Ever wonder what puts the “W” in UW?
Why women of course.
We’re celebrating UW Women at 150.
Imagine Wisconsin 150 years ago.
It was 1863, the height of 
the American Civil War.
The fledgling University of Wisconsin
had lost much of its male 
population to the battlefield.
The times were right 
to admit women.
Such a good start, except …
women were later put into 
separate classes in the “Female College.”
By 1869, the first group of 
trailblazers was ready to graduate.
We know they became a lawyer, 
a high school principal, and
a prominent suffragist who 
worked with Susan B. Anthony.
But before Commencement, 
there was a hold up.
President Chadbourne scoffed
at the idea of conferring 
“bachelor’s” degrees to women.
Did you ever wonder why 
it’s called a “bachelor’s” degree in the first place?
Fortunately the Board of Regents 
decided that women
should receive the same degree as men.
They also decided to “honor” 
President Chadbourne…
by naming a building after him!
The first all-women dormitory, 
Chadbourne Hall.
Women officially received full 
co-educational status in 1874,
and began taking classes with men.
They started working in biology labs, 
and studying geology.
At last, women had their chance 
to delve into science.
One of our alumnae became the first 
woman geologist in the United States.
Florence Bascom, daughter of former 
UW President John Bascom.
The work of another alumna, 
bacteriologist Alice Evans,
led to one of the most important advances 
in public health in the 20th century –
pasteurized milk.
At the UW, women in science were here to stay.
The first known African American woman 
graduated from the UW in 1918.
Mabel Watson Raimey was fired 
from her first job as a teacher because she was black.
She went on to become 
the state’s first female African-American lawyer.
Soon other UW women followed in her footsteps.
Women like Vel Phillips, 
the first African American woman 
to graduate from the UW Law School
and the first woman and African American 
to be elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council.
Phillips championed fair housing and civil rights
and went on to become 
Milwaukee’s first female judge
and Wisconsin’s first African American judge.
We named a residence hall after her.
In every aspect of the collegiate experience, 
UW women excelled.
They proved their strength in Physical Education.
And showed their aptitude for 3D design.
Women participated in sports like 
basketball as early as 1900.
All across campus, 
women pursued their passions.
They didn’t hold back on having fun.
And still don’t.
But UW women also took life seriously.
In the Army Nurse Corps, 
during World War II,
Signe Skott Cooper 
saw that nurses
were much more than 
“physician’s handmaidens.”
She devoted 60 years to 
nursing education at UW,
and supported a 21st century 
vision for the School of Nursing.
The theater was the stage for 
a different battle – civil rights.
Alumna Lorraine Hansberry’s 
award-winning drama,“A Raisin in the Sun,”
became the first play by an African American woman 
to be produced on Broadway.
In the arts, UW women transformed modern dance.
Margaret D’Houbler founded the 
first academic dance department in the nation.
Zona Gale was the first woman 
to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Gerda Lerner founded the nation’s first 
graduate program in women’s history.
Ada Deer was the first woman to 
lead a tribal nation 
and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The first female drum major in the Big Ten
was UW’s Dee Willems.
The first woman and youngest person 
to head a Big Ten university police force…
…Sue Riseling.
The first female chancellor in the Big Ten?
UW-Madison’s Donna Shalala.
Biddy Martin was 
UW’s second female chancellor,
and now, me.
There are so many more 
firsts for UW women!
And, when it comes to 
national championship teams?
Badger women win!!
Looking back,
we realize how far UW women 
have come in 150 years.
Where will you go next?
Forward!
And On Wisconsin!
.
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