Women in Maryland

Faculty and staff who have made a difference

"Information Please" was a small handbook of rules, regulations, and strong suggestions produced by the Associated Women Students (AWS) organization and distributed to all incoming female undergraduates. AWS was a self-governing body of women students that established and enforced standards of conduct for women students and sponsored cultural and social activities.

For over 100 years, all incoming freshmen received a Student Handbook, known for many years as the “M Book,” to help orient them to campus. This publication included messages from campus administrators, the constitution and bylaws of the Student government, rules of behavior, academic Calendars, descriptions of selected Student organizations, parking regulations, and songs and cheers, among many other items of information that students needed at their fingertips.

The 1917 yearbook touted Elizabeth Hook and Charlotte Vaux as the first women to matriculate officially at the University of Maryland in 1916; Miss Hook received a B.S. in entomology in 1920 and Miss Vaux a two-year degree in agriculture in 1918. The first female student to attend classes at the Maryland Agricultural College was probably Flora Iris Darling who took the short course in floriculture in 1907.

Betty B. Baehr was a librarian at the University of Maryland from 1947 until 1983. Her papers consist of an oral history interview and photographs.

Helen Bewley donated items associated with the May 3, 1967, Service Awards Ceremony, at which she was recognized for 35 years of service to the University of Maryland Entomology Department. The items include a photograph of her and other major service awardees with President Wilson H. Elkins, an event program, and her award certificate. A preliminary inventory is available.

Marilyn Church came to the University of Maryland in 1969 and taught first as an assistant and then associate professor in the Head Start Regional Office, the Department of Early Childhood-Elementary Education, and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She also served as the director of the Center for Young Children of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Jane Donawerth has been a professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 1975. The papers cover the years between 1974 and 2009 and document Donawerth's activities at the University of Maryland in the Women's Studies Program, the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies, the Composition/Rhetoric Program, and various appointments and committees within the English department.

Susan Emolyn Harman (1897-1972) was an author and professor of English at the University of Maryland from 1920 to 1961. At the university, Harman founded Alpha Lambda Delta, an honorary society; was a charter member of the Maryland chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, a teacher's honorary; and was adviser to a social sorority, Kappa Delta. As president of University of Maryland chapter of the AAUP, she worked to secure Social Security benefits for all university faculty.

Isabella Hayes was the librarian in charge of the Maryland Room in McKeldin Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, campus from 1949 to 1968. Her papers consist of correspondence and other records pertaining to the operation of the Maryland Room.

Anne Ingram was a professor of physical education at the University of Maryland from 1962 until 1988. Ingram's papers include a bound volume of selected papers and publications, oral history tapes, and taped interviews for the issue of the Maryland Historian (Fall 1978) that focused on women. Major topics include the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and the women's movement at the University of Maryland.

Dorothy B. McKnight is a former executive director of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association and was a professor and the Coordinator of Women's Athletics at the University of Maryland from 1971 to 1976. This collection consists of books relating to Title IX and sex equity in athletics; some of the books include chapters authored by Dorothy McKnight. Also included are teaching materials used by Dorothy McKnight in workshops about Title IX and women's athletics.

Mary Shorb was research professor of poultry science at the University of Maryland from 1949 to 1972 and, upon retirement, was named research professor emeritus, a position she held at the time of her death in 1990. The Shorb papers cover the years 1910 to 1971 and include correspondence, grant reports and applications, papers, and lab notes. Major topics include vitamin B12, Trichomonas, chickens, animal nutrition, animal growth, and pernicious anemia.

Adele H. Stamp was dean of women at the University of Maryland at College Park from 1922 to 1960. During her tenure the campus expanded dramatically and Dean Stamp was confronted with a number of issues relating to facilities. Among her papers are files on Cole Field House, the Rossborough Inn, dormitories, and the women's field house.

Albert F. Woods was president of the University of Maryland from 1917 until 1926. Albert Woods's papers cover the years 1878 to 1944 and consist of speeches and correspondence. Bertha Woods's papers contain poems and children's stories written for Young People's Weekly and The Girl's Companion. Major topics in this collection include children's stories, poems, agriculture, and the University of Minnesota.