Oral History with Halcy Bohen and Mary Procter

Beginning in the fall of 1969, Halcy Bohen, assistant dean of students at Princeton University, and Mary Procter, assistant to the provost at Princeton University, worked together to welcome the first class of 171 undergraduate women to campus. In this joint interview, Halcy and Mary discuss the climate at Princeton during that period and their collaboration on accommodations for women, with a particular emphasis on the founding of a full-time childcare center known as UNOW. During her time working in Nassau Hall, Mary was simultaneously completing a graduate degree at what is now called the School of Public and International Affairs and was an outspoken advocate for women at Princeton and an active member of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Often referred to as the dean of women, Halcy served in the administration until 1977 and was an essential resource, effecting important changes in residential and academic life for all Princeton students. Together with Patricia Graham, Bohen and Procter formed a triumvirate of women in the university’s administration who led Princeton’s gradual transition to coeducation.