You’ve all heard of Frances Perkins (labor activist and first female Cabinet member) and our most famous dropout Emily Dickinson. And who can forget the (fictional) Baby who’s attending MoHo this fall after a summer filled with dirty dancing? Yep, I just got the final song stuck in your head, you're welcome.
I was walking through our library’s Alumna Hall of Fame and realized some of the names sounded familiar BUT I never realized they attended Mount Holyoke College. So I began Googling our alumna and found so many other familiar names and faces.
1. Virginia Apgar- Class of 1929
2. Florence Wald- Class of 1938
After graduating Mount Holyoke, Wald went to Yale School of Nursing (and later became the Dean). She founded the first hospice in the US, Connecticut Hospice in Branford, CT. Even in her 80s, she was advocating for the right of prison inmates to hospice.
3. Dorothy Hansine Andersen-Class of 1922
You may not recognize her name, but she was the first doctor to identify and create a diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis in her career, cut short by cancer.
4. Michelle Hurst- Class of 1974
Most famous for her role as Miss Claudette in the first season of Orange is the New Black, Hurst has acted in a number of TV roles including multiple appearances on Law & Order.
5. Dulcy Singer- Class of 1955
You've seen her name countless times in the closing credits of Sesame Street, the award-winning children's show. Here she is on the left pondering alongside a brooding seated Jim Henson. Singer earned her BA in English at MoHo before becoming the producer of the show from 1982-1995.
6. Lucy Stone- attended in 1839
Going way back to the school's beginnings, she attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before becoming a passionate, vocal advocate for abolition and suffrage. Stone transferred out because Mary Lyon (MoHo's founder) wasn't liberal enough for her views.
7. Shelia Lirio Marcelo- Class of 1993
From a Filpina immigrant family, Marcelo had her first child while pursuing her undergrad in Economics at Mount Holyoke. After attending Harvard for grad school, she founded Care.com, a website that connects working people with caregivers for their parents and children. She is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of our time!
8. Wendy Wasserstein- Class of 1971
A prolific playwright, Wasserstein won the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for her play The Heidi Chronicles in 1989. Her first major produced play was Uncommon Women and Others, based on her years at Mount Holyoke.
9. Suzan-Lori Parks- Class of 1985
In case one Pulitzer Prize winning playwright wasn't fantastic enough, Suzan-Lori Parks won the Pultizer for her play Topdog/Underdog in 2002 becoming the first African-American woman to do so. Her plays are fantastically abstract and deal with race in America. Go read them!
10. Olympia Brown- attended in 1854-55
Brown became the first fully ordained female minister in any denomination. After years of effort, Olympia Brown finally convinced the Unitarian Church to officially ordain her. She was also an American suffragist who worked closely with Susan B. Anthony.
11. Elaine Chao- Class of 1975
Chao was the Secretary of Labor under George W. Bush's Administration. She is the first Asian woman to fill this post and was the only Cabinet member in this administration to serve the full 8 years. Before her political career, Chao was a business exceutive and also directed the Peace Corps.
12. Maryanne Trump Barry- Class of 1958
Barry graduated Mount Holyoke with a BA in politics and later served as a federal judge in New Jersey, after being appointed to the post by Ronald Reagan. As a federal judge she had a tough reputation on crime and a command of her courtroom. Her younger brother, Donald, has achieved notoriety as the current Republican nominee for President.
13. Ella T. Grasso- Class of 1940
Grasso was the first female U.S. governor elected that hadn't been married to a previous governor. She served in many roles in Connecticut politics, but her best known feat as governor was her adept handling of the aftermath of the Blizzard of '78.
What an impressive lineup of women! Go MOHO!!!!
