Eric Dash: Celebrating the legacy of women at Penn

Edna Green was as ambitious and talented as any of her fellow biology majors. Since the sixth grade, she had been absolutely fascinated with science. She studied hard, and like many of her classmates at Penn, Edna hoped one day to become a doctor.

But this was the late 1930s. And while the University may have been a progressive institution among its peers, it was nonetheless a reflection of a society that, in Edna's words, still treated women as second-class citizens. Though women in the sciences were tolerated, Penn faculty weren't exactly rolling out the welcome mats.

So when Edna entered the room on the first day of a science course, the professor reserved a special greeting for the lone female in his section. "I don't want you in my class," he told her, so matter-of-factly that the words still resonate.

"But professor," Edna pleaded, "I need it for a requirement."

The professor then paused before announcing that he had made up his mind. "You can stay," he scoffed. "But if you do, I'll make your life miserable."

For the rest of the semester, he made snide remarks to her face. He embarrassed her at the blackboard. He made her blush with dirty jokes until "she wished the floor would disappear."

Edna, however, remained in her seat.

In a way, it was a rather bold act of defiance. To the professor's chagrin, Edna finished the course and eventually graduated with a degree in biology. And while she decided not to go to medical school, she went on to have a distinguished career in the sciences.

Edna received a fellowship to study microbiology at the University, and later earned a master's degree in education from Penn in 1962. She was among the first female science teachers in the Philadelphia schools, and the first female department head in the district. And if you didn't use the textbook Edna authored in your high school biology class, you may have stumbled across the article on the "Biological Science" she wrote for the Encyclopedia Britannica.

I first heard Edna's story two years ago, when I interviewed her for a DP article about the Senior Associates -- a program sponsored by the College of General Studies that allows retired senior citizens from the Philadelphia area to audit popular Penn courses.

At the time, what impressed me was not so much that Edna enjoyed listening to the eloquent lectures of Penn's esteemed faculty. It was how much she appreciated being able to learn alongside those "bright Penn students" young enough to be her grandchildren.

"You've got to live in the modern world," she told me. "If you stop learning, you stop living."

Learning is still keeping Edna alive and well these days. She comes to Penn twice a week for history class and fills the remainder of her days on campus, like many current students, reading and responding to e-mails. (She's the unofficial webmaster of a Penn senior citizens group Web site.)

And with each appearance on campus, Edna is reminded of just how far Penn women have come since her own undergraduate days.

She'll says there are now a lot more young women on campus, with females comprising roughly half the student body -- including 46 percent of all pre-meds. She'll point out their skirts are shorter and outfits more revealing than the ones she used to wear. But most of all, Edna will tell you, she notices just how lucky female students are today.

"I think it is wonderful that girls have opportunities that they never had before."

Over the next few days, you'll hear plenty about the opportunities and accomplishments of extraordinary Penn alumnae, as the University celebrates the 125th anniversary of women at Penn. But for every story about Judith Rodin, Candice Bergen or Andrea Mitchell, there are dozens that you likely won't hear -- tales of alumnae like Edna Green, whose contributions may be less well-known but are no less significant. Their experiences are just as vital to the experience of women at Penn. Their stories must be woven into the fabric of its history.

Edna Green will be at Houston Hall on Friday. But if you want to hear the rest of her story, you'll just have to ask. Edna, of course, won't be speaking from behind the podium. Like so many other Penn alumnae with stories to tell, she'll be hard at work as a devoted volunteer.

Eric Dash is a senior Management and American History major from Pittsburgh, Pa.

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