LibraryGeorge J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Prior to the first admission of women to the student body in the early 1970s, twenty-three women received honorary degrees from Bowdoin College. Many, including Sarah Orne Jewett, had connections to the College through male relatives. Others, such as Margaret Chase Smith, were prominent Mainers. Still others played a major role on the campus. All were honored for their contributions to Bowdoin, to academia, and to society.

1968
Marguerite Yourcenar, Litt.D.

Author of Memoires d'Hadrien and Nouvelles Orientales

1965
Katharine Elizabeth O'Brien, L.H.D.

Mathematics teacher - Deering High School, Portland

1964
Dorothy Dennis Marsh, A.M.

Public service in numerous capacities, Washington, DC

1963
Mary Louise Curtis Zimbalist, L.H.D.

Philanthropist and founder - Curtis Music Institute

1962
Agnes Mosher Shumway, A.M.

Public and charitable services, Los Angeles

1961
Abbie Houston Evans, LL.D.

Poet, author of Outcrop and The Bright North

1960
Doris Pike White, L.H.D.

President of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1958-61

1959
Phyllis Carolyn Weston, M.S.

Mathematics teacher - Skowhegan High School

1957
Helen Whitney Gibson, L.H.D.

American Red Cross worker in World War II

1952
Edith Lansing K. Sills, LL.D.

Wife of President Sills

Margaret Chase Smith, LL.D.

U.S. Senator from Maine

1951
Dorothy Hayes-Stickney Lindsay, A.M.

Actress

1949
Marie Peary Stafford Kuhne, A.M.

Explorer and author of Snowland Folk

1948
Hilda Libby Ives, D.D.

Clergy and teacher - Andover Newton Theological School

1942
Evelina Pierce, A.M.

Headmistress - Master's School, Dobbs Ferry, NY

1935
Anna Elizabeth Smith, A.M.

Curator of Bowdoin's art collection, 1914-35

1933
Mary Ellen Chase, Litt.D.

Author of A Goodly Heritage

Katharine Curtis Pierce, A.M.

President of the Society of Bowdoin Women

1931
Margaret Deland, Litt.D.

Author of Old Chester Tales and Dr. Lavendar's People

1925
Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, A.M.

Dominican nun, founder of the Home for Incurable Cancer

Alice Mary Longfellow, A.M.

Daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1921
Heloise Edwina Hersey, A.M.

Principal - Miss Hersey's School for Girls

1911
Annie Crosby Emery Allinson, Litt.D.

Dean - Pembroke Academy

Ida Josephine Everett, A.M.

Dean - Wheaton College

1910
Lydia Moulton Chadwick, A.M.

Teacher - Thornton Academy

1904
Kate Douglas Wiggin, Litt.D.

Author of Penelope's Progress and other children's stories

1901
Sarah Orne Jewett, Litt.D.

Author of The Country of the Pointed Firs and A Country Doctor

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