In a Man's World

Through a collection of diaries, alumni memories, and personal stories, In a Man's World views life at a boarding school, Phillips Exeter Academy, through the eyes of the wives and daughters who lived on campus. Until now, little has been written about the lives of these women, especially during the years when the school had an all-male faculty and student body.

When women first came to live on campus, the male faculty were unaccustomed to the presence of women. As they dealt with the male dominated culture, the wives imparted the feminine perspective to a previously masculine culture. The daughters contributed their own influence as the only eligible females on campus.

The story begins in 1781 with Elizabeth Phillips, wife of the founder John Phllips and the years when the students lived in boarding houses. The memories continue the story to cover the earliest days of the 20th century to the first years of coeducation in the 1970's and '80's. This narrative covers 200 years of the lives of women living in a man's world, and their interaction with a predominantly male culture.