Minnie G. Braithwaite

Minnie Galt Braithwaite Jenkins (1874-1954) was from Williamsburg, Virginia.

On February 6, 1896, the faculty of William & Mary approved a resolution "that ladies of town and College be permitted, at Dr. Hall's discretion, to attend his lectures on Shakespeare." On October 2, 1896, Braithwaite petitioned the faculty of William & Mary to allow her to attend chemistry lectures. The faculty assembly voted 4-3 to deny her request. Six days later, after much discussion about Braithwaite's appeal of their decision, the group rejected a more sweeping resolution that would have allowed women into the science lectures. Members of the faculty voting in favor of Braithwaite's request were President Lyon G. Tyler; the Professor of Natural Science, Van Franklin Garrett; and the Professor of Methods and Pedagogics, Hugh Stockdell Bird. Members of the faculty voting in the majority were Professor of English and History, John Lesslie Hall; the Professor of Latin, Lyman Brown Wharton; the Professor of Mathematics, Thomas Jefferson Stubbs; and the Professor of Greek, French, and German, Charles Edward Bishop.

The Annual Minnie Braithwaite Lecture in Women's Studies commemorates the efforts of Minnie Galt Braithwaite to attend classes at William & Mary.

After leaving Williamsburg, Braithwaite became a teacher for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Arizona and California. While teaching, she married Clarence W. Jenkins. She was the author of "Babes in the Woods at Jamestown District School, 1891" and "Girl from Williamsburg" published in 1951.

References

• Jenkins, Minnie Braithwaite., and Dietz Press. Girl From Williamsburg. Richmond: Dietz Press, 1951.
• "Completely Discouraged": Women Teachers' Resistance in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools, 1900-1910

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• Bucktrout-Braithwaite Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William & Mary.
• Additional information about women at the College of William & Mary is available.