"There was no such thing as pants in classrooms..." from Diane Labell Feinzig '58
Title
"There was no such thing as pants in classrooms..." from Diane Labell Feinzig '58
Creator
Lesley University
Source
From 20:52 of Diane Labell Feinzig's oral history.
Publisher
Lesley University
Rights
Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright.
Language
English
Type
Sound
Identifier
3.001 Lesley University Archives Oral History Collection, 2008-2010
Interviewer
Alyssa Pacy
Interviewee
Diane Labell Feinzig
Transcription
AP: "Did you have a dress code?"
DLF: "Yes we did. There was no such thing as pants in classrooms, and we had to dress for dinner nightly. On the weekends we could go to the dining room with pants."
20:52
AP: "So it was a really formal environment."
DLF: "Yes it was, but I think most colleges were in those days.
AP: "How did you feel about it?"
DLF: "I didn't give it a second thought. It was part of college."
AP: "And were there ways in which the students tried to negotiate this formality, to push the boundaries of it?"
DLF: "I was not involved with the student government, so I am not sure, but as far as I know, no one questioned it."
AP: "Why do you think that is?"
DLF: "Because people weren't as liberal a they are today, and people weren't as outspoken. Women particularly were not as pushy or as outspoken. At least most people that I was friendly with weren't. It's a whole different mindset today."
AP: "Why do you think that changed?"
DLF: "I think women became more liberal, and their thinking was different, and they were exposed to many more different professions than we were, for example medicine and law. Girls never thought to do that in my day. Teaching and nursing were the fields that women really...other than business, I'm sure."
AP: "So you were really sort of...well when I think about the fifties, you know, you're coming out of the post-war era, so during the war years there was some freedom, just from what I hear from interviewing women who graduated in the forties. You're like right in this time period right before things start to change. It's...it's really interesting."
DLF: "We never had a lot of freedom, in my growing up days I didn't. I mean my parents didn't really shelter me, but it was a different thinking."
AP: "And when you look at what it's like today--"
DLF: "Well I know just from looking at my own daughters how different it is, and how different it was, as they were growing up and when they chose their professions and when they went to school and when they went to college. I mean, it's very different. They are very different people than I was. My older one particularly...I mean a real women's liber(?)--I mean she's a lawyer, she's an assistant US attorney. So she...I mean, she would never let a chance go by where she wouldn't have a question or an answer or to speak up. And I was never one to speak up, I was never...you would have never called me an outgoing person. I think I developed as I grew more outgoing, but it took me a lot of years."
AP: "Did you start to become more outgoing when you came to Lesley?"
DLF: "Through the years."
AP: "Because you certainly have to be outgoing to be a teacher."
DLF: "Yeah, yeah. But I think I even developed while I was teaching to be more outgoing, with the experience. But I was confident in my profession, so that made a big difference. I think that's the important thing, to have confidence in yourself, and as a teacher I did."
22:54
DLF: "Yes we did. There was no such thing as pants in classrooms, and we had to dress for dinner nightly. On the weekends we could go to the dining room with pants."
20:52
AP: "So it was a really formal environment."
DLF: "Yes it was, but I think most colleges were in those days.
AP: "How did you feel about it?"
DLF: "I didn't give it a second thought. It was part of college."
AP: "And were there ways in which the students tried to negotiate this formality, to push the boundaries of it?"
DLF: "I was not involved with the student government, so I am not sure, but as far as I know, no one questioned it."
AP: "Why do you think that is?"
DLF: "Because people weren't as liberal a they are today, and people weren't as outspoken. Women particularly were not as pushy or as outspoken. At least most people that I was friendly with weren't. It's a whole different mindset today."
AP: "Why do you think that changed?"
DLF: "I think women became more liberal, and their thinking was different, and they were exposed to many more different professions than we were, for example medicine and law. Girls never thought to do that in my day. Teaching and nursing were the fields that women really...other than business, I'm sure."
AP: "So you were really sort of...well when I think about the fifties, you know, you're coming out of the post-war era, so during the war years there was some freedom, just from what I hear from interviewing women who graduated in the forties. You're like right in this time period right before things start to change. It's...it's really interesting."
DLF: "We never had a lot of freedom, in my growing up days I didn't. I mean my parents didn't really shelter me, but it was a different thinking."
AP: "And when you look at what it's like today--"
DLF: "Well I know just from looking at my own daughters how different it is, and how different it was, as they were growing up and when they chose their professions and when they went to school and when they went to college. I mean, it's very different. They are very different people than I was. My older one particularly...I mean a real women's liber(?)--I mean she's a lawyer, she's an assistant US attorney. So she...I mean, she would never let a chance go by where she wouldn't have a question or an answer or to speak up. And I was never one to speak up, I was never...you would have never called me an outgoing person. I think I developed as I grew more outgoing, but it took me a lot of years."
AP: "Did you start to become more outgoing when you came to Lesley?"
DLF: "Through the years."
AP: "Because you certainly have to be outgoing to be a teacher."
DLF: "Yeah, yeah. But I think I even developed while I was teaching to be more outgoing, with the experience. But I was confident in my profession, so that made a big difference. I think that's the important thing, to have confidence in yourself, and as a teacher I did."
22:54
URL
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/oral_histories/48/
Citation
Lesley University, “"There was no such thing as pants in classrooms..." from Diane Labell Feinzig '58,” Digital Exhibits | Lesley University Archives, accessed May 9, 2024, https://lesleyarchives.omeka.net/items/show/84.