This is in part due to the fact that those whoentered Harvard in '45 or '46 never lived in Yardas all other first-year students did. Instead,because of the Navy officers still on campus, theymoved directly into their Houses. The four yearsspent together, instead of only three, helpedfoster House spirit.

Additionally, as the enrollment numbers beganto drop post-war, the already overcrowded dormsbegan to open a little and allow the students whohad been commuting to live on campus with theirclassmates.

Radcliffe Postwar

The shadow of WWII also touched the women ofRadcliffe. If nothing else, some graduatesremember with a smile, the gender ratio on campuswas very much in favor of the "'Cliffe dwellers,"as they were often called.

The hordes of returning veterans meant thatthere were "six men for every woman."

"You could have dates for breakfast, lunch,tea, drinks, dinner and a dance with someonedifferent each time," recalls Anne T. Wallach '49.

Young women who had grown up in the restrictive1930s were freed from their mothers' watchful eyesand were able to enjoy an active social life inCambridge.

Yet Radcliffe was not free from rules either.

"We had to be in at the right time at night,"Wallach remembers. "[We] couldn't wear pantsunless it was very cold, couldn't smoke in thestreet."

Radcliffe women often took their higher levelclasses at Harvard where they were given "the bestseats in large lectures."

Officials announced in February 1946 that the"joint instruction" begun during the war when malestudents were scarce would be a permanent part ofa Harvard education.

Access to the newly built Lamont library,however, was not available to women when thelibrary opened in January 1949. According toofficials, the staff needed to chaperone a mixedgroup of students in reading rooms wasprohibitively expensive.

Student publications also made it clear thatHarvard men and Radcliffe women were separate andonly dubiously equal.

In the fall of '49, the Crimson ran a pictureon the front page of four "Cliffies" with anextended caption about the physical measurementsof Radcliffe women.

But women's liberation was still decades away,and members of the Radcliffe Class of '49overwhelmingly say they enjoyed theirundergraduate years.