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Prior to the 1960s, Harvard University did not have a space for female students, instead, many female students attended Radcliffe College, an all-female institution in Cambridge, MA. Between 1960-1999, Radcliffe College slowly began to merge with Harvard University to create the coeducational institution we know today. This was not a fast transition, instead, the merger started with women being allowed to enroll in degree-granting graduate studies programs (both in the Graduate College of Arts and Science & the Harvard Business School). In 1975, female students were admitted as undergraduate students at Harvard University. Although they had begun the merger in the 1970s, it was not until 1999, that Radcliffe College officially merged with Harvard University.
1970
1970
Preliminary Report on the Status of Women at Harvard was published
Reed, Jane, "Portrait of Harvard and Radcliffe students in class Portrait of Harvard and Radcliffe students in class". Harvard Radcliffe Institute, 1980, https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2012horowitz
1971
1971
Radcliffe College students protest the lack of equal access to opportunities for women.
"Radcliffe Students Protest at Commencement 1971", Photograph. Cambridge, 1971. https://radcliffe-harvard-edu.imgix.net/b39d5579-0491-46b1-afb6-ed7752b9c5bd/radcliffe_students_commencement_1971_Peter_Hunsberger.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=33%2C92%2C2179%2C1231.
1970-1979
1970-1979
Faculty and students at Radcliffe college are concerned about opportunities for female students upon merging.
Women Meet in the Midst of the Harvard-Radcliffe Merger. Photograph. When Harvard Met Radcliffe. Cambridge: The Harvard Crimson, 2019. Harvard University. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/5/27/harvard-radcliffe-1969/.
Women’s Faculty Group, “Preliminary Report on the Status of Women at Harvard,” (March 9, 1970.), 3
What was the Preliminary Report on the Status of Women at Harvard?
In March 1970, the Woman’s Faculty Group at Harvard University published a proposal, entitled “the Preliminary Report on the Status of Women at Harvard”. This was a document that showed statistical evidence that female faculty members had a disadvantage to male faculty members at the university. One example of the disadvantages was that female professors were rarely promoted to full-time staff. In the 1969-1970 school year, there were no full-time female faculty members employed in the Graduate College of Arts and Science. The document proposed a plan to provide more equal opportunities for female faculty members at the university, including creating special positions for female faculty to become full-time professors.
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