Dean of the College. Dean of Women and Women's Government Association Records
The Dean of the College. Dean of Women and Women's Government Association Records collection contains records relating to many aspects of the academic and social life of women students: student government, residences, campus societies for women students, personnel reporting to the Dean of Women, and general campus activities and issues. Also included are meeting minutes of the executive committee of the Women's Government Association and minutes of the Student Affairs/Student Life Committee.
Biographical and Historical Note
The Dean of Women position was created when Wake Forest College began admitting women undergraduate students in 1942 and existed until 1984. At that time, the positions of Dean of Men and Dean of Women were combined in the Dean of Students position. Lois Johnson was Dean of Women from 1942 until 1962. After a brief period under an acting dean, Lu Leake served in the position from 1964 until its elimination in 1984. The office of the Dean of Women was concerned with all aspects of the academic and social life of female students. The College created the Women's Government Association during the 1945-1946 academic year as a form of student government for women students. The executive committee of the association established and enforced regulations governing women students. Over time, a series of societies for women students were created, comparable to the men's fraternities that existed on campus. Among other duties, the Dean of Women had responsibility for hiring and supervising the women who served as resident heads and residence counselors in the women's residences.
Collection Overview
The Dean of Women position was created when Wake Forest College began admitting women undergraduate students in 1942 and existed until 1984. At that time, the positions of Dean of Men and Dean of Women were combined in the Dean of Students position. This collection contains records of the Dean of Women relating to many aspects of the academic and social life of women students: student government, residences, campus societies for women students, personnel reporting to the Dean of Women, and general campus activities and issues. Also included are meeting minutes of the executive committee of the Women's Government Association and minutes of the Student Affairs/Student Life Committee.
The collection is arranged in seven series, organized by topic except as noted. Series: I. Operations of the dean's office and university matters; II. Societies for women students, Sub-series A. General activities and Sub-series B. Rush, arranged chronologically; III. Minutes of the Student Affairs Committee, renamed the Student Life Committee in 1970, arranged chronologically; IV. Student issues; V. Student residence and dean's office personnel; VI. Student residences; VII. Women's Government Association, Subseries A. Executive committee minutes, arranged chronologically, and Sub-series B. Operations. In VII.A., there are a few cases of duplicate sets of minutes. Also, the occasional penalty letter is appended to executive committee minutes.
Controlled Access Headings
Subjects
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2005
- Revision Description
- Fully re-processed by Robert Blythe, 2026 July 16
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Dean of the College. Dean of Women and Women's Government Association Records (RG 4.3), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.