Glorious Women:

A Tribute to Some of Yale's Luminaries

Jane Matilda Bolin LLB'31, first African American female judge in America, first African American woman to graduate from the Law School
Sylvia Ardyn Boone PHD'79, first African-American woman to receive tenure at Yale
Anne Lloyd Yale Eaton, Wife of the founder of New Haven, grandmother of Elihu Yale
Louise Whitman Farnam PHD'16, MD'20, first woman to graduate from the School of Medicine, physician and professor at the Yale China Association's hospital in Changsha
Anne Coffin Hanson, First woman to be hired as a full professor at Yale, first woman to head a department at Yale
Grace Murray Hopper PHD'34, first woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics at Yale, co-inventor of the COBOL computer language, first woman to achieve rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Naval Reserve
Dorothy M. Horstmann, First woman to be appointed professor at the School of Medicine, virologist whose research enabled the development of the polio vaccine, member of the National Academy of Sciences
Katharine Lustman-Findling, First woman to assume Mastership of a residential college, founder of the Calvin Hill Day Care Center
Anna Pauli Murray DSL'65, co-founder of the National Organization for Women, civil rights lawyer, professor, first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest
Sally A. Provence, Professor in the Child Study Center and the Pediatrics Department at Yale University, pioneer in child development research
Catherine Roraback JD'48, civil rights lawyer
Letty Mandeville Russell, Feminist theologian, Divinity School faculty from 1974-2001
Wendy Wasserstein MFA'76, Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright
Mary Clabaugh Wright, First woman to be tenured in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, noted sinologist

Jane Matilda Bolin LLB'31, first African American female judge in America, first African American woman to graduate from the Law School

In 1939, at the World's Fair in New York City, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia swore inJane Matilda Bolin '31LLB (1908-2007) as the first African American female judge in U.S. history. She was only thirty-one years old when Mayor LaGuardia appointed her to the Domestic Relations Court of the City of New York. It was not Bolin's first first: eight years earlier, she had been the first African American woman to graduate from Yale Law School. Bolin spent nearly 40 years as a judge in Family Court in New York before reaching mandatory retirement age in 1978. After her death in 2007, the New York Times honored her in a lengthy obituary with the following closing statement: "In 1958, speaking on women's rights, she said, 'We have to fight every inch of the way and in the face of sometimes insufferable humiliations.'"

Sylvia Ardyn Boone PHD'79, first African-American woman to receive tenure at Yale

Sylvia Ardyn Boone PHD '79 (1941-1993) was the first African American woman to receive tenure at Yale. She became an assistant professor of the history of art in 1979; associate professor in 1985 and received tenure in 1988. Her field was African art and women artists.

Anne Lloyd Yale Eaton, Wife of the founder of New Haven, grandmother of Elihu Yale

Anne Lloyd Yale Eaton was the wife of the founder of New Haven, Theophilus Eaton, and the grandmother of Elihu Yale. Were it not for Anne's role in the founding of New Haven, it is unlikely that Elihu would ever have been moved to leave money and his library for a new college. Anne was born at the end of the Elizabethanera and was the daughter of the Bishop of the great Cathedral in Chester near Wales. Anne's first husband wasThomas Yale, the son of the Bishops Chancellor. Thomas diedafter only a few years,leaving three children, the eldest David,who wasthe father of Elihu. Anne, a few years later, married the rich merchant Theophilus Eaton, and moved with her Yale family toLondon. Anne's Yale children came with her and Eaton--joint founder of the Massachusetts Bay Co.--on their pilgrim voyage, first to Boston, and then to Connecticut, where they founded New Haven. David's son Elihu knew his grandmother and probably traveled back with her to England when she finally returned after the death of Eaton. Anne was a strong-minded woman, in a way New Haven's Anne Hutchinson. For her divergent views on Baptism, and her open rebellion against Davenport's teaching,she was banished early, and dramatically, from John Davenport's church (and therefore from the community) after ameticulously documented trial. But for her relationship with Eaton shecertainly would have been banished from the town. Instead, she was put undervirtual house arrest for eleven years. Her life can be pieced together from the early records of the colony,beginning withthe Jacobeanelegance of the Eaton house on Elm Street, of which there remains the most complete inventory of any 16th c. house in New England, to the trials she suffered as an immigrant to this raw and inhospitable "utopian"settlement.

It is clear that without Anne there would be no "Yale." It is time Yale recognizes this courageous woman--whose children (one of whom the wife of Edward Hopkins, another of whom harbored the Regicides) and grandchildren went on to influence the evolution of our city and University--for her part in the history of Yale.

Louise Whitman Farnam PHD'16, MD'20, first woman to graduate from the School of Medicine, physician and professor at the Yale China Association's hospital in Changsha

After receiving a doctorate in nutritional science, Louise Farnam, Yale Ph.D. 1916, Yale School of Medicine 1920, became the first woman to graduate from the Yale Medical School. She worked as a physician and professor of medicine and nursing at the Yale China Association's hospital in Changsha through the tumultuous period of civil war in the 1920s, endangering her life on several occasions to keep the Yale Hospital in operation. The English government awarded her a commendation for her valued medical services in England during World War II.

Anne Coffin Hanson, First woman to be hired as a full professor at Yale, first woman to head a department at Yale

Anne Coffin Hanson, John Hay Whitney Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, was the first woman to be hired as a full professor at Yale. Joining the Yale faculty in 1970, she was appointed chairman -- the title she preferred -- of the Department of the History of Art in 1974, making her the first woman to head a department at Yale. She was named as the John Hay Whitney Professor in the History of Art in 1978. Professor Hanson was acting director of the Yale University Art Gallery from September of 1985 to January of 1987. She retired in 1992, returning in 1995 as acting curator of European and contemporary art. Professor Hanson was a mentor to scores of art history students, particularly women, guiding them into influential positions in museums and universities throughout the country.

Grace Murray Hopper PHD'34, first woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics at Yale, co-inventor of the COBOL computer language, first woman to achieve rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Naval Reserve

Grace M. Hopper, Ph.D. 1934 (December 9, 1906- January 1, 1992) was the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics at Yale. She was a pioneer in computer programming, co-inventor of the COBOL computer language, and a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy Reserve, the first woman to rise to that rank. Hopper retired from the Navy at age 80. coined the computer term "bug" when she found an actual bug (a moth) causing an error in an early computer, and sponsored the development of COBOL, believing that programming languages should be simple, not in code. She is famous for saying, "It is much easier to apologize than to get permission."

According to her biography, "Her favorite group to address was young people around the ages of 17 and 20. She believed they were fearless and that they question more than older people."

Dorothy M. Horstmann, First woman to be appointed professor at the School of Medicine, virologist whose research enabled the development of the polio vaccine, member of the National Academy of Sciences

Dr. Dorothy M. Horstmann, an epidemiologist, virologist, and polio pioneer, was the first woman appointed as a professor at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Horstmann made significant scientific, educational and public health contributions, and her major scientific achievement was showing that the polio virus reached the brain by way of the blood, a finding that upset dogma and helped make polio vaccines possible. In 1961 she received her professorship at Yale, and in 1969 she became the first woman to receive an endowed chair there. It was in epidemiology and pediatrics and named for her mentor, Dr. John R. Paul. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and was the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Katharine Lustman-Findling, First woman to assume Mastership of a residential college, founder of the Calvin Hill Day Care Center

Katharine "Kitty" Lustman-Findling was the first woman to assume the Mastership of a College at Yale University.Lustman-Findling was an early childhood educator who taught at the Yale Child Study Center and later directed its nursery school. In 1970, Lustman-Findling, a group of Yale undergraduates and others founded the Calvin Hill Day Care Center. The center's kindergarten was named in her honor in 1983. In 1971, following the death of her husband, Dr. Seymour Lustman, she was asked to assume the mastership of Davenport College (her husband had been appointed master shortly before his death). Lustman-Findling served in that role for two years, during which time she helped guide and mentor the first class of women undergraduates at the University. She also served on many committees regarding minorities and diversity at Yale.

Anna Pauli Murray DSL'65, co-founder of the National Organization for Women, civil rights lawyer, professor, first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest

Pauli Murray '65DSL (1910-1985) graduated with honors from Hunter College in New York, but was denied admission to law school at the University of North Carolina in 1938 because of her race, and to Harvard University because of her gender. These and other experiences spurred her to a life of activism, working to dismantle barriers of race and gender. From sit-ins to integrate Washington, D.C., lunch counters in the 1940s, through her efforts as a founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in the early 1970s, Murray had a remarkable career as a civil rights lawyer, professor, poet, college vice president, and deputy attorney general of California, and, late in life, was the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1977. She published numerous legal articles that dealt with the confluence of race, sex, and class; her arguments (conceived in law school) about racial discrimination ultimately figured in the Brown v. Board decision; and she was responsible for writing the constitution of Ghana in the late 1960s. In addition to her earned doctorate from Yale Law School (1965 DSL, thesis title: "The Roots of the Racial Crisis: Prologue to Policy"), Yale awarded her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1979. She is the author of Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family (1956), she compiled a massive reference work on state race laws, and published a prize-winning volume of poetry, Dark Testament and Other Poems (1970). Her autobiographical Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage (1987) was published two years after her death.

Sally A. Provence, Professor in the Child Study Center and the Pediatrics Department at Yale University, pioneer in child development research

Sally Provence was an inspiring teacher, mentor, and clinician who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of children. She was also a mentor to Hillary Clinton, who participated in her seminar while a student at the law school. Clinton's commitment to advocacy for children has been greatly influenced by the work of Dr. Provence. Dr. Provence, professor in the Child Study Center and the Pediatrics Department at Yale University, was director of the center's Child Development Unit for 35 years. She retired in 1986. A pioneer in child development, both as a teacher and researcher, she documented young children's suffering and recovery from deprivation and trauma. A founder and past president of the National Center for Clinical Infant Programs, she received many honors, including the C. Anderson Aldrich Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Among her many publications, she is best known for her book Working with Disadvantaged Parents and Their Children (Yale University Press, 1983).

Catherine Roraback JD'48, civil rights lawyer

Catherine Roraback, the only woman in Yale Law School class of 1948, was an influential civil rights attorney. Roraback pressed the Connecticut case that eventually led the United States Supreme Court to rule that laws banning the use of contraceptives were unconstitutional, a precursor to its Roe v. Wade decision on abortions. In the early 1960s, Roraback represented Estelle Griswold, then the executive director of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut, and Dr. Charles Buxton, the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University's School of Medicine, as their case rose through the state courts. Roraback was the lead lawyer in several other controversial cases in her 50-year career, including the 1971 trial of the Black Panther leader Bobby Seale in the killing of another party member.

Letty Mandeville Russell, Feminist theologian, Divinity School faculty from 1974-2001

Feminist theologian Letty Mandeville Russell was a leader for many years in the ecumenicalmovement and had remained active in ecumenical circles until her death, working for the World Council of Churches and the World YWCA.

She was one of the first women ordained in the United Presbyterian Church and served the East Harlem Protestant Parish in New York City 1952-1968, including 10 years as pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Ascension. She served on the Yale Divinity School faculty from 1974-2001. In retirement, she continued to teach some courses at the school.

In an introduction to a festschrift published in Russell's honor in 1999, fellow Divinity School theologians Margaret Farley and Serene Jones called Russell's influence on contemporary theology "monumental" and wrote of her "uncanny ability to articulate a vision of the church that is radical in its feminist-liberationist critique but that nonetheless remains anchored in the historic traditions and communities of the Christian church."

Wendy Wasserstein MFA'76, Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright

Wendy Wasserstein, M.F.A. 1976 (Drama) (October 18, 1950 - January 30, 2006), noted playwright, winner of the Tony and Pulitzer Prizes. Upon her death the artistic director of Lincoln Center Theatre remarked, "She was known for being a popular, funny playwright, but she was also a woman and a writer of deep conviction and political activism. In Wendy's plays women saw themselves portrayed in a way they hadn't been onstage before — wittily, intelligently and seriously at the same time. We take that for granted now, but it was not the case 25 years ago. She was a real pioneer." Her best-known plays include The Heidi Chronicles and Uncommon Women and Others.

Mary Clabaugh Wright, First woman to be tenured in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, noted sinologist

Mary Clabaugh Wright (1917-1970), Professor of History, was the first tenured woman arts and sciences faculty member at Yale.Wright served as director of the Chinese Studies program and considered a leader among American sinologists who studied the Nationalist Revolution.