By Lauren Gaines (LA ’20, PA*23)
Innovators. Reformers. Pathfinders. Over the last 130 years, the Newcomb Alumnae Association (NAA) has been a hub for feminists that seek to push the envelope and eliminate workplace and societal boundaries rooted in gender discrimination. In this special issue of NEWCOMB, Newcomb Institute and the NAA recognize those trailblazers who, through their incredible professional achievements, show the importance of feminist education in practice.
Though their expertise span different industries, specializations, and generations, the individuals featured in the following pages have in common their rejection of the status quo, and their unwavering courage to be unapologetically visible and vocal when society demanded—and stills demands—that they remain silenced. From visual and performing arts to education and scholarship, Newcomb alumnae have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of the fight for gender equity. Their work challenges us to place no arbitrary limits on our own ambition and to consider today those who will follow us tomorrow.
As we commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Newcomb Alumnae Association, we look to our Newcomb Trail-blazers, both those whose stories are recorded here and those beyond these pages, for inspiration and insight as we continue our charge of finding solutions to the intractable gender problems of our time.