Women Make Waves

The war yielded some positive outcomes for female students. Many gained leadership positions on campus that had previously been closed to them, including editorship of the Badger yearbook. Twelve agriculture students established the first Women’s Agriculture Society in the United States, and female medical students organized a Medics Club. More women entered journalism, advertising, law, and medicine. Women were trained as telegraphers and led wartime funding drives. They also took part in a “War School for Wisconsin Women” to study methods for dealing with epidemics and the conservation of food and fuel. Female students didn’t necessarily step aside for returning males, either: once women were in, these positions would never again be closed to women.

Published in the Spring 2017 issue