Of all the historic Seven Sister Colleges, only five remain single-sex, including Bryn Mawr College, its gothic campus nestled in an opulent Philadelphia suburb. Founded in 1885 as a Quaker institution, the prestigious institution quickly became known for its support of the LGBTQ community under the leadership of its second President, M. Carey Thomas, who held the reigns from 1894-1922.
.
A staunch feminist long before it was in vogue, Thomas was a leading member of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association and an early proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment – which still has not passed the US Senate. More than a century ago, Thomas thumbed her nose at convention, openly maintaining a relationship with Mamie Gwinn, who lived with her on campus at a time when same-sex marriage was illegal. “Only our failures marry,” Thomas famously quipped in a speech to Bryn Mawr graduates.
.
But Thomas, like so many suffragettes, used her power to advance the cause of white supremacy. In 1916, Thomas gave a speech to the freshman class so that her position on the matter was clear: “If the present intellectual supremacy of the white race is maintained, as I hope that it will be for centuries to come, I believe it will be because they are the only race that has seriously begun to educate their women.”
.
.
