March is celebrated as Women’s History Month, a time to learn about the gendered experiences, struggles, and successes of women of the past which have played a part in shaping our collective history.
At Winthrop University, where students are living and learning on the grounds of a historically women’s college, there is no shortage of women’s history. The dormitories and academic buildings still in use today are a testament to the growth of women’s educational attainment and the solidarity forged here between Winthrop girls so many years ago.
Understanding major events in feminist history and well known figures and advocates is an important part of honoring women’s history, but one of the best ways to celebrate the month is to simply listen to the experiences of senior women in one’s life, whether that be a relative or mentor. Female graduates of Winthrop University, especially prior to its introduction of male students in 1974, can certainly contribute to this knowledge of women’s history within education.
About a five minutes’ drive from campus is a senior living community called Westminster Towers, where two Winthrop alumni, Carolyn Hallman ’47 and Linda Williams ’64, ’69, ’80, live today. Their stories of college life at Winthrop University seventy-seven and sixty years ago, respectively, provide insight not only into the history of this institution, but into the history of women, their access to education, and the value that an all-female community once provided to so many Eagles.
Carolyn Hallman came to Winthrop University from Horry County, South Carolina in the 1940s to study French and English. As a student, she resided in Breazeale Hall and Bancroft Hall, both of which are no longer in use as dormitories.
Linda Williams, a member of Winthrop’s current Alumni Executive Board, began her studies at the university in 1960 where she majored in education. She went on to teach and later became an assistant principal in the Rock Hill area. Williams also lived in Breazeale Hall, moving to Margaret Nance Hall as an upperclassman, where she worked as a house counselor.
During Hallman’s freshman year at Winthrop, the “Blue Line” tradition proceeded as it had in the 19th century, with the entire student body walking to their church of choice in downtown Rock Hill on the first Sunday of the year, all in blue dresses. She particularly remembered wearing heels during this event, saying, “You know, you wouldn’t have to wear heels nowadays, but we thought we had to wear them then, and it nearly killed us wearing heels.”
As a women’s college, there was a strong sense of community among students, who spent their time together going to movies, walking downtown or to the lake, sharing meals and picnics, sunbathing and setting up beauty shops out of their dorm rooms.
During Hallman’s time at the university, “They had a movie every Saturday night, they were really good movies, and they were free. We didn’t always take advantage of some of these things that, you know, we should have done back then,” she said.
Both women also discussed walking to the Pix Theater on Oakland Avenue to go see a movie with their friends.
Williams recounted sunbathing on campus, saying “The whole roof of McLaurin was lined with people as soon as it got warm enough to get out.” Hallman had similar experiences, and while she did not particularly enjoy it, it was worth the tan.
The alumnae looked back fondly on the family-style dining experience in McBryde Hall, which was of limited options but good quality. Hallman humorously noted, “Even with all the walking we did, we gained weight.” For dessert, they enjoyed tubs of ice cream and sugar pie, Williams’s favorite.
Hallman and Williams additionally shared positive feelings about the Winthrop canteen, which was originally located in Tillman Hall.
Hallman said, “I loved the canteen. You’re studying hard, you go over and get a hot chocolate or whatever for a dime, and it was a refreshing time, and just to get away from your room for a while.”
Hallman emphasized the value of staying on campus for the weekend and spending time with her fellow students, something she feels today’s students lack.
“I think they miss a lot by going home every weekend, because we learned a lot Saturday mornings by walking around with friends and getting together with our friends […] we’d walk out to the farm and buy some ice cream.”
Both women remembered walking to the local creamery in Rock Hill, with Hallman recounting a specific weekend in which she and three other friends purchased a carton of ice cream for one dollar and later realized they had nothing to eat it with. The ladies improvised by tearing up pieces of the cardboard lid to use as spoons, finishing the entire carton.
“We did all kinds of crazy things. We didn’t have much money, yeah, and so you had to, you know, do everything together,” Hallman said
A substantial difference between the Winthrop of the 1940s and 1960s and the school we know today is the amount of administrative control placed on student life and behavior.
When Hallman was a student, uniforms were still required, which she admiringly looked back on.
“I kind of liked it. Now, we fussed at first, but it didn’t take so many clothes. Nobody was outdoing anybody else, and it was great.” Along with the standard navy and white which all uniforms were made out of, Hallman liked to personalize her outfits with red and green collars and belts to stand out.
Additional university policies students may find unusual today included Saturday classes, sign-out sheets for leaving campus, required weekly assemblies, and hall monitors which proctored student behavior while in their dormitory. Curfews were limited to ten and eleven o’clock each Saturday “date night” for Hallman and Williams, respectively.
Sundays at Winthrop were even more strict in the 1940s, as students had to remain in their dorms after six o’clock and were not served dinner but instead received a bagged lunch in which “You had an apple and a sandwich or maybe a pack of crackers. And that was it,” Hallman explained.
Taboos regarding smoking and drinking have also changed over the years. Hallman recounted hearing rumors that “if they caught you drinking, they took you home in the limo.” Winthrop continued to take a stand against alcohol during Williams’s college days, where alcohol was not allowed within a 25 mile radius of the university.
Attitudes towards smoking did change as it became more accepted nationally, and as for the class of 1947, “You had to send a thing home to get permission to do all kinds of things. And that was one of them,” according to Hallman.
Williams had a different experience, saying, “Well everybody smoked when I was there in our freshman dorm. When we would leave the cafeteria, many times there would be cigarette salesmen out there with little packs of Marlboro cigarettes.”
Hallman cherished the dances of her college days, but noted that there were so few men on or near campus that high school boys across Oakland Ave. at Winthrop Training School, now the Withers Building, were recruited as dates.
“They’d be three or four years younger, but they danced like crazy, and they were just so happy to be there and, you know, and that’s who we danced with. You had nobody else to dance with,” she said.
Williams especially enjoyed the dances and productions students put on throughout the year as well, such as the Junior-Senior, which she described as “wonderful”. She also reminisced about “Classes Night”, a yearly competition where each class would work together to create their own production. “It made people work together, especially when you were freshmen. You found out who your leaders were, you found out the creativity,” Williams said. The class of 1964 repeatedly got second place until finally, for their senior year, they won the competition with a production called “Metamorphosis,” dressing up in elaborate butterfly costumes to depict the biological process.
This metaphor of Metamorphosis lived on, and has become a defining experience of the class of 1964, which they decided to impart in a statue donated for their 50th anniversary in 2014.
Most students see “Metamorphosis” on their walk to class or across campus, as she sits on a bench along Scholar’s Walk, holding an open book with a butterfly coming out of it.
Williams relayed that this statue symbolizes the transformations which have taken place at Winthrop, namely integration and Winthrop’s change to coeducational, and is meant as a tribute to the college’s origin as an all women’s college.
Today, these alumni are back to communal living at Westminster Towers, where they have both stayed for about three years. Hallman found this to be a good fit for her so that she could have less concerns of living and taking care of her house alone after her husband passed, saying, “it’s a good place to be. It is. It’s safe. That’s what I think about. It’s safe. And I have good heat, air conditioning, I don’t have to worry about anything like that.” Williams has found the community suitable for her lifestyle as well, as it encourages her to be more sociable and reduces daily stressors.
