College Girls is a light cultural history of women’s higher education in the US.  Organized by topic rather than chronologically, the book focuses on how dating, fashion, and wifely expectations impacted the lives of college girls from the 1830s through the 1960s.  A good mix of colleges are represented, from land grant colleges to historically black universities, but particular attention is paid to the seven sisters as both models for later programs and havens of wacky traditions.    Tumblr loves vintage images of women from the 1920s-1960s, but there isn’t a lot of information about what life was like for those women.  I think this weighty tome (over 400 pages) would be particularly enjoyed by those who have daydreamed about being a stylish co-ed back in the day.  Partly for the fashion information and cute traditions, but also to better understand the downsides of life as a Victorian lady, flapper, or bobbysoxer.  College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Coeds, Then and Now on Amazon

College Girls is a light cultural history of women’s higher education in the US.  Organized by topic rather than chronologically, the book focuses on how dating, fashion, and wifely expectations impacted the lives of college girls from the 1830s through the 1960s.  A good mix of colleges are represented, from land grant colleges to historically black universities, but particular attention is paid to the seven sisters as both models for later programs and havens of wacky traditions.   

Tumblr loves vintage images of women from the 1920s-1960s, but there isn’t a lot of information about what life was like for those women.  I think this weighty tome (over 400 pages) would be particularly enjoyed by those who have daydreamed about being a stylish co-ed back in the day.  Partly for the fashion information and cute traditions, but also to better understand the downsides of life as a Victorian lady, flapper, or bobbysoxer. 

College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Coeds, Then and Now on Amazon