Dedication: To all the women of the University of California Berkeley who have made it what it is today, but particularly to the many who have often gone unnoticed, unappreciated, and undocumented, this project serves to illuminate your achievements.
The entrance to the Women's Faculty Club, created in the 1920s by the growing number of women faculty and staff on campus forbidden to set foot in the all male "Faculty Club" until 1972, the only campus place to eat. More than any other artifact it represents the spirit of Berkeley women who, when excluded, reshaped the Berkeley environment to serve their needs.
Image description: The exterior of the Women's Faculty Club at UC Berkeley, featuring a historic dark wood-shingled building with white-trimmed windows and a prominent white balcony over the entrance. In the foreground, a blooming pink cherry blossom tree and purple rosemary bushes frame the building under a clear blue sky.
About the Collection
Since 1870, when women were first admitted to the University "on equal terms in all respects with young men," their presence has been a catalyst for institutional change. Today, we are highlighting an expansive digital collection - The History of Women at UC Berkeley - that documents their journeys.
Bringing together core materials from the 150W Project alongside new essays, oral histories, department and personal histories, and more, the collection offers a coherent yet evolving portrait of the women who have shaped Berkeley. The collection is managed by CSHE Senior Researcher Anne MacLachlan, and covers every population of women who have ever participated in life on the Berkeley campus —faculty, staff, students, and administrators. With close to 200 entries, the collection serves as the most comprehensive account of the female experience in our university’s history.
This is an open-ended collection and actively solicits new material to fill the many gaps in its coverage. If you have material you would like included, please send it to Anne MacLachlan (maclach@berkeley.edu) for possible inclusion.
Editor
Anne MacLachlan
Senior Researcher & Visiting Scholar Program Coordinator, CSHE