Throughout that fall, The Crimson was busywriting heated editorials supporting one side orthe other of the isolation/interventioncontroversy.
The News, however, was primarily a campusnewspaper covering events at Radcliffe andHarvard. It came out less frequently than TheCrimson, and our readership was much smaller--ourgraduating class in 1942 numbered 208 women,compared to the 816 men in my husband's 1940 classat Harvard.
In fact, by my senior year I had begun to fearthat my editorship of The News was a somewhatsilly undertaking.
During our subscription drive, a classmatereminded me that she could buy a New York Timesfor the same money. Why should anyone read TheRadcliffe News? One Radcliffe dean told me therewas nothing of "real importance" on our insidepages.
Fifty years later I am sure that these criticswere dead wrong.What is more important to the education of youngpeople than learning to assemble facts and commenthonestly upon them?
A Fledgling Feminism
I am proud that our staff of women wasimplementing the democratic process. After all,when Radcliffe was founded in 1879, women'ssuffrage did not exist.
And I was delighted when a female senior editorat The Crimson telephoned last week to ask me toformulate my reactions to Radcliffe 50 yearslater.
President Comstock spoke wisely in 1941 whenshe said that the intellect and the discipline wewere developing would serve us well in maturity.Many members of our class became part of thewomen's movement in the 1950s and later.
In the words of our Alma Mater: "Radcliffe, nowwe rise to greet thee."