Women at Georgetown University

The following books include information about the history and role of women at Georgetown.  All of the books listed are also available for use in the Booth Family Center for Special Collections; request them via the Aeon request system.

• Curran, Robert Emmett. A history of Georgetown University.  Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, 2010

  A three volume set, this is the most comprehensive University history. Volume 1 covers 1789-1889, volume 2 covers 1889-1964, and volume 3 covers 1964-1989. Appendices provide statistics about students and student enrollments, rosters of University officials, and construction dates for campus buildings. Use the indexes to locate information on women’s issues, on the Nursing School, and on individual women by name 

• Durkin, Joseph, S.J., ed.  Swift Potomac's lovely daughter : two centuries at Georgetown through students' eyes.  Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, 1990

  Student essays on a variety of topics related to student life, academic pursuits, and extracurricular activities which were written during the University’s Bicentennial celebrations.  Of particular interest, “Coeducation at Georgetown” by Margaret Dowley and Jessica Seacor, pages 261-283. The full-text of this publication is available through DigitalGeorgetown

   

• Sullivan, Anne, ed.  Women of Georgetown College : the first quarter century.  Washington, D.C. : Georgetown College, Georgetown University, 1995

  Contains brief reflections from early women students in Georgetown College on their experiences

• Woolley, Alma S. Learning, faith, and caring : history of the Georgetown University School of Nursing 1903-2000.  Washington, D.C.? : publisher not identified, 2001

  Written by a former Dean of the School. Appendices list School administrators, honorary degree recipients, and distinguished alumni

• ​Ernst, Daniel R.  The First 125 Years : 1870-1995 : an Illustrated History of the Georgetown University Law Center.  Georgetown University Law Center, 1995

  As the title suggests, images are an important part of this book. The index includes personal names only and provides no subject access. Coverage of the arrival of the first women students and faculty starts on page 119

   

• Barringer, George M.; Reynolds, Jon K. Georgetown University : a pictorial review. Washington : Georgetown University Alumni Association, 1976

  Includes 148 pages of black and white photographs showing key administrators and various aspects of  academic and student life. The first woman pictured is an emergency room nurse in the old Georgetown University Hospital, ca. 1910 (plate 78)

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Poulson, Susan L.  "A quiet revolution" : the transition to coeducation at Georgetown and Rutgers Colleges, 1960-1975, 1989

In addition to a hard copy in the Library’s collection, the full text of this thesis can be accessed via Proquest’s Dissertations & Theses database. See link to that database embedded in the description under Dissertations & Theses (Georgetown-authored) (scroll down to see the Dis section of the database list to see it )

• Reynolds, Jon K.: The Unknown Women of Georgetown

  Authored by former Georgetown University Archivist Jon K. Reynolds, this undated essay provides a high level overview of women associated with Georgetown, beginning with Eleanor Darnall Carroll, the mother of Georgetown’s founder John Carroll

• Areen, Judith C.: Women Who Have Made A Difference At Georgetown

  This 2003 presentation by the former Dean of the Law Center highlights women at Georgetown from 1880 to 2001, with an emphasis on the first women in particular roles

• Foreign Service School online exhibition: The House That Walsh Built: A Century of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service

  This exhibition, created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the School of Foreign Service, was physically displayed on the 5th floor of Lauinger Library from September 2019 to January 2020.  One of its sections focuses on Women Pioneers but references to women at Georgetown are found throughout