From highlighting some of Illinois State University’s earliest female graduates to showcasing early organizations formed by women on campus, historian Tom Emery explores this month in Illinois State University history.

March 8

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the achievements of women worldwide. In past decades, women had few of the opportunities of today and had to overcome a variety of gender and social restrictions.

In Illinois in 1900, only 16.3% of women were employed, with the exception of housekeepers. They were clustered in a handful of occupations, including teaching, which was 74% female.

Since the original mission of Illinois State was the training of teachers, the University provided one of the few career opportunities for women. In a time when far fewer women were able to attend college, Illinois State and other “normal” schools were particularly important. The life experiences of the early women who graduated from ISU are an inspiration.

Women made up a high percentage of many early graduating classes at Illinois State. Four of the 10 graduates in the class of 1860, the first in university history, were female, as were 10 of the 15 graduates in 1866. Female graduates composed 14 of 19 in 1868 and 20 of 34 in 1872. In the final graduating class of the century in 1899, 48 of the 85 graduates were women. 

Unfortunately, many of those women had to give up their careers when they married. In the original class in 1860, Sarah Dunn taught for only four years before her marriage, while Elizabeth Mitchell was a teacher for only four and a half years.

Even women who taught for long periods were often subjected to the gender norms of the time. Fannie Cole, who graduated from ISU in 1870, spent two years teaching “good manners and the etiquette of occasions” at various schools.

Still, many of those women managed to overcome. Rachel Hickey, class of 1872, followed a successful teaching career by becoming a physician and surgeon in Chicago. Along the way, she spent 23 years as a professor of histology and operative surgery in the Woman’s Medical College of Northwestern University, and was also an instructor of surgery at the University of Illinois.

Many alumnae of Illinois State became distinguished writers. Among them were Lida Brown, class of 1874, who combined a decades-long teaching career with great writing ability, publishing several books that included Classic Stories for Little Ones, Songs of Mother and Child, and Nature Study for Primary Grades.

Adelaide Rutherford, class of 1870, not only taught, but studied at the University of Michigan and published numerous magazine articles on a variety of subjects. Emma Robinson, class of 1868, published multiple works, including Women of the Mayflower.

Many took their talents around the nation. Eugenia Faulkner, class of 1878, spent most of her career in Kansas, including 10 years as a matron at the Kansas School for the Blind. From the class of 1869, Lizzie Alden was a teacher and principal in Kansas, as well as a primary teacher in present-day Oklahoma.

Julia Kennedy, class of 1871, eventually became superintendent of schools in Seattle, then was a school principal in Douglas, Alaska.  A classmate from 1871, Frances Moroney, taught for 19 years in the Minneapolis area. Harriet Dunn, class of 1864, enjoyed a long tenure as secretary of the faculty at present-day UCLA.

Female graduates from the class of 1899 not only taught from one end of Illinois to the other, but also in California, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

Some took their ISU training around the globe, including Barbara Denning, class of 1870, who was a missionary teacher in Argentina for 16 years. Dorothea Beggs, class of 1898, eventually taught German at Iowa State and the University of Denver after studying in Germany for years.

Without question, the early female graduates of ISU experienced the sexism, oppression, and condescension of the era, which made their road to success even more difficult. Their perseverance, ambition, and will, however, won out, and their remarkable accomplishments are part of the legacy of Illinois State.

March 20

On this date in 1838, Harriett Fyffe, a member of the Illinois State class of 1866 and one of the earliest registered female pharmacists in Illinois history, was born.

After several years of teaching, Fyffe took over the family drugstore in Magnolia, in Putnam County north of Peoria. Prior to that, she had left an indelible imprint on the local school system.

Born on March 20, 1838, in Putnam County, Fyffe was part of the seventh graduating class in Illinois State University history. She held teaching positions in Menard County and McLean County for two years each before returning home in 1870 to Magnolia, where she served as principal.

There, she worked strenuously to designate the high school as “graded,” or much like the system of today, where classes are divided by year and age. The first class graduated from Magnolia High School in 1875.

Meanwhile, Fyffe dove into politics, another place where few women were found. In 1873, she unsuccessfully ran for Putnam County school superintendent.

However, Fyffe’s life was about to take a major turn. Her father, in the words of local accounts, “was stricken with blindness,” threatening the family pharmacy.

The tragedy spurred Fyffe to action. She enrolled at the Chicago Pharmacy School with the intent of running the family business herself. Fyffe passed the examination and became a licensed pharmacist.

It was a rare achievement at the time. One account accurately states that women in pharmacy were “a thing almost unheard of in those days.”

At least two sources report that Fyffe was the first female registered pharmacist in Illinois and the second in the nation. Those claims are debatable, but Fyffe was certainly well ahead of her time.

She spent 12 years with the family drugstore in Magnolia, working with little fanfare. Even ground-breaking women like Harriett Fyffe were rarely celebrated in the mainstream in her day.

Sometime in the 1880s, Fyffe moved with her sister, Beatrice, and brother-in-law to Hastings, Nebraska, a booming railroad town. Apparently, Harriett also managed a drugstore in Hastings, likely with her brother-in-law.

Back in Putnam County, she remained a revered figure. The festivities at a Fourth of July celebration in Magnolia in 1906 included the public reading of a letter from Fyffe.

From June 8-11, 1907, her alma mater, Illinois State, held a 50th anniversary gala. It was just a few days from Harriett’s death, as she passed away that June 17 at Beatrice’s home in Fairfield, Iowa. She is buried there, in Evergreen Cemetery.

An obituary summarized her legacy in writing “many will be saddened by her death, as they were made better and happier by her life.”

March 20

On this date in 1980, the record-breaking career of Margie Wright, Illinois State class of 1974, one of the foremost collegiate softball coaches in the nation, began.

Her first game was a 6-0 Illinois State victory over New Mexico at the Sooner Invitational at the University of Oklahoma on March 20, 1980.

It was only the first of hundreds of victories for Wright, a native of Warrensburg, who had been a star pitcher for Illinois State in the days before NCAA postseason play. Illinois State advanced to the semifinals of the 1972 AIAW Women’s College World Series and was the runner-up in 1973. A three-sport athlete at ISU, Wright earned four letters each in basketball and softball, as well as three in field hockey.

Wright later pitched professionally for three seasons in St. Louis, and competed for 30 years in the Major Fastpitch Women’s Division of the American Softball Association. Her coaching career began in 1975 with three seasons as the head softball coach at Metamora Township High School, near Peoria. Wright was an assistant softball coach at Eastern Illinois in 1978 and 1979.

In 1980, Wright returned to Illinois State as head softball coach. It was just the third season of varsity play at ISU, but Wright quickly established the Redbirds as a regional power.

In her first year, Illinois State finished 28-9-1 with an overpowering pitching staff that finished with a miniscule 0.67 ERA. The Redbirds captured the first of three-consecutive state AIAW titles that season.

Wright followed up in 1981 by leading Illinois State to a 40-10 mark, including a 14-game win streak at midseason. Her 1984 Redbird squad captured the program’s first-ever Gateway Conference title and set the school’s all-time lowest ERA for a season, a 0.66 mark that edged out the 1980 record.

Some of the Illinois State pitching stars of the Wright era included Maxine McGloughlin, Linda Wendt, Lynn Thompson, Trish Loftus, Ronnie Kraemer, and Kay Robbins, all of whom rank high on the school’s individual record lists.

Illinois State repeated as conference champions in 1985 with a team ERA of 0.74, the fourth-lowest in school history. It was Wright’s final season as head coach in Normal. In her six years, Illinois State fashioned a 163-92-2 record. Melinda Fischer took over as Illinois State’s head coach, a position she held for 37 seasons while compiling 1,159 wins and becoming the winningest coach in Illinois State and Missouri Valley Conference history.

In 1986, Wright was named head softball coach at Fresno State, where she remained for 27 seasons. During that time, she became the first softball coach to reach the 1,000-win mark and directed the Bulldogs to 25 NCAA postseason appearances, with 17 conference titles.

Wright stepped down after the 2012 season with a career record of 1,457-542-3. She was the all-time leader in softball coaching victories until April 2, 2016, when she was passed by Michigan’s Carol Hutchins. Wright is now fourth on the all-time list.

In addition, Wright also made her mark on the international level. She was an assistant coach on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Two years later, she was the head coach of the U.S. national team that captured the 1998 world championship, just weeks after leading Fresno State to the NCAA title.

In 1979, Wright was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame. Remarkably, it is just one of 12 halls of fame of which she is a member.

March 25

On this date in 1936, the Vidette published a four-page supplement on women’s activities on the Illinois State campus, starting a tradition at the paper.

Though women at Illinois State, and elsewhere, still had a long way to go, that edition in 1936 reflects the growing acceptance, activism, and respect for women on the campus—though in some cases, it was grudging.

One of the most significant events of 1936 was the first Women’s Day on campus. It became a signature of the Women’s League at Illinois State, founded in 1925.

That first Women’s Day in 1936 highlighted the activities of female students on campus. The Vidette described “an assembly program, consisting exclusively of entertainment provided by representatives of various women’s organizations on the campus.”

Though there weren’t as many things for women to do at ISU in that era, the clubs with female membership were among the most dedicated, and active, on campus.

They included the Home Economics Club, designed to “promote professional interest, develop student and faculty relationships, and promote relations between the Home Economics department and other departments and organizations on the campus.” The previous year, the club had founded the annual High School Home Economics Day, which invited high school groups on that subject to ISU.

There was also the Women’s Glee Club, which performed regularly on campus as well as throughout the Bloomington-Normal community. The group also performed every other Tuesday on WJBC radio, and toured area towns like Watseka, Fairbury, and Gilman. A total of 65 girls were members in 1936.

Elsewhere on campus, the Women’s Physical Education Club was composed of all female health or physical education majors and minors. That group sponsored an alumni breakfast at Homecoming, a “kid” party, Christmas party, and various potlucks.

One of the more unusual groups was the ISU chapter of Orchesis, founded in 1927 as a part of “a national honorary dancing organization for all college girls interested in interpretive dancing.” Certainly, it reflected gender norms of the time. Membership was open to any female who “has attended junior Orchesis, and who has passed a test of dancing fundamentals and composition.”

The women’s dormitory on campus, Fell Hall, was consistently one of the most active on campus, with an array of social activities. That’s because, as the Vidette reported in the women’s issue, the residents include “twenty-one upperclassmen who are chosen for their scholarship, high personal ideals, and leadership.” Freshmen and transfer students also lived there, though the Vidette chose not to reveal their personal strengths.

Other activities for women at Illinois State in 1936 included the Women’s Debate Club, the Honor Council, the Women’s Athletic Association, and the College League of Women Voters. Illinois State also began hosting ‘sports days’ for women in the 1930s. Schools from around the state were invited to compete in soccer and field hockey.

By 1941, they were joined by the Intermediate Teachers’ Club, the Kindergarten Club, Women’s University Chorus, Women’s Treble Chorus, Kappa Delta Epsilon, and the YWCA. It was only a start, but the women of Illinois State were clearly breaking through.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher who, in collaboration with Carl Kasten ’66, co-authored the 2020 book Abraham Lincoln and the Heritage of Illinois State University.