Remarkable Vassar Women You May Never Have Heard Of
Throughout the year—and especially during Women’s History Month—Vassar honors the achievements of women alums and faculty members who have made a difference in the world. Here are a few of the history-making figures we learned about recently. We thought you’d like to know about them, too!
Mary Marvin Breckinridge ’27 — Breckinridge defied expectations to become a pioneering journalist and the only woman among Edward R. Murrow’s distinguished news team during WWII.
Emma Lou Davis ’27 – A painter, sculptor, and anthropologist, Davis was commissioned by the government to create federal art under the New Deal and made significant contributions to archaeology.
Gertrude Buck – The first person to earn a PhD in rhetoric from the University of Michigan, Buck encouraged civil participation. At Vassar, she taught legions of young women public speaking, debate, and performance skills, and her own writing was foundational in the field of feminist rhetoric.
Mary Clabaugh Wright ’38, a historian of modern China who spent two years in an internment camp during Word War II, was the first tenured woman on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University.