Newcomb Magazine 2013

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PAID New Orleans, LA Permit No. 358

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NEWCOMB NEWS FOR ALUMNAE, STUDENTS, AND PARENTS

Telling

WOMEN’S STORIES Newcomb is at work preserving the voices of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Pay Equity

How one woman’s fight for fairness shaped national policy

ALSO INSIDE: The Life of Lindy Women of Poydras Home Bringing the Archives into the Digital Age

FALL 2013

From the Director

Events

Newcomb College Institute sponsors a variety of events on campus and in cities around the country. Upcoming events include...

Dear Friends, t has been an exhilarating time for one who studies women judges. In June, I sat in the second row as President Obama nominated two women and one African-American man to the U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The next day, I joined 100 leaders at the White House Summit on Judicial Selection. Earlier this year, I shivered outside the Louisiana Supreme Court as Chief Justice Bernette Johnson took the oath of office. I celebrated Jane Kelly’s ascendancy to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Iowa with other founders of the Infinity Project (and my Mom).

Asking, “where are the women,” has been the starting point for much scholarship and activism. During my research, I have observed men in black robes but few women. In my book, Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter, I tell the stories of many women firsts on the bench and make the case for more women judges. I am looking forward to welcoming more than 300 women judges to the annual conference of the National Association of Women Judges in New Orleans in October, having helped develop their academic program, and archivist Susan Tucker has worked hard on a display for the Supreme Court on women’s legal history in Louisiana.

This October, the Newcomb Art Gallery will open a wonderful new exhibition on Newcomb Pottery. Our February symposium will see the pottery as more than aesthetic objects, but as the work of enterprising southern women seeking financial independence while creating something unique and beautiful. Mrs. Newcomb forged a partnership between North and South as she bestowed her wealth to create Newcomb College in her beloved adopted city of New Orleans. The Pottery, too, emerged from the interaction of northern and southern women—Julia Ward Howe, visiting the Cotton Expo and women artists in the Arts and Crafts Movement teaching at the Newcomb Art Department. We hope to enjoy a similar synergy with the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

University Architect Collette Creppell and I both had tours of their newly renovated library.

And several Schlesinger staff attended Newcomb’s Workshop on Women’s Archives as part of the Society of American Archivists annual conference in New Orleans this August.

Many changes are afoot at the Newcomb College Institute and at Tulane University. We believe it is time to renovate Josephine Louise Hall from a 19th century model of cloistering daughters to a 21st century model for empowering women. We are widening our partnership beyond North and South to East and West, forging a partnership with Pakistan’s Fatimah Jinnah Women’s University who shares our passion for women’s education and service to community. Our focus on undergraduate women’s research drawing on the Newcomb Archives will help us ensure that we continue to honor the legacy of Newcomb women.

We embrace change while remaining steadfast in our mission of educating undergraduate women for leadership.

Just as we went to press, we learned that beloved Newcomb alumna Lindy Boggs had passed. We added additional material to remember and honor her, reflecting our commitment to telling women’s stories.

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“We are widening our partnership beyond North and South to East and West. We embrace change while remaining steadfast in our mission of educating undergraduate women for leadership.”

A SYMPOSIUM ON THE NEWCOMB POTTERY

HOMECOMING AND PARENTS WEEKEND Newcomb Open House, Tailgating, and More

in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Exhibition Women, Art and Social Change

October 4-6, 2013

TOWN MOM JAZZ BRUNCH NEWCOMB BOOK CLUB GATHERINGS

Saturday, September 21 11:30am-1pm The Newcomb House, 43 Newcomb Place

Events are planned in the following cities this fall: • Chicago An Evening with

• Sacramento

MARY JO BANG

• New Orleans • Memphis

The 2013 Arons Poet

• Baton Rouge Visit newcombalumnae.org for detailed information.

A Reading and Interview with The 29th Annual Zale-Kimmerling writer-in-residence

SUSAN CHOI March 17, 2014

October 21, 2013

UNDER THE OAKS

A ceremony honoring graduating women and the Newcomb College Class of 1964 May 16, 2014

Newcomb College Endowed Chair Professor of Political Science

Executive Director, Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University

February 1, 2014

For a complete list of events, visit tulane.edu/newcomb.

Inside NEWCOMB Executive Director: Sally J. Kenney, PhD Managing Editor: Aidan Smith, PhD

Departments 2

Newcomb Connections

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Noteworthy at Newcomb

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Donor Roll

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Events

Art Director And Designer: Marian Herbert-Bruno Contributors: Emily Cardinas (PHTM ’15) Catherine Edwards (NC ’72) Sarah McAllister (SW ’11) Gabriella Runnels (LA ’16) Newcomb Archives Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University Photography: Jessica Bachmann Paula Burch-Celentano Elizabeth DeRamus Cheryl Gerber Jackson Hill Sabree Hill Adrian Kinloch Tracey Morris-Schaefer Mark Schäfer Rebecca Shinners (LA ’14) Jason Wallis NEWCOMB Is published by the Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University.

Address all inquiries to: Newcomb Magazine 43 Newcomb Place Tulane University New Orleans, LA 70118 The mission of the Newcomb College Institute is to: • Cultivate lifelong leadership among undergraduate women at Tulane University • Empower women by integrating teaching, research, and community engagement at Tulane University • Preserve, document, produce, and disseminate knowledge about women • Honor the memory of H. Sophie Newcomb and carry forward the work of Newcomb College by providing a womancentered experience in a co-ed institution

Graduating Newcomb Scholar Frances Roche was honored at this year’s Under the Oaks Ceremony in May. Her parents Cathleen and Francis Roche (A&S ’82) joined in the celebration on the steps of Dixon Hall.

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Features An Accurate Account Alumna Lanier Scott Isom (NC ’87) worked with pay equity icon Lilly Ledbetter to bring her memoir to life, creating a vivid depiction of workplace discrimination.

Lindy’s Legacy Friends, admirers, and alumnae take a look at the life of one of Newcomb’s most accomplished alumnae, Lindy Claiborne Boggs (NC ’35).

Recovering the Voices of the Past: The Women of Poydras Home Visiting historian Pamela Tyler’s work in the university’s archival collections reveals the organization as the oldest women-led organization in the country.

Bringing the Archives Into the Digital Age Thanks to an innovative embrace of new technologies, the actual voices of alumnae will be available through online audio recordings.

On the cover: from top, Lindy Boggs at her swearing-in ceremony, March 27, 1973 (Hale and Lindy Boggs papers, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University.)

Center, photograph of Poydras Home, (Poydras Home records, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University.) Bottom, Lanier Scott Isom (NC ’87) discussing her book in the Nadine Vorhoff Library, 2012.

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NEWCOMB Connections A Message from the Newcomb Alumnae Association President

NEWCOMB ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION

Dear alumnae, Greetings from our active and thriving Alumnae Association!

This has been a busy spring semester for us. You will read about our book clubs, alumnae awards and 50-year reunion activities at Under the Oaks, and we are preparing for fall activities. We co-sponsored a career support panel in Washington, D.C., and are planning more opportunities in this area, not only for women embarking on their first employment but also for women who have been out of the workplace and seek to re-enter it. This initiative comes in response to alumnae requests, and we are excited about the possibilities. We hope you will contribute to future forums by supporting

Newcomb alums with your own perspective and experience.

We welcome Sarah McAllister, who has stepped into the job of Director of Alumnae Relations with apparent ease and grace, and is quickly adapting to her new responsibilities. I am enjoying working with her. I know you will, too.

You might be wondering how the NAA can continue to grow since the Renewal Plan closed Newcomb College. In 2009, we hosted a spring party for Tulane women graduates, inviting them to join and take advantage of the benefits of membership in the NAA. In April, we continued this new tradition for the fourth year and welcomed almost 800 women Tulane graduates into our ranks.

Alumnae Awardees Celebrated at Under the Oaks

From left: Margaret Burr Leonard’s activism was profiled in the January 3, 1961 issue of LOOK magazine. Dr. Elizabeth Bellino (NC ’98) was one of the first responders to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Carol Nathan McKegney (NC ’71) regularly contributes her time and energy to New Orleans as part of Newcomb Sisters & Friends Build.

Another group of remarkable women joined the prestigious ranks of celebrated Newcomb alumnae. Young Alumna honoree pediatrician Dr. Elizabeth Bellino (NC ’98) was recognized for her humanitarian efforts in Haiti following the tragic earthquake of 2010; civil rights activist Margaret Burr Leonard (NC ’63), credited as one of the first southern white women to participate in the Mississippi Freedom Rides, was named the Outstanding Alumna. Committee chair Anne Morse (NC ’68) says that acknowledgement of Margaret

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Leonard’s contributions are especially fitting this year. “As we recognize the 50th anniversary of the integration of Tulane University, the consensus of the committee was that it was fitting to acknowledge a Ne wcomb alumna actively involved in the Civil Rights movement of the era.”

The women of Newcomb Sisters & Friends Build, a group of former Sigma Delta Tau sorority sisters who that have lent their labors to Habitat for Humanity for years, received the Community Service Award. The group has

been featured in national media for their work, including a 2011 Reader’s Digest feature story.

Each year a collaborative committee of alumnae volunteers and Newcomb faculty fellows choose Newcomb Alumnae Association Award recipients. Nominations are now open for next year’s award cycle. For consideration, all nominations must be received by January 15, 2014. Please submit your nominations for a deserving Newcomb alumna online or contact the Alumnae Office at 888-327-0009 for more information.

We find that young women seek opportunities open to them— recent graduates, particularly those who benefitted from NCI programs while at Tulane, are serving on our committees and are attending events in their cities. They want to make the connection, no matter where they are!

Tulane has been busy putting together an entirely new and easy to navigate website, and I urge you to check into it and look for opportunities to connect with Newcomb and Tulane alums.

Thank you for allowing me to participate in this exciting work.

Catherine Hagaman Edwards (NC ’72)

Website Revamp Thanks to the efforts of the NAA’s online communications committee, the NAA website has been redesigned to provide even more information about everything going on with Newcomb Alumnae. It features information about events and activities around the country, as well as profiles of board members and award recipients, with information about how you can get involved. You can also shop the Mignon Faget jewelry collection featuring pieces designed just for alumnae.

Visit us online at newcombalumnae.org.

New Alumnae Director Named Sarah McAllister joined the NAA team this summer as Director of Alumnae Relations and Annual Giving. A Tulane alumna, Sarah brings a passion for relationshipbuilding to the position. A trained social worker with experience coordinating volunteer groups, her commitment to the city of New Orleans began following Hurricane Katrina when she relocated from Florida to assist in relief efforts.

She comes to the position as an internal candidate from the Newcomb College Institute, where she worked with students and alumnae to facilitate mentoring and internship opportunities.

Newcomb Pottery Symposium and Exhibition The Smithsonian Institution and Newcomb Art Gallery are collaborating on a major new exhibit to be launched this fall called Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise. One of the most significant American art potteries of the twentieth century, Newcomb works are a graceful union of form and decoration inspired by the flora and fauna of the Gulf South. Each piece is one of a kind—and collectively they create a distinctive southern art form. The Newcomb Pottery project was conceived as part artist collective, part social experiment, and part business enterprise initiative under the auspices of

A Night of Networking Students and alumnae came together in March for the Careers for the Common Good networking reception, held at the Bea Field (NC ’28) Alumni House. Trevor Wisdom (NC ’86) and Suzannah Schneider (LA ’13) discussed professional opportunities and community involvement.

Thriving Book Clubs The Newcomb Book Club continues bringing together groups of alumnae around the country, and this fall’s book selection offers the opportunity to hark back to some memorable meals featured in New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories, edited by Newcomb Archivist Susan Tucker (NC ’72).

In servings of such well-recognized foods as shrimp remoulade, Creole tomato salad, turtle soup, and bread pudding, contributors explore a broad range of issues.

Essays consider the history of the city’s cookbooks, markets,

an educational program. The art school faculty incorporated the philosophies and tenets of the English Arts and Crafts movement into their curriculum to teach southern women self-reliance by way of an education and gain financial independence through the sale of their wares. The Pottery thrived until 1940. The exhibit, on display at the Newcomb Art Gallery October 3 though March 9, 2014, showcases a striking collection of Newcomb pottery, metalwork, bookbinding, and textiles with text that draws from new scholarship to explore the history of the Pottery and its importance as a social and artistic experiment.

On February 1, Tulane University will host a symposium in conjunction with the exhibit featuring scholars and artists in discussion.

After its New Orleans premier, the exhibit is expected to tour almost a dozen North American cities.

HOMECOMING 2013 Homecoming this year is a great opportunity to reconnect with fellow classmates, visit professors and spend quality time on campus. This year marks the 4th Annual Friday at Newcomb program, now in partnership with the Office of Parent Programs and the Tulane Alumni Association. The speakers this year include Gene Koss and his impressive glass casting demonstration, Athletic Director Rick Dickson, University Architect Collette Creppell, and Vice President and Provost Michael Bernstein. Newcomb Alumnae are reunited at an all-class luncheon in the Jospehine Louise Ballrooom and then come together for a reception at the historic Newcomb House to learn about all the ways the Newcomb legacy is being carried on through todays’ students.

Top: Glass blowing demonstration. Bottom: Inell Potter (NC ’52) and Carolyn Davis (NC ’42) celebrated at last year’s all-class luncheon. food purveyors, food writers, famous restaurants and their neighborhood counterparts, and the differences between Cajun and Creole cuisines. Recommended serving instructions for each dish or beverage, drawn from historical cookbooks and contemporary chefs, complete the package.

LOOKING FOR CLASS NOTES?

TULANE Magazine is actively seeking class notes from Newcomb Alumnae. Share your news with the university community at

http://tulane.edu/alumni/tellusyournews.cfm NEWCOMB FALL 2013

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Noteworthy at NEWCOMB

COOKING FOR CHANGE

Grantee Angela Czesak (SE ’13), left, worked alongside her host mother Glory Mswia, right, to compile the recipes and techniques featured in her cookbook Kupikia Tanzania! Proceeds support women-focused organizations in her adopted community in East Africa.

Angela Czesak (SE ’13) spent significant time volunteering in Africa, most recently thanks to funding from the Gordon Summer Fellowship and a Newcomb grant. Thinking about how to alleviate some of the economic strain on the groups she worked with while helping friends and family understand her experiences immersed in another culture, Angela had an idea. “Everyone always asked what I ate while I was there and I knew my host mother Glory was a great cook.” Angela and several local women carved out time three days a week to practice cooking these traditional dishes, sharing culinary techniques as well as their own stories. “They were so happy to do the project with me, especially because they got to cook foods that were a bit too pricey for every day, such as the standard rice and beans, or ugali and beans.” Recipes describe dishes like matoke, a stew of beans, plantains, and beef, and maandazi, a spiced donut similar to a beignet.

Angela used digital photography and publishing tools to create Kupikia Tanzania (which translated from Swahili means “to cook for Tanzania”). It’s available online for purchase, and proceeds support organizations in the Arusha, Tanzania area. To learn more about Angela’s experiences and the charities the book supports, visit her website at www.kupikiatanzania.com.

Alison Bechdel Draws Standing Room Only Crowd

This spring, over 300 members of the Tulane and greater New Orleans community gathered to hear critically acclaimed cartoonist and graphic novelist Alison Bechdel talk about her work and process as the fourth annual Custard Lecturer on Gender and Sexuality.

For twenty-five years Bechdel wrote and drew the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. She is

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also the author of the best-selling Are You My Mother: A Comic Drama and Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which won an Eisner Award and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Time Magazine named Fun Home the number one Best Book of 2006, calling the memoir about her father, “A masterpiece about two people who live in the same house but different worlds, and their mysterious debts to each other.” Gender and Sexuality Studies student Caitlin Truitt joined the author for dinner before the lecture, and reflected on the nature of life-writing. “We talked a lot about what it means to write a memoir, and what is truth,” Truitt said. “I like how she says that reality is a subjective process.”

Schoenbaum Grant Supports Community Partnership NCI provided a $1,500 Emily Schoenbaum (NC ’88) Community Grant to the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children to fund their teen support group project to meet the needs of victims of sexual violence, allowing the girls to identify with others and reduce feelings of isolation, guilt, and self-blame and to enable a sense of empowerment. In April, METRO staffer Elizabeth McDermott introduced filmmaker Jennifer Baumgardner at a screening of her documentary It Was Rape, part of the Newcomb Feminist Film Series.

First class of Newcomb Scholars Graduates After four years as a closeknit group, the inaugural class of Newcomb Scholars has graduated. Chosen during their first year at Tulane, these twenty women students formed an elite cohort, bonding inside and outside the classroom. They took one academic course together each year and developed their own traditions celebrating their connection with the historic Newcomb College, like a Big Sis/Little Sis Scholar pinning ceremony.

Dr. Charlotte Maheu Vail, who facilitated the Newcomb Scholars program since its inception notes, “The program exemplifies intellectual curiosity, confident leadership, and service to the community. In their attempts to find other smart, creative undergraduate women with whom they can form strong and long-lasting connections, Newcomb Scholars have demonstrated that such a community is not only possible but is an integral part of the soul of a leading university.” In just

four years, interest in the program has skyrocketed among Tulane’s undergraduate women, and the process becomes more competitive each year. In Fall 2012, more than 120 women applied for the twenty available positions.

In addition to their coursework and service-learning requirements, Newcomb Scholars do a research project in their fourth year, and as demonstrated by the diversity of their independent research projects, they have pursued scholarly and creative work across a variety

of academic disciplines. Projects include an analysis of microfinance in Brazil, a study on the relationship between sexism and sexual violence, and a survey on college students’ knowledge and attitudes about HPV infection. In April, the seniors presented their research to the Tulane community at a research symposium, and later this year, some of their best work will be available in a Newcomb Scholars’ edited digital journal, Women Leading Change: Case Studies on Women, Gender, and Feminism.

Women in Technology Group Wins National Recognition Tulane University Women in Technology (TUWIT), a recently founded Newcomb student organization, was one of 14 student groups nationwide chosen to receive a Student Seed Fund grant from the National Center for Women in Information Technology.

NCWIT is a non-profit organization that works towards greater inclusion of women in technology and computing fields, believing that such gender diversity can spark innovation, lead to products and services designed for more varied demographics, and generally benefit the business community as well as women

themselves. The Student Seed Fund grants, sponsored by Symantec grants, offer monetary support to student-run programs that work to recruit, retain, and support women in computing.

Thanks to the additional funding, the group plans to expand its series of technology skills-building workshops, focusing on graphic design, SPSS, Wikipedia, Drupal, and Wordpress.

One of the group’s goals is to create a community space for women studying, working with, or simply interested in technology, recognizing that the lack of such a community can alienate women

from a predominantly male field.

Their outreach also extends to the community. This February, the group participated in the inaugural GIST (Girls in STEM at Tulane)

program, hosting 120 middle school girls, hailing from 39 area schools. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

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An Accurate

ACCOUNT:

Writing the Realities of Pay Discrimination

Lanier Scott Isom (NC ’87), left, developed a strong bond with Lilly Ledbetter, right, while working on the pay equity advocate’s memoir.

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While pay equity advocate Lilly Ledbetter is now a national icon, she was once just another manager on the factory floor at the Goodyear tire plant. Her story may now be well known, but how does a writer capture the voice of a girl from Possum Trot, Alabama who grew up to become a national symbol of women’s equality? How does she tell the story of legislative triumphs and failures, with all their complexities, while still creating a compelling narrative?

Aidan Smith

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t takes not only time and talent, but also a passion for painstaking research and a commitment to capturing the emotions behind the icon. As a co-author of last year’s Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond, independent scholar and writer Lanier Scott Isom (NC ’87) has worked closely with Lilly to craft a stirring story of unfairness, loss, and ultimately, victory.

In 1979, Lilly Ledbetter became one of the first women hired at the management level at the Goodyear plant. Nineteen years after her first day on the job, Lilly received an anonymous note revealing that she was making thousands less per year than the men in her position. When she filed a sex discrimination case against Goodyear, Lilly won—but then lost on appeal. Over the next eight years, her case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where she lost again. But Lilly continued to fight, and became the namesake of Barack Obama’s first official piece of legislation as president, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration

Act of 2009, changing the statute of limitations for making pay discrimination claims. Workers no longer have only six months to make claims when they did not even know about pay inequities.

After the passage of this act, it seemed time to share her remarkable story with the world. A native of Alabama herself, Lanier first met Lilly when working on an article about her legal battles for a regional publication. “I’ve always gravitated towards issues of social justice and women’s issues, and I was thrilled to hear her story.” From there, the two became fast friends. “We met and we hit it off, and she loved the article. When Lilly decided she wanted to write a book about her life, she chose me. I look at it as a combination of both many years of hard work and serendipity.”

While Lilly wanted a southern writer, Lanier notes that the two shared more than cultural similarities. “There was a connection that we had with each other. I met her right when the world was literally on her doorstep and reporters from around the world were trying to tell her story. It was a dream come true for me.”

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“I wanted the reader to understand where she came from and who she was and why she was able to succeed. Her struggle is every woman’s struggle.”

— Lanier Scott Isom (NC ’87)

The book presents itself as a first-person account, and Lanier notes that creative non-fiction is fraught with challenges. “You have to first and foremost tell a good story, and it also has to be factually accurate.” Lanier believes that she was able to capture Lilly’s voice not only by spending significant time with her, but by putting in the legwork of an investigative reporter. “I interviewed family and friends, coworkers and union representatives. I also spent hours and hours and hours reading and studying depositions and legal briefs; boxes of them filled my study. It really is just sifting through to find that one little pearl, and when you do, it unlocks an angle or an insight that you realize is just crucial to portraying the different layers of the story.”

Throughout the process, Lilly would read chapters as Lanier wrote them, and together the two created not only a riveting memoir, but also a lasting friendship. “It’s rare,” she says of her ongoing relationship with Lilly. “It’s so hard to capture someone’s voice and please the person. It’s an arduous process at best. I had no idea how hard it would be.” Lanier notes that after an initial process of getting to know one another, “Our lives are intertwined now in a way that will continue for a long time. She’s so charming and feisty, she’s like my second mother now.”

It wasn’t easy for Lanier to ask her friend to relive some of the most painful moments of her life. “I felt sorry for Lilly when we were really delving deeply into her experiences during the Goodyear years with some of the horrible things that happened to her.” As detailed in the book, Ledbetter faced challenges growing up in her humble family of origin, as well as regular occurrences of sexual harassment while on the job at Goodyear.

Men propositioned her, threatened her, slashed her car tires, cut her brake cable and broke her windshield, not to mention the instances of groping and other physical assaults. These onslaughts took place day after day, week after week, month after month,

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year after year. Recounting these issues brought back the trauma of those days. “I would call her the next day, and she would say, ‘Well, I had nightmares last night.’ It really dredged up a lot that she did not want to relive.” Yet recognizing the importance of sharing these harsh realities with the world, the two worked together to review Lilly’s old notebooks as well as her vivid recollections. “We tried to get through that as quickly as possible, but of course, it’s difficult.”

For Lanier, there was the task of presenting the facts accurately, but also the larger responsibility to tell her friend’s story well. “There have been a lot of women who spoke up, and then stepped back, because they decided they couldn’t face the stress or the pressure. I wanted the reader to understand where she came from and who she was and why she was able to succeed.

Her struggle is every woman’s struggle.”

With her work with Lilly Ledbetter behind her, Lanier’s currently seeking a publisher for a young adult novel she’s written, while also working on another novel. But her path to the role of “author” was not a straight one. An English major at Newcomb, she always wanted to be a writer, but first she spent over a decade as a high school teacher before her momentous collaboration on Grace and Grit. She says she took much of what she learned as an undergraduate to her students as well as to her career as a writer. She credits Newcomb with instilling her with the sense of social justice that continues to frame her work.

“My time at Newcomb was my awakening. The women’s studies courses and the women’s center were a sanctuary for me. My Newcomb education was life changing—I was impacted and I was able to carry on that legacy.”

Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond is now available in paperback from Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Random House.

Shrinking the Gap

This June, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) held their national convention in New Orleans, and the Newcomb College Institute welcomed the delegates to the city with a reception at the Newcomb House. Almost seventy state chapter presidents and the their guests gathered for conversation and

NCI sent students to AAUW’s $tart $mart workshop to learn the art of salary negotiation.

a review of the historical connection between Newcomb and the AAUW. Founded in 1881 to advocate for women’s equity in

Sophmore Emily Cardinas (PHTM ’15) said of the workshop,

education and the professions, the group last visited New Orleans in 1929, and Suzanne Gould, the group’s archivist, regaled the

“Before attending $tart $mart, I had no idea how much the gender

group with tales of the 1929 delegation’s visit to the historic college,

gap affects women, like me, planning to enter the workforce.

including a tour of the classrooms and the Newcomb Nursery, a

Learning how to negotiate a salary is one way to combat this.

groundbreaking facility for its time.

At the workshop, I learned why women commonly accept lower

While Newcomb and the AAUW have longstanding ties, their

salaries than their male counterparts. They often say, ‘I needed that

efforts to ensure equity for women continue to make a difference

job,’ or ‘I was desperate for a job,’ or ‘I couldn’t afford to lose this

in the lives of women. Many students were able to attend the $tart

opportunity.’ However, when I am offered a job that means that the

$mart salary negotiation workshop at the AAUW conference. These

company wants me to work for them. They are choosing me, not

interactive sessions provide college women who are approaching

my price. I learned that salary negotiation is a discussion about my

the job market the knowledge and skills they need to negotiate

qualifications and the employer’s needs. When the time is right, I will

salaries and benefits.

be much more prepared to defend my right to be paid fairly.”

THE PAY GAP:

72%

$2000

80% $1,881

A Reality for All Women Workers

76%

$1,686

$1500

While earnings tend to increase with education level,

$1,488

77%

education does not eliminate the pay gap. The pay

76%

degrees were paid 77 percent as much as their male $500

$886

Professional degree

Doctoral degree

$909

$710

80%

degrees were paid only 72 percent of what men with

$1,127

76%

$1000

This chart shows that women with bachelor’s peers were paid in 2010, yet women with professional

$1,352

$1,188

gap exists at all levels of education, and in some cases, is larger with higher levels of education.

$1,362

$677 $543

$486 $386

professional degrees were paid.

Source: AAUW’s report, The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap, 2013 Edition.

$0

Less than high school diploma Women

High school graduate Men

Associate degree

Bachelor’s degree

Masters degree

xx% = women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings

Median Weekly Earnings, by Level of Educaton and Gender, 2010 NEWCOMB FALL 2013

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Lindy’s

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Legacy Remembering the Life of a Remarkable Alumna When Lindy Claiborne Boggs (NC’35) passed away on July 27, 2013, she left behind more than a legacy of advocacy for women and the disadvantaged. She left behind a model for those seeking a life well lived.

Remembered as one of the most distinguished alumnae of Newcomb College, the life of Lindy Boggs has served as an inspiration for would-be lawyers, filmmakers, and the women who would walk in her footsteps on Capitol Hill.

B

orn in 1916, Lindy joined the Newcomb community at just fifteen years old. She recalled in a 2005 interview that her youth should have been an impediment to enrollment. “In those days, you were supposed to be sixteen to matriculate. Dean Butler was the dean of Newcomb, and he interviewed all the applicants. We had the nicest conversation, and then he dropped the bombshell: ‘Miss Claiborne, are you sixteen years of age?’”

She answered him with her characteristic grace, “To be or not to be, that is the question. But to thine own self be true. Thou canst not then be false to any man. No sir, I’m not sixteen.” But he was persuaded, and she was allowed to enroll. She said, “Mr. Shakespeare got me in to college. From Shakespeare to science, this is a wonderful institution.”

It was on campus that she would meet her future husband and partner in politics. The wife of former House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (A&S ’35, L ’37) and mother of three took over his seat in Congress after his small plane disappeared over the mountains in Alaska in 1972. Following the tragedy, Boggs ran in the special election to fill his seat. She won, making her the first woman to represent Louisiana in Congress and only one of fourteen women in Congress at the time. Boggs won several consecutive elections and served in Congress from 1973 to 1991, the year she retired.

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In Congress, she spearheaded legislation on domestic issues that made a real difference in the lives of her constituents, from civil rights to women’s access to credit in their own names, to civil service pay equity for women. In 1976, she became the first women to chair a Democratic National Convention, overseeing the nomination of Jimmy Carter as the party’s candidate for president. A historic space in the U.S. Capitol reserved for female House members was dedicated to Boggs when she retired–the only room in the Capitol named for a woman, according to the Office of the House Historian. She would return to public service in 1997 when President Bill Clinton appointed her official U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, a position she held until 2001.

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reflected on over nine decades of life lived in service to others, and said of the trailblazer, “Lindy Boggs had a style all her own. She made things look easy, but she got them done.”

Leader, Mentor, Friend

T

he Newcomb community cherishes their memories of Lindy Boggs. Tania Tetlow (NC ‘92), The Felder-Fayard Early Career Associate Professor of Law and Director, Domestic Violence Clinic at Tulane University Law School, wrote an essay titled “Lindy and Me” for the recent anthology, Newcomb College 1886-2006: Higher Education for Women in New Orleans.

Of her mentor, she wrote, “Lindy’s charm does not stem from a disciplined politeness, but a sincere delight in every person she meets. She exudes goodness, not the pure, cloistered virtue of those who manage to avoid the evils of the world, but the integrity of one who has fully participated in the struggle for social justice.”

A remembrance from Executive Director Sally J. Kenney recalls her policy work. “For me, Congresswoman Boggs’s greatest accomplishment was passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974. The day after she became a member of Congress, she was sworn in as a member of the Banking and Currency Committee, one of Congressman Hale Boggs’s assignments.

Even so, as a single woman, she had difficulty obtaining credit.

She quickly learned that single or married, women could not get credit in their own name. As the Committee took up a mortgage bill and sought to ban race discrimination, Congresswoman Boggs inserted ‘or sex or marital status’ into the bill, ran to the copy machine and made a copy for each member. Referring to her ‘southern charm’ to get the job done, Congresswoman Boggs said ‘Knowing the members composing this committee as well as I do, I’m sure it was just an oversight that we didn’t have ‘sex’ or ‘marital status’ included. I’ve taken care of that, and I trust it meets the committee’s approval.’ The amendment passed, 47-0.

If only women could count on the unanimous support of Congress to pass legislation promoting equality now!”

To share your own “Lindy and Me” memory, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/newcombalumnae and post your reflections. These memories will become part of an online memorial and preserved in the Newcomb Archives.

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In Her Own Words

A

t twenty-four, Lindy Boggs came to Washington, D.C., from Louisiana with her newly-elected husband, Democratic Congressman Hale Boggs. FDR was starting his third term, Europe was at war, and Pearl Harbor was around the corner. In her 1994 memoir, Washington Through a Purple Veil: Memoirs of a Southern Woman, Congresswoman Lindy Boggs shared the triumphs as well as the trials of living a life of public service.

She reflected on her experiences at Newcomb as a young woman entering the public realm. “My role model was MargaretBourke White. A prominent photojournalist and a dashing character accepted in a mostly male professional world, she was a great heroine to my generation. I wanted to be like her and go all around the world covering stories, learning about different cultures and civilizations, photographing people’s lives and their habitats. I wanted to participate in great events and be where the action was.” “She took advantages of Newcomb’s classes in photography but notes she didn’t have the “knack.” Instead, she turned to the editorial side of journalism. “As an upperclassman I joined the staff of the Hullabaloo and reached the highest position open to a woman, Newcomb editor—the women’s news editor. It was a fascinating job and great fun.”

In this intimate memoir that spans the decades of her remarkable life, Boggs recalls her congressional tenure, her family life, and the family struggles following the disappearance of her husband and the death of her daughter. Washington Through a Purple Veil is available to Newcomb alumnae at the Nadine Vorhoff Library.

All In the Family Lindy’s daughter carries on the tradition of working for women’s advancement indy Boggs was an accomplished legislator as well as a devoted mother of three children. In 2011, her youngest daughter Cokie Roberts, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author who serves as a contributing senior news analyst for NPR and ABC News, received an honorary degree from Tulane University. Cokie has been named “one of the 50 greatest women in the history of live broadcasting” and a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. She is the author of several books on the role of women in American politics.

While on campus, Cokie Roberts met with NCI’s Women in Politics student organization and discussed the challenges facing women candidates vying for public office. The group’s president Laura Cannon (LA ’12) remarked, “Her work ethic, determination, and success served as an inspiration to all the undergraduate women who met and talked Sally J. Kenney and Cokie Roberts with her.”

L

Lindy through the years

Newcomb women continue to take the lead in legislative politics Over seventy years ago, Lindy Boggs made her way to Washington, DC alongside her husband, eventually occupying his seat. Today’s Newcomb women are making their mark in the capitol city in many ways, as lobbyists, scholars, and activists. Last year, Meredith Beers (NC ’07) joined the Women’s Research and Education Institute (WREI) as a Congressional Fellow on Women and Public Policy. WREI awards annual fellowships to a select number of graduate students with a proven commitment to equity for women, and fellows gain practical policymaking experience and graduate

During her tenure as a member of Congress, Lindy Boggs worked with leaders in the civil rights and women’s movements. Here she is seen in 1975 with Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas, the first southern black woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.

credit as they work from January to August as Congressional legislative aides in Washington, D.C. Thanks to a generous gift from the Collins C. Diboll Foundation, the Newcomb College Institute was able to fund Ms. Beers’ participation.

Meredith served in the office of Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), working on projects revolving around chemical plant security. She had already garnered real-world experience in a variety of internships that ranged from preparing the Emergency Response Guide for all hazards, including animal escapes, at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo to fitting respirators on first responders to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Meredith has a lasting commitment to higher education. As an undergraduate, she was an active participant in Newcomb programs and now serves on multiple alumni boards. She

In 1997, Ambassador Lindy Boggs met with First Lady Hillary Clinton at the White House.

earned a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane, with a specialty in Environmental Health Sciences and Disaster Management, and is continuing on in the program in pursuit of her doctorate.

As a former WREI Fellow, Executive Director Sally J. Kenney knows the value of the program for emerging leaders in public policy. “Working for Chairman Hawkins of the House Education and Labor Committee from 1986-1987 on civil rights oversight was one of the most exciting and transformative experiences of my life. We know applied learning experiences such as these open doors and change lives, which

Boggs was the first woman to serve as Ambassador of the United States to the Vatican, a position she held from 1997-2001. Here she is seen introducing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Pope John Paul II.

is why the Newcomb College Institute and Tulane University are so committed to them.”

Photos featured on previous pages are courtesy of the Newcomb Archives and the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University. The above photos are part of the Hale and Lindy Boggs papers, Series 3: Lindy Boggs, Ambassadorial and Post-Ambassadorial papers, held by the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University.

NCI will be sponsoring another WREI fellow in Spring 2014.

Meredith Beers (NC ’07)

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RECOVERING THE

VOICES OF THE PAST: THE WOMEN OF POYDRAS HOME

New Orleanians may know Poydras Home only as a residence for the city’s senior citizens.

Historian Pamela Tyler wants to tell them more, to retrieve the stories not only of those who benefited from the charitable organization’s good works but also to remember those women whose leadership made it all possible.

F Photo from a Poydras Home scrapbook compiled in 1934, (Poydras Home records, Manuscripts Collection 69, Box 85, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University.)

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ounded in 1817 by a small group of concerned women as a haven for orphaned girls left destitute in a city plagued by lethal epidemics, stark poverty, and a shocking dearth of social services, the community that would later be called Poydras Home was first known as the Female Orphan Society. Wealthy merchant Julien Poydras, who had emigrated from France, was an early supporter and donated a home at St. Charles Avenue and Julia Street. Soon faced with a stark choice of either expanding their facility or turning away girls in need of shelter, the all-female board of managers in 1857 undertook a major construction project and built the Poydras Home at Magazine and Jefferson. As the trend toward foster care for children progressed in the mid-twentieth century, the organization’s mission gradually evolved from sheltering homeless girls to one of providing elder care to the community.

An Associate Professor at University of Southern Mississippi, Tyler spent the last year in residence at the Newcomb College Institute, thanks to funding from The Dora Bonquois Ellis History Fellowship. While at Tulane, she immersed herself in the Poydras Home records, a special collection held by the Louisiana Research Collection, part of university’s library holdings. The materials include voluminous administrative and financial records, as well as case histories of the residents, photographs, and drawings.

Tyler notes, “The documents I examined revealed to me a flicker of unacknowledged but indisputable feminism in these women. In common with other women of the nineteenth century, they had received a lifetime of cultural indoctrination into the fact of men’s dominance and the deference they were owed.” But Tyler notes their frequent dealings with male architects, physicians, lawyers, bankers, and tradesmen had an interesting effect. “As they saw men’s shortcomings, which men sometimes cloaked in arrogance, they began to question assumptions of male superiority. For example,

Left: Most of Prof. Pam Tyler’s research hours were spent in the Louisiana Research Collection. But in addition to her research at Tulane, she also taught a course on the History of Women in New Orleans. Tyler, right, reviews historic photographs with undergraduate students in the Newcomb Archives, which served as a resource for the scholar and her students.

a lawyer who often advised the board of managers told them to accept an offer for a piece of property they owned, an offer which they felt was far too low. After discussion, they voted to thank him politely but to reject his advice. They then hired an auctioneer and secured a fee twice as high as the lawyer had recommended.

Incidents like this one surely had a cumulative effect on the women, teaching them that men’s judgments could be wrong.”

In addition to providing insights into the cultural and social norms of the era, her research reveals that the Poydras Home may be the oldest continuously women-led organization in the country, “This institution, which provided care for thousands of girls over the years, has been operated by a volunteer Board of Managers, who, to this day, are all women. They created it, nurtured it, financed it, managed it, and, on more than one occasion, saved it.

They knew ridicule and skepticism, particularly in the early years when they challenged ideas about gender propriety. Theirs is a story I am eager to tell.”

Tyler’s scholarship has long focused on southern women’s history, especially on the women of New Orleans. Her first book, Silk Stockings and Ballot Boxes: Women and Politics in New Orleans, 1920-1963, is a narrative history of organized, politically active women in twentieth-century New Orleans. Viewing their involvement as a link between pre-1920s progressivism and 1960s feminism, the book describes how these upper- and middle-class women sought and exercised power at the state and local levels through lobbying, fund-raising, endorsements, watchdog activities, volunteer work, voting, and candidacy.

A book detailing her work with the Poydras Home papers, More Durable Than Marble: A Bicentennial History of the Poydras Home and the Women Who Made It, to be published by LSU Press, will be available in preparation for the organization’s bicentennial celebration in 2017.

Continuing the Story Karissa Haugeberg is this year’s Dora Bonquois Ellis postdoctoral fellow. During her tenure at NCI, Haugeberg will complete her manuscript on the history of women anti-abortion activists in the United States while teaching

Karissa Haugeberg

courses on U.S. women’s history.

She is also editing a journal of

undergraduate essays on women and gender. Haugeberg’s book, Women to the Rescue: Leaders, Martyrs, and Foot Soldiers in the Campaign to End Abortion (forthcoming, University of Illinois Press), traces the forty-year history of the contemporary U.S. anti-abortion movement, from the 1960s into the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Drawing upon oral histories, organizational records, and the personal papers of abortion providers, she finds that women leaders’ interests sometimes intersected with men leaders’ goals, but that women’s motivations often diverged from men’s in very important ways. Haugeberg examines how the movement became more disciplined, more hierarchical, and less hospitable to women leaders.

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“NOW I REMEMBER THAT IN 1912 WE PLANTED THE OAKS AT NEW Newcomb... Then when the move came, I remember that our class gave as a gift to Newcomb a bench marked 1912. Is it still there on the campus? Check!”

DAGMAR LE BRE TO N ( NC ’1 2 )

BRINGING THE ARCHIVES INTO THE DIGITAL AGE “It had been said, before we arrived that Mrs. Newcomb’s ghost appeared every night. You could see her very plainly from up Broadway, across the street. And people tried it out and yes, you could. Well, it turned out to be, the lady that was the head of the Science Department and she regularly went to refresh herself at a certain time in the evening and she could be seen walking past the window.”

MI L DRED C HRIS TIAN ( NC ’2 2 )

“I came from Lake Charles on a train ride, a ferry

“I think really what stands out more than

crossing, another train ride, and then reached

anything is how happy we were… Of course

that little station in Carrollton. And we’d get off

our senior year, 1941, was Pearl Harbor

there and get a taxi cab to J.L. House. And you’d

and I think the whole atmosphere of colleges

get out on Broadway and look into the doors and

changed.”

you’d see this lovely dining room right in front of you and the meals were out of this world because you had waiters who wore linen, clothes and napkins… a senior always presided at every table

“I was a townie who moved into the

for eight.”

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L OU I SE NEL SO N E WIN ( NC ’4 2 )

B E A F IE L D (NC ’ 28)

dormitories, and I was a scholarship student. I liked just meeting all of those people. It was a good place to be exposed to a lot of things…because

W

hile many may think of archives as merely a repository for old papers of interest only to historians and scholars, Newcomb College Institute staff and student interns are collaborating to change that perception. Thanks to an innovative embrace of new technologies, the actual voices of alumnae of the past will be heard beyond the confines of the archive walls.

The Newcomb Oral History Project began in 1986. Those interviewed recall stories of their classes, professors, and social life, all while painting a picture of their experiences on campus and in the city of New Orleans. Thanks to the efforts of longtime alumnae volunteers like Helen Schneidau (NC ’67), the collection has grown to include almost 300 recordings of alumnae, faculty, and others with a connection to Newcomb College. Until now, those interested in accessing these important pieces of history had to visit the Newcomb Archives in person. But this fall, the Newcomb Oral History Project recordings will be accessible online. Thanks to funding provided by the Collat Media Project, the Frieda Ramos Oral History Fund, and the Newcomb Alumnae Association, the recordings are now undergoing full-scale digitization, and scholars from around the world will be able to access them online at tulane.edu/newcomb/oral-histories.cfm.

“The memories of these women are evocative about so much,” says archivist Susan Tucker (NC ’72). “They tell us how educated women thought of the paths they took in life,” she adds.

Most of these histories were originally recorded on audiocassettes, which are a delicate media for such important histories.

Collat Media Intern Candace Ross (B ’15) has spent months of painstaking work with these materials to ensure that these vital memories will be preserved for students and researchers for years to come. Using sophisticated software, the digitization process requires playing the recordings in real-time, a procedure which can take hours. While providing a valuable service to the archives, Ross also forged a strong connection with the historic college.

“Digitizing the oral histories of over two hundred Newcomb alumnae has left me with a profound appreciation of these pioneering women. When I go to work in the Caroline Richardson Building, sit in a classroom in Newcomb Hall, or go to my room in the Warren Dorm, I remember the Alumnae who have gone through those doors, sat in those classrooms, and lived in my room.” Ross ranks the work as her “most rewarding experience at Tulane.”

Alumnae reflections span multiple historic eras. One of the oldest oral histories in the collection details the experiences of Dagmar LeBreton, a graduate from the Class of 1912, who would go on to found the Department of Italian at Newcomb following

her graduate studies. Alumnae from the classes of the 1940s through the 1990s are represented. Visitors to the site can listen to the experiences of this diverse set of women, all in their own words.

This year the Newcomb Archives have been at the center of discussion surrounding women’s history and the future of scholarly archives. In March, a Tulane delegation spoke about the oral history project at Bryn Mawr College’s Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women’s Education, and Susan Tucker organized a pre-conference symposium on these issues for the Society of American Archivists annual meeting, held in New Orleans in August.

Be a Part of the Oral History Project The Newcomb Archives and the Newcomb Alumnae Association are collaborating to record oral histories of Newcomb alumnae.

If you would like to volunteer as an alumnae interviewer or be interviewed, visit the Oral History project online at tulane.edu/ newcomb/oral-histories.cfm or contact Archivist Susan Tucker at newcombarchives@tulane.edu

it was closed and small and safe.

And with each one of the changes that brought on more freedom for Newcomb, you lost some of that unity and some of that sameness.”

S U S A N KR A N T Z ( N C ’ 73)

Newcomb’s archivist Susan Tucker (NC ’72) worked with several students, including Candace Ross (B ’15), to bring the voices of the oral history project to the web.

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student voices, student action 18

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Social Media Provides A Platform for Activism While the Oral History Project retrieves women’s stories from the past, Newcomb Scholar Gabriella Runnels (LA ’16) embraces current technologies like social media and digital film production to tell women’s stories, all with an aim to change the future.

One summer day in 2011, I was sitting on my couch, reading National Geographic, and crying my eyes out. The article I was reading described how in some places in the world, girls are married as young as seven years old. I was horrified to learn about girls losing their futures to forced early marriage, and I started doing some research on my own. I began to learn more about the kinds of injustices girls are suffering around the world, like bride burnings, female genital mutilation, and obstetric fistulas, and how these struggles are significant barriers to girls’ education. However, if a girl can manage to stay in school, she becomes a powerful force for change.

I decided to make the video public. After a week, the viewership had climbed to 100,000, and today my video has over 400,000 views.

At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I applied to Tulane’s full-ride John Hainkel scholarship. The guidelines were to create something that showcases who I am and what I care about— and I care about the education of girls around the world. I posted my short film It Only Takes a Girl to Facebook with a private YouTube link, thinking no one but my friends and family would be interested in viewing it anyway. To my surprise, a lot of people started sharing the link on Facebook, and after a few hundred views I decided to make

the video public. After a week, the viewership had climbed to 100,000, and today my video has over 400,000 views. Having my film go viral has been a humbling experience. I am so pleased that this important message about educating girls has reached so many people.

Happily, I did win the Hainkel scholarship. This summer, I am interning in New York City with 10x10, an amazing organization that promotes girls’ education around the world. The firm produced a film called Girl Rising that tells the stories of nine girls from nine different countries who prove through their courage and determination that educating girls can change the world. Interning at 10x10 has given me valuable insight into some of what goes on behind the scenes of this kind of big social justice campaign.

A lot of our effort goes toward outreach—getting people and organizations excited about and involved in our cause. Seeing how passionate all of the women in my office are is a huge inspiration to me. Working with 10x10 shows me that with enough effort and determination, change really is possible.

I am hopeful that together, we can create a world that is a safer, better place for girls everywhere.

Gabriella Runnels currently maintains the Facebook group that connects the Fatima Jinnah Women University with the Tulane community. To learn more about her and the other Scholars, visit their blog at newcombscholars.tulane.edu.

NEWCOMB Donor Roll The Newcomb College Institute appreciates the financial support of alumnae, parents, and friends. We proudly announce the donors to the Institute, including those that have made gifts to the Newcomb Alumnae Association, during the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Thank you for your support.

The Newcomb Oaks Society The Newcomb Oaks Society is a recognition society for those donors whose annual giving to the Newcomb College Institute at Tulane University is $1,500 or above. Whether your gift is directed to the annual fund or to a restricted fund, to the Newcomb College Institute or the Newcomb Alumnae Association, you are recognized as a member of the Newcomb Oaks Society.

Jerry W. Affolter, Jr. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. Sharon and St. Paul Bourgeois IV Allison M. Brandt Foundation Allison Miller Brandt and Louis K. Brandt Renee Miester Cable Meria J. Carstarphen and John Edgley Bonnie and William E. Chapman II Elizabeth L. Clark and Courtney M. West Marjorie and Scott S. Cowen Yvette Worthington Davis Jeri K. D’Lugin Catherine and David F. Edwards Federal National Mortgage Association Marsha Sidel Firestone and Monroe H. Firestone

Donor Honor Roll Non-Associates Amanda N. Albin and Keith M. Murphy Tara W. Allen Vanann B. Allen Mary B. and Harold P. Alterman Sabrina and James J. Altman Amgen PAC Nell Eastland Amos Family Trust Nell Eastland Amos and Henry C. Amos, Jr. Shannon L. and Doug E. Anderson Anonymous Donors Linda M. Argote and Dennis Epple Kimberly J. Austin Barbara and Ellis L. Aycock Evelyn Blust Baker Donna and H. Robert Barber, Jr. Brian and Gail Barcelo Debra M. and Michael P. Barnum Lynn Palmer and David Barton Rhonda J. and L. Rudolph Barton, Jr.

Carter and Michael D. Flemming† Monica Y. and Gabriel Fried Dana Z. and Quin A. Gerard Clare Attwell Glassell Hallie and John Gorup Rita H. Hankins Nancy G. and Phillip H. Hoffman Patricia A. Hurley and Kim Q. Hill Lanier and Hugo C. Isom Kahn Education Foundation Keil’s Antiques Incorporated Mary Myrick Langlois Alexandra Lerman Loretta S. Loftus Catherine and Andrew F. Makk Andree Keil Moss Jeanne C. Olivier and Robert E. Dineen D. Melessa Phillips Lynn M. and Benjamin F. Rassieur III

Paul E. Wood and Sallie Scanlan Laurie and Lawrence M.v.D. Schloss Jill B. and Robin P. Selati Karen and Steven P. Seltzer Helene Rae and Ronnie Sheena Caroline and Michael Smith G. Gail Stricklin and Stephen E. Nichols Alisa and Keith J. Toney U. S. Charitable Gift Trust Germaine and Robbert W. Vorhoff Susan J. Wedlan and Harold S. Rosen Martha McCarty Wells and Max W. Wells Bridget and Raymond O. Wicklander Carol B. Wise M.B. and Edna Zale Foundation

Meredith A. Beers Joan Durland and W. Mente Benjamin Gretchen E. and Patterson D. Benner Jennifer and Jason Benoit Stephen W. Berg Michael A. Bernstein and Patti Harp Carrie Patterson and Jonathan H. Besler Julie C. Bevington Diana K. and Cyrus Bharucha Nancy and William R. Black, Jr. Susan D. Black Sue Blackshear Bodenheimer Psychological & Counseling Center, LLC Elise Bodenheimer Lucile Bodenheimer and James W. Holiday Joy M. Booth-Roussell and James H. Roussell Sarah C. Borgatti Christine Bostick Margaret F. Boudreau Bonnie J. Bourg

Erin M. Bowers Carole and Thomas E. Bratter Mary Aldrige’ and Blackwell M. Brogden Carol and J. B. Brooks, Jr. Helen M. and R. Teryl Brooks, Jr. Jennie and Grady W. Brown Sheila and Denzel Brown Teresa M. Bruno Barbara Burgess Gisele A. Calderon Beatrice Calvert Lauren D. Caplan Delia M. and Jim Carr Harriet G. and Joel Carson Susan S. and David C. Cator Jane and Ronald C. Cease Erin Cesta Teri F. and Quentin D. Chalmers Clarissa W. and Warren L. Chandler Elizabeth L. Clark and Courtney M. West Terri and Paul Clark Pamella K. and Roland E. Clemmons

Gretchen and Louis H. Cloud Carol and Edward A. Cohen Katherine S. and Rob D. Colley The Community Foundation of Shreveport † Gerda P. and Robert Cook Jeannette Schaleben Cook Rosalind Blanco Cook Susan and Clayton Cook Charlotte M. Cooksey K. Katherine Corbett and Laura J. Pegram Jamie L. Covell Sarah C. Covert Meredith Feike Crane † Lisa Cremin and William Bruce Harlan Elizabeth M. Crompton Cudd Foundation Carol and Robert C. Cudd III Jeanne Labouisse and Charles E. Cummings Henrietta S. Currier Ann and Elliot Curtis Rebecca C. and Philip H. Curtis Marley and Jonathan M. Cyrluk Kristin and Thomas Dahl Jennifer R. Daniel Jay E. Danna Frank A. Daspit Frances and Richard A. Day Martha and Gustave O. de Leon Florence and Phillip J. Deer, Jr. Nicky and Robert DeLange Maureen R. Detweiler † Judith L. and Joseph G. Devlin Julia K. Dickson Anne D. Diemer Clare A. and Scott Dimaunahan Christine J. and Robert A. Dobie Nancy and Patrick E. Donoghue Annette F. Doskey Amy L. Drendel Sarah S. and Franklyn Driggs Susan T. and John M. Duane III Christina Cataldo and Tasha L. Dunn Elizabeth C. Duplantier Elizabeth E. Dwyer Mary Ozment Dyer † Georgie C. and Eldon Easter Cynthia S. Easterling and Bob Peat Lisa K. Eatman and David Z. Tenenbaum Eileen M. Egan Eve Egger Lauren S. Elkin Nancy M. Eschette Anna L. Etheridge Mary Francis Etzold Loraine J. Evans Merri Steinberg and Mitchell C. Ex ExxonMobil Foundation Debbie Felsenthal and Steven A. Felsenthal The Darwin and Mary Jane Fenner Family Fund† Mary Jane Carter and Darwin C. Fenner† A. I. Ferguson Marilyn Meyer and Robert J. Filderman Kristina Elenidis Fink Firestone Family Foundation, Inc. Barbara Greenwald and Alan M. Firestone Jill W. and Geoffrey A. Fisher Marlive S. and James M. Fitzpatrick Camille Simpson Fitzsimmons

E. Miriam and Andre Fleischer Flight Surgeon Ann D. Flowerree Bethany Pinkerton and Bjorn Forfang Jean Frank Andria M. and Todd M. Frankfort Jodi Burwick and David A. Franklin Gail Pratt Frasier Susan G. and Charles L. Freed Fay B. Frey Mary Ann Lehman Friedman Ruth Jones Frierson and Louis L. Frierson, Sr. Jean L. Frymire Jane Pharr Gage Katherine P. Gage Nancy Lynne Gajewski Michelle P. Gallagher Gap Inc. Giving Campaign Amy Carden Gatzemeyer Beth and David Gemunder† Mary Edith L. Germeau† Jodi A. Gill Lesli K. and Todd J. Gillman Carole Deutschmann Gloger Jacueline G. and Melvin Gold Marjorie E. and Israel Goldberg Goldman Sachs Foundation Leone Maas Goldsmith Doris Harris and Martin I. Goldstein Susan S. and Robert S. Goldstein† Abbe M. Goncharsky and Christopher M. Morrison Caroline and Jeffrey P. Good Carol Farfel and Barry H. Goodfriend Ella C. Goodyear Lark R. and Richard L. Granger Gay Biggs Graves The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation Jane Scisson Grimshaw Julianne Dante Grundfest Madeleine M. Grynsztejn and Thomas D. Shapiro Nicolette M. Guillou Gulf Coast Community Foundation Beverly Taylor Guste Elizabeth Coate and John G. Hall Allyson R. Halperin Marilyn J. Hamly Sallye Lewis Hammett* Patricia G. and Martin E. Hanisch Sue Smith and Tommy L. Harrell Julie and Stephen Harris Carol J. Grimader and Donald J. Hart Cynthia L. and John Harter Brenda B. Hatton Kirsten B. Hawkins and Danny Bui Julie Ann Heathcott† Shirley Odom Heebe Beverly A. Hegre Rosaria Y. and Rudolph F. Heide Jean B. and R. David Hendrickson Ann and Stephen Hendrix-Jenkins J. Nelson and Standish Henning Marian Herbert-Bruno Lisa Vash and John C. Herman Elaine Levy Herold Dawn I. Herrington Linda and Charles Hershey Erin M. Hershey Paula R. and Arthur J. Hidalgo III Daphne W. Hill Susan R. Hill

*deceased † donations to Newcomb Alumnae Association This information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of July 30, 2013.

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NEWCOMB Donor Roll Victoria A. Hofheinz Reva A. and Michael Holmes Joan Henderson and James C. Hoppe Melanie E. Horowitz Rachel Horvath and Christopher R. LeBlanc Francine Horwich and David S. Weinstein Benaz Hossain Barbara C. Hudson Dolliann M. Hurtig Andrea A. and Jeffrey J. Huseman Evelyn P. Hutchens Celeste and Richard Hutchinson Mary Lynn Hyde and Steven S. Rossi† Linda E. Hyslop IBM International Foundation Mary Ellen Irvine* Julanne R. and Irwin Isaacson Carol and Tom W. Jackson Caroline A. and Brian D. Jarboe Patricia DeNais and Walter M. Jazwa JHS Enterprises Online, Inc. Marlene and Niels M. Johnsen Lorien Smith Johnson Mary M. Johnson R. Kelsey Johnson Terry Richheimer Joiner Gwin and Sidney R. Jones Lynn and Richard M. Jordan Anne and Alfred S. Joseph III Cheryl Suzanne Josephs-Zaccaro and Michael Zaccaro Heather and Harold L. Jurist Mary M. and K. K. Kaiser Linda Rochkind Katz and Stephen I. Katz Risa E. Kaufman and Daniel M. Belasco Louise B. and John L. Kee III Kathy and Kevin L. Kelley Esther and Francis E. Kelly III Virginia Villemez and David C. Kendall† Jessica Walden Kennedy Ann and John Kenney Sally J. Kenney and Norman Foster Louise T. Kepper Pamela Dobie Key Anne G. Kincer Maria Basilius Kirkikis Nicole D. Kirschmann Samantha H. Klein Stehanie A. Knopp and Stephen B. Wilcox Meagan J. Knowlton Seth C. Knudsen Mary F. Kock Sarah Wells Kocsis Sandra D. and Samuel G. Kohlenberg Carolyn G. and Kenneth C. Kolb† Allen B. Koltun* Fleurette L. Koltun Eleanor Komet Mindy Kornberg Glenna G. and Thomas F. Kramer† Edith D. Kuebel† Marilyn Z. and Paul I. Kullman Jo-Ellyn and Abraham B. Kupperman Bobbi and Richard M. Kurshan Anna F. Labadie Ethelyn and Philip A. LaHaye Linda C. and Frank L. Lambert Elizabeth and Fred Lamon† Amelie and Pierre B. Lanaux, Jr.

Jacklyn and George H. Lane Constance Zendel Larimer Frank W. Larimer Andrea R. and Robert E. Lapsley Law Offices of Melanie E. Horowitz P.A. Peggy A. and Charles R. Lee Ruth R. and Edward Legum Stephanie N. Leiting Blaine Legum Levenson Stephanie S. Levi Linda and Patrick S. Lewis-Moors Barbara D. and Jonathan H. Lief Eli Lilly and Company Foundation Joan Limongello Gail and F. A. Little, Jr.† Betsy Renair Loeb Alice O. and Jack London Elizabeth K. Lorber Leslie Lovett and John Kohn Anne P. Lowenburg Irene and Thomas J. Lutkewitte Leslie and Paul S. Lux S. Ann Mahorner Marilyn M. and Alan E. Malone Barbara and Bill Malone Barbara W. and Roy N. Mansberg Barbara and Charles A. Marascalco Laura Lederman Marcus Suzanne and Terry Martin Mariana Z. and Adam C. Martinez Shirley Rabe Masinter† Insperity Jo and William L. Mattison Sarah L. McAllister Courtney E. McAneny Kay McArdle Alice M. McCarthy Anne and Edgar H. McCulloch Lucinda A. McDade and John G. Lundberg Bonnie and James B. Mcginty, III Elizabeth R. and Patrick C. McHugh Cindy McIntyre Elizabeth L. and Mark A. McKenney Jean Stephan McKinley Suydie and Nathan H. McLamb Katherine S. McLean Emily Stitt McMath Anne M. McMillan Sandra and Douglas R. McNamee Aline L. McQuade Claire and M. Wayne McVadon The Medtronic Foundation Suzanne and John W. Mercer, Sr. MetLife Foundation Naomi A. Meyers Emily G. Middleton Florence and Maury A. Midlo C. Courtenay Miller Caitlin G. Miller Elaine R. Miller and Aaron Stambler Julia L. and Gerald W. Miller M. Kathleen Miller and Charles J. Fleming Marie Evans Miller Nina Jacobs Miller Priscilla A. Mims Nancy Spates and Joseph M. Minton Andrea T. and Steven R. Moffitt Mondelez International Foundation Suzanne and E. Clarke Montgomery, Sr. Deanne M. Moore Elizabeth Pharr Moran

*deceased † donations to Newcomb Alumnae Association This information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of July 30, 2013.

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NEWCOMB FALL 2013

Jennette and Michael J. Moreno Ellen W. and Samuel E. Moreton III Anne and James J. Morse, Jr. Emily A. Mourad Dan-Vy Q. Mui and Huy Q. Tran Janice and John W. Mulvihill Imogene W. Murphy and William T. Murphy III Lamar and William Murphy Ruth and Bernard Nachman Bertha W. and Joseph W. Nelkin Alison S. and David B. Nelson† New Neighbors Danielle and Clifton W. Newlin Paula and Robert Newman Gloria A. and Vernon J. Nordman Anna L. Norris Elizabeth and Robert D. O’Brien, Jr. Kacey and John P. O’Brien Colleen S. O’Donnell Linda and Alexander Orbach The Orthopedic Center of St. Louis Out of the Box Foundation Judith W. and William H. Page Marilyn and Harrell Pailet Clemence and John Palcso, Jr. Carolyn and Jared B. Palmer, Sr. Diana and John W. Parham Nancy N. Sale Parkerson S. Pasternack and F. Weissman Gaye and William G. Pate Sybil T. and John F. Patten Peggy E. Patterson Palmer A. and Roderick A. Payne Katherine E. Peres and Seth R. Krieger Alison L. Perine Alison Nimrod and Rhett Perkins, Jr. David G. Perlis† Gail Fenton Pesses Adrienne M. and Reed Auerbach Elvia Marie Pfefferle Paula and Joel A. Picker Suzanne V. Plaisance Debbie and Robert A. Polishook Andrea and Scott Ponsor Genevieve A. Pope and Jeremy Hunnewell† Jane and John B. Postell Inell Potter† Clementine and Amos L. Prevatt† Andrea and Todd A. Price† Christopher G. Price Lee L. Prina Evelyn F. and Julian F. Prince Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. Sharon G. and Morris A. Purcel Ann Queen and Richard S. Shivar Linda and David Quick Sarah B. Quintano Mary Radford and Robert P. Dana Kelly S. Ragland† Diane D. and Alexander M. Rankin, IV Ieva and James E. Rasmussen Razorfish RBC Dain Rauscher Foundation Shirley E. Reddoch and Gregg Petersen Patricia and Raymond D. Reed Lindsay Gertz Regen and Eugene M. Regen III Jill I. and Allen D. Reynolds Kym and Mark S. Rice Andi and Christopher F. Richardson

Gracibel B. Rickerfor Olga F. and Bruce D. Rickoff Amanda and Sean Roberts Winifred and R. Alexander Robinson Cathleen and Francis X. Roche II Kathryn Spruill and James T. Roman Carol H. Rosen Emily H. and Charles Rosen II Carolyn M. Conto and John D. Ross, Jr. Nina Shaw and Raphael Ross III Sylvia R. and John O. Roy, Jr.† Andrea L. Royce Jackie and Gregory H. Russo Lora G. and Michael Rust Suzanne Marie Rynne-Ostermiller Sara M. and Joel E. Saber Ruth E. Sang Judy Lavine Saslow† Carolyn and William R. Saunders Koomsoo P. and Ricardo J. Sauque Barbara S. Sayes SC Johnson Fund, Inc. Ketti N. and William G. Scarborough Louise and Charles G. Schaefer Susan E. Schaefer Jaelle Scheuerman Dorothy and Paul A. Schmit Ellen F. and Marc H. Schneidau Susan and Laurence Schor Susan and Marshall A. Schorin Florence and Richard Schornstein Rhonda A. and Michael M. Schornstein Sandra S. Schwarcz Etheldra S. Scoggin Sarah Scornavacca Sandra Goodman and Kenneth I. Segel The Aaron or Peggy Selber Foundation, Inc. Peggy and Aaron Selber, Jr. Katherine B. Senter Martha H. and Georges P. Sessions Julianne P. Huber and William F. Sewell Anne W. Shahan Maude Saunders Sharp Judith H. and Jamie Shujman Marcia and Richard Siegel Mary Clare and Kenneth A. Siegel and Kelley Baker and Jeff Siemon Faith and Charles A. Simmons Sherri and Jeffrey S. Sklar Aidan E. Smith and Patrick A. Sullivan Lottie Lee Smith Rebekah E. Smith Caroline A. Snyder Catherine L. Spain and Dean H. Strombom Pam and Byron R. Spanjer† Marcia and Larry Spielberger Natalie and Arnold Spitzer Kaitlin N. Splett Beverly and David Stacy Steelhead Consulting Incorporated Elise Hopkins and James B. Stephens, Sr. Madeline K. and Leslie W. Stern Odette and Melville J. Sternberg Carolyn G. and William F. Stifel II Elizabeth Lunn Stocks Carolyn G. Stolz Lori Sublett Beth and Edward F. Sugarman Meredith B. Swain Stephanie D. Swain

Beth and Donald H. Sweet Theodore B. Talley† Mildred Wiener and Ronald Teitelbaum Myra Z. Thalheim Joyce M. and William E. Thibodeaux Mary Sue Sherwood and Robert E. Thompson Melissa K. and Tommy Thompson Judith Z. Thorne and Michael P. Musick Katherine N. Tice Kathleen H. Timmins Elena V. Toulios and Christopher J. Oliver Elizabeth B. Delery and Harry B. Towe P. Tyler and Bryan J. Traficanti Beryl Edwards Robertson Trawick Betsie G. Tremant Victoria J. Troeger Dorothy Ruth and Ronald D. A. Trone Lucile Bernard Trueblood† Susan N. Tucker Joan Tupper Christine Turner UBS, AG Barbara K. and Patrick J. Unkel Ellen Murphy and Steven Unterman Lisa S. Usdan Charlotte M. Vail Amanda C. Van Veen Carol Vatz and Joel B. Rosch Vanessa L. Vogl John W. Wall and Shirley J. Wall Laura and Edward M. Waller Jr. Sylvia A. and John F. Warren Joan McMullen Watkins Olivia C. Watkins Susan J. Wedlan and Harold S. Rosen Kathy Glick and Gordon Weil Jocelyn L. Weinberg Sue Robin and Robert H. Weinhauer Riki Weinstein and Daniel P. Morrison Amy and David Weiskopf Ruth Rosen Weisler Marion Wiener Weiss† Brenda and Joseph W. Wells, Jr. John H. Welsh, Jr.* Julia Fowler Welsh Patricia Eason Westerman Jill V. Wieczorek Nancy Wiener JoAnn Pincus Wigodsky Gloria Gaunt Wilbert* Diane Taylor Wilkerson Pinky S. Tiwari and James M. Wilson Winnie Shreve Wilson Mara B. and Randall S. Winn Diana L. Winoker Cindy and David M. Wittels Dorothy D. Wolbrette* Laura Wolford Carolyn M. and Charles Y. P. Wood Mary Coutret Woodman Shannon Duncan Woodward and Jerome Woodward Kay and John W. Woolfolk III Leslie and Barry S. Yoffie† Melissa K. Zeier Paula S. Zielonka and Carl Zielonka Ruth C. Ziifle Martha Andry-Zimmering and Paul L. Zimmering

From the Director

Events

Newcomb College Institute sponsors a variety of events on campus and in cities around the country. Upcoming events include...

Dear Friends, t has been an exhilarating time for one who studies women judges. In June, I sat in the second row as President Obama nominated two women and one African-American man to the U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The next day, I joined 100 leaders at the White House Summit on Judicial Selection. Earlier this year, I shivered outside the Louisiana Supreme Court as Chief Justice Bernette Johnson took the oath of office. I celebrated Jane Kelly’s ascendancy to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Iowa with other founders of the Infinity Project (and my Mom).

Asking, “where are the women,” has been the starting point for much scholarship and activism. During my research, I have observed men in black robes but few women. In my book, Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter, I tell the stories of many women firsts on the bench and make the case for more women judges. I am looking forward to welcoming more than 300 women judges to the annual conference of the National Association of Women Judges in New Orleans in October, having helped develop their academic program, and archivist Susan Tucker has worked hard on a display for the Supreme Court on women’s legal history in Louisiana.

This October, the Newcomb Art Gallery will open a wonderful new exhibition on Newcomb Pottery. Our February symposium will see the pottery as more than aesthetic objects, but as the work of enterprising southern women seeking financial independence while creating something unique and beautiful. Mrs. Newcomb forged a partnership between North and South as she bestowed her wealth to create Newcomb College in her beloved adopted city of New Orleans. The Pottery, too, emerged from the interaction of northern and southern women—Julia Ward Howe, visiting the Cotton Expo and women artists in the Arts and Crafts Movement teaching at the Newcomb Art Department. We hope to enjoy a similar synergy with the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

University Architect Collette Creppell and I both had tours of their newly renovated library.

And several Schlesinger staff attended Newcomb’s Workshop on Women’s Archives as part of the Society of American Archivists annual conference in New Orleans this August.

Many changes are afoot at the Newcomb College Institute and at Tulane University. We believe it is time to renovate Josephine Louise Hall from a 19th century model of cloistering daughters to a 21st century model for empowering women. We are widening our partnership beyond North and South to East and West, forging a partnership with Pakistan’s Fatimah Jinnah Women’s University who shares our passion for women’s education and service to community. Our focus on undergraduate women’s research drawing on the Newcomb Archives will help us ensure that we continue to honor the legacy of Newcomb women.

We embrace change while remaining steadfast in our mission of educating undergraduate women for leadership.

Just as we went to press, we learned that beloved Newcomb alumna Lindy Boggs had passed. We added additional material to remember and honor her, reflecting our commitment to telling women’s stories.

I

“We are widening our partnership beyond North and South to East and West. We embrace change while remaining steadfast in our mission of educating undergraduate women for leadership.”

A SYMPOSIUM ON THE NEWCOMB POTTERY

HOMECOMING AND PARENTS WEEKEND Newcomb Open House, Tailgating, and More

in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Exhibition Women, Art and Social Change

October 4-6, 2013

TOWN MOM JAZZ BRUNCH NEWCOMB BOOK CLUB GATHERINGS

Saturday, September 21 11:30am-1pm The Newcomb House, 43 Newcomb Place

Events are planned in the following cities this fall: • Chicago An Evening with

• Sacramento

MARY JO BANG

• New Orleans • Memphis

The 2013 Arons Poet

• Baton Rouge Visit newcombalumnae.org for detailed information.

A Reading and Interview with The 29th Annual Zale-Kimmerling writer-in-residence

SUSAN CHOI March 17, 2014

October 21, 2013

UNDER THE OAKS

A ceremony honoring graduating women and the Newcomb College Class of 1964 May 16, 2014

Newcomb College Endowed Chair Professor of Political Science

Executive Director, Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University

February 1, 2014

For a complete list of events, visit tulane.edu/newcomb.

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID New Orleans, LA Permit No. 358

6823 St. Charles Ave. Tulane University New Orleans, LA 70118

NEWCOMB NEWS FOR ALUMNAE, STUDENTS, AND PARENTS

Telling

WOMEN’S STORIES Newcomb is at work preserving the voices of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Pay Equity

How one woman’s fight for fairness shaped national policy

ALSO INSIDE: The Life of Lindy Women of Poydras Home Bringing the Archives into the Digital Age

FALL 2013