#TBT in the Archives 3/3/16: SU's Dress Code

From the 1940s to the 1970s, Shippensburg had a dress code for students. Though it was expected that all students dress up for dinner, the dress code for women was much stricter than the regulations placed on men's attire. The 4 photos below show the differences in women's dress from the 40s to the 70s.

Top row from left to right: 1941, 1957
Bottom row from left to right: 1961, 1976

During the 1940s, it was unsuitable for women to dress in shorts, playsuits, housecoats, and similar apparel outside of their rooms. Wearing slacks was also frowned upon on campus. Dresses for women or suits for men were required for dinner; sweaters were never allowed in the dining hall.

In this photo from 1944, women wear skirts past their knees as well as jackets and dress shirts.

In the 1950s, the university made the women's dress code even more restrictive. Shorts, slacks, and gym clothes were not acceptable on campus or downtown. Women were not allowed to walk the halls of their dorm without "proper clothing." Bathing suits were not to be worn in mixed company; the student handbook explicitly forbade sunbathing in the presence of the opposite sex.

The women in this photo from 1956 would not have been permitted to enter the
dining hall without first putting on proper shoes. Socks were not allowed!

The dress code was expanded in the 1960s. While Bermuda shorts and slacks were permitted in the dorm, women could never wear them in classrooms, the library, or in administrative or faculty offices. In 1970, the dress code was abolished by the Student Senate, but the student handbook continued to state that "women must be fully clothed in street attire when walking or lounging in the main lounge of each residence hall."

This memo from March 1970 announces the end of the university dress code.

For more information on the campus dress code, visit the exhibit, "Dressing Appropriately," currently on display on the lower level of Lehman Library. The exhibit will be on display until March 31st.  Created by Lydia Middaugh, University Archives & Special Collections Graduate Assistant, and Kira Piper, History Department Graduate Assistant, the exhibit highlights the evolution of the dress code over the course of four decades.

Want to learn more about Ship's history? No need to wait for the next Throwback Thursday! Contact Archives & Special Collections via e-mail: specialcollections@ship.edu or phone: 717-477-1516.

#TBT in the Archives 3/26/15

Women's basketball team, 1910

In honor of March Madness, and the last week of Women's History Month, we thought it would be appropriate to discuss the history of women's basketball here at Ship for this installment of Throwback Thursday. The origin of basketball in the United States goes back to 1891 when James Naismith developed a game to hold the attention of a rowdy gym class at the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA. Senda Berenson is credited with introducing the sport to women, believing that there was no reason women could not play the game. Basketball quickly spread across the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, making its way to Shippensburg (then the Cumberland Valley State Normal School [CVSNS]) in 1903.

According to the Normal School Herald from January of that year, "the game teems with excitement and sport, and great enthusiasm has been shown by both boys and girls." A basketball section highlighting players, scores, and schedules began to regularly appear in January and April issues thereafter, the Herald proclaiming that "basketball is the game at Normal during the winter months." Although the Herald primarily concentrated on men's basketball, recaps of women's games do appear such as in the April 1903 issue when CVSNS played their first game against the Girls' Varsity at Dickinson College, losing 6-4. A week later CVSNS made up for their loss, defeating Dickinson 6-2.

The emergence of women's involvement in basketball at CVSNS and across the country reflects a larger theme about women's roles that began to shift in the late nineteenth century. The mid-nineteenth century Victorian ideals that placed women in the roles of mother and wife began to dissipate as women entered professions such as teaching and social work. Athletics became an integral part of the new model of American womanhood. At CVSNS, the Herald noted that "the girls were by no means inferior to the boys in their love of the sport." The image above is the earliest photographic record of a women's basketball team at CVSNS. The young man in the photo was the team's leader. Note that the uniforms reflect the era's ideals of modesty, as women had  to "cover up" on the court. While athletics did offer new opportunities for women, athleticism had to be balanced with the social norms of the era.

Want to learn more about Ship's history? No need to wait for the next Throwback Thursday! Visit Archives & Special Collections during our open research hours, or contact us via e-mail: specialcollections@ship.edu or phone: 717-477-1516.


Sources:
Grundy, Pamela and Susan Shackelford. Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball. New York: The New Press, 2005. 

Normal School Herald 7, no. 2, January 1903, University Archives & Special Collections, Ezra Lehman Memorial Library, Shippensburg, PA.

Normal School Herald 7, no. 3, April 1903, University Archives & Special Collections, Ezra Lehman Memorial Library, Shippensburg, PA.

#TBT in the Archives 3/19/15

Ship students walking across campus, 1968

In honor of Women's History Month, this week Archives & Special Collections would like to explore the social changes that occurred on Shippensburg's campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While Shippensburg State College students did not participate in many of the radical movements and protests that occurred at larger universities, there was a gradual change in social norms at the local level.

On March 19, 1970, the Student Senate unanimously abolished Shippensburg State College's dress code. Until this date, the campus dress code, which was outlined in the student handbook, required students to appear in the "high standard of dress." Men and women were required to dress conservatively everywhere on campus except in residence halls and during athletic events. White t-shirts, bermuda and short-shorts, sweatshirts and other "casual" wear were deemed innapropriate. Although the dress code pertained to both women and men, there were stricter regulations for women such as the "no slacks" rule. Dresses and skirts were considered appropriate for women and one alumna recalls that women had to wear trench coats to cover up their slacks if they happened to be wearing them in the wrong place. In the winter time, ladies kept warm by wearing knee socks and tights--these regulations seem unimaginable by today's standards.

The Cumberland yearbooks provide a visual depiction of the transformation that took place on campus after 1970, showing the evolution of the change in campus culture. Female students ditched skirts and knee socks for shorts and slacks, which became more prevalent in the mid-late 1970s. By the 1980s, the casual wear that permeates college campuses today essentially became the norm. The photograph above from 1968 shows two female students walking on campus in slacks and bermuda shorts. We do not know where these women were walking to and from, but the textbooks in their hands indicate they could have been studying. Or maybe these women were "radicals," displaying their disagreement with the campus dress code. Evidence such as this reminds us that we need to question our sources. Although the dress code was still on the books in 1968, clearly these regulations were not always followed in practice.

Want to learn more about Ship's history? No need to wait for the next Throwback Thursday! Visit Archives & Special Collections during our open research hours, or contact us via e-mail: specialcollections@ship.edu or phone: 717-477-1516. 

#TBT in the Archives 3/5/15

In honor of Women's History Month, the University Archives & Special Collections will highlight a photograph or document each week for the month of March that traces the history of female students at Shippensburg, while also making connections to national trends.

This week we would like to explore the history of women's social organizations on campus as women's groups played a vital role in fostering students' academic and social lives. The photograph above depicts the Women's Day Council from the 1931 Cumberland yearbook. This group addressed the concerns of women who commuted to campus. Other groups that operated on campus during this time period were the Women's Student Government Association and WYCA. While other women's organizations existed on campus that encompassed the interests of athletes, professionals, and intellectuals, these groups in particular were responsible for developing and maintaining the social character that was expected of women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Throughout the early part of the twentieth century, the roles and expectations of female students in higher education were based upon Victorian ideals that viewed women as less capable than men. Even as more women entered the work force, many of them worked in fields that reinforced societal gender expectations such as teaching. With the emergence of the feminist movement in the 1960s, this started to change. Stay tuned for the next post to find out about the transformations that occurred locally here at Shippensburg and on a national level as well.

Want to learn more about Ship's history? No need to wait for the next Throwback Thursday! Visit Archives & Special Collections during our open research hours, or contact us via e-mail: specialcollections@ship.edu or phone: 717-477-1516.

It's a Girl - LL205 - March 26 at 3:30