Collegiate World

Life as a Faculty Wife

Great resource regarding faculty wives at Kenyon College in the 1960s and 1970s.

"'From the early days of the college until the 1960s and 70s, many faculty wives reported performing unofficial duties for the college such as baking cookies, having dinner parties, and chaperoning dances. While the women were not officially employed by the college in this capacity, it was expected that, as a wife of a professor, they would fulfill these duties for the college. Margaret Banning describes faculty wives roles in the 60s. "In '62 there were almost 800 men on campus, so [with] our role as faculty wives [we] were basically expected to provide cookies and punch for seminars that met at your home, have students over for dinner frequently, chaperone fraternity parties.'"

http://classprojects.kenyon.edu/wmns/Wmns31/UnofficialDuties/unofficial%20position%20working.htm

In a Man's World: Faculty Wives and Daughters at Phillips Exeter Academy

Source with accounts of experiences in the mid-Century.