with the realm of ideas; the commitment to challenge the assumptions of their faculty and fellow students; the sheer wit (sometimes expressed in multiple languages) of their conversation--even their malediction--all of this is more than reminiscent of today's students at Bryn Mawr.
The students in these stories grapple with the challenges of living up to the feminist ideals of M. Carey Thomas in a world that would not see suffrage for women throughout the United States for another generation. They strive to take charge of their lives and reorder relationships with friends, families, and society. They have much to say to students and alumnae of the College today.
This is not a photographic reproduction, but a paperback reprint edition, with new pagination, fresh type, and many footnotes (to gloss literary references, foreign language quotations, and so forth). These notes and the Foreword are written by Mark Koltko-Rivera, an award-winning scholar--and formerly a three-year resident of Bryn Mawr's Rhoads Hall (while a member of the Haverford College Class of 1978).
"From the original editors's Preface (1901): "
Some readers may ask which of the many heroines in these tales is the typical Bryn Mawr girl. The reply is no one, but all. Bryn Mawr students come from all parts of the country, from all sorts of different surroundings, and on entering college they do not, popular prejudice to the contrary, immediately drop their individuality and become samples of a type. We have among our number the pedant, the coquette, the athlete, the snob, the poser, the girl who loves dress and prettiness, and she who affects mannish simplicity, the all-round girl, the serious-minded, and the frivolous. Yet none of these is the Bryn Mawr girl "par excellence." That mythical personage can be known only by comparing and contrasting her various incarnations.