The number of students enrolled in the College grew steadily in the late 1700s, reaching 107, as listed in the first printed Catalogue of the Officers and Students, in 1800. The names of the students and their home states were...
Asa Messer, Class of 1790, served in a variety of functions at the College including tutor, librarian and professor of both “learned languages” and “natural philosophy” before being named first president pro tempore and, finally, president...
After the Corporation voted to allow women to sit for exams, President Andrews recruited six women to begin study at Brown in the fall of 1891. They received similar, but separate, instruction from Brown professors in Greek, math, French and...
In 1897, Brown conferred its first doctoral degree on a woman. Martha Tarbell earned the Ph.D. in German studies for her dissertation on the history and criticism of the German ballad.
In 1900, the Class of 1899 first organized an association of the women graduates of Brown. The organization was initially named the Andrews Association, in honor of Brown President Elisha Andrews, who worked to help gain women admittance to...
A graduate of Providence’s Classical High School, Ethel Ester Maria Tremaine Robinson was the first African American female graduate of Brown. She went on to teach English at Howard University and helped in the founding of Alpha Kappa Alpha...
In 1928, the Women’s College was renamed Pembroke College in Brown University. The chosen name made sense, given that the College was informally called Pembroke in reference to the name of its main building (Pembroke Hall). However, some...
Born in California of Japanese parents, John F. Aiso faced prejudice in his schooling due to widespread anti-Japanese sentiment, including being asked to resign as the district winner of a national oratorical contest on the Constitution. He...
A graduate of Morehouse College, Samuel M. Nabrit was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Brown, completing the degree in just three years. He would later serve as the president of Texas Southern University and was Brown’s first...
After World War II, veterans eligible for college studies under the G.I. Bill flooded America’s universities. Brown was no exception. Beginning as the Veterans Extension Division, the program admitted 486 of 1400 applicants. Speaking at...
In 1955, the Brown chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. The activities of the co-ed group included voting drives, leafleting, fundraising and, in 1962, the picketing of a local Howard...
In 1968, the board of the Brown Daily Herald named Beverly Hodgson editor. Although the BDH announced the new editorial board without fanfare, noting Hodgson’s five semesters of experience, national headlines remarked on...
From the time in 1891 when women were first permitted to take classes, stand for examinations, and receive Brown degrees, they had been admitted to and enrolled in a separate college, first the Women’s College, later Pembroke College in...
In 1973, African American upperclass students created the Minority Peer Counseling (MPC) Program. These students volunteered their time to provide black first-year students with academic support emphasizing a sense of community, tradition,...
At Brown, students embraced the use of the phrase “Third World” over “minority” to collectively address the needs of students of color without suggestions of inferiority and powerlessness. The Third World Center was opened to meet the needs...
In 1981, the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women was established as a research center on gender. The Center supported a new, multidisciplinary Women’s Studies concentration as well as the integration of the study of gender...
On March 13, 1985, over 300 students rallied on the Green to protest institutional racism at Brown. Five weeks of protests followed, led by the Third World Coalition. Students protested that the University had not followed through on...
In the Fall of 1994, the number of women attending Brown exceeded the number of men for the first time, with 3,714 female and 3,672 male students. This approximate gender ratio has continued through the admitted undergraduate class of 2018...
The first annual Pow Wow at Brown was organized with support from the Third World Center and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. The intertribal event attracted over 1,000 people in one afternoon. The following year, the Pow Wow...
In March 2004, a new resource center opened in Faunce House to allow students to explore issues related to sexuality and gender. Today, the LGBTQ Center, serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and...
In 2003, President Ruth Simmons appointed a committee, which included faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and administrators, to investigate the University’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade....
