The Dean of Women’s Role During the Civil Rights Era at The University of Mississippi

• In Event: Roundtable Session 80
  In Roundtable Session: Contesting Boundaries: Tensions on the College Campus in the 20th Century

Abstract

The legacy and work of Deans of Women are a part of a growing scholarship in historical studies in higher education. In the 1960s, institutions were changing, especially in the south. This study, through an extensive literature review, archival search, and oral history interviews with women alumni from the 1950s and 1960s, explores Dr. Katharine Rea and her role as Dean of Women at the University of Mississippi. More specifically it will examine how her work fit into, and challenged, the scholarship already established on Deans of Women, and her influence on women students during the Civil Rights era.

Author

• Sara Kaiser, The University of Mississippi