Call Number:

2006-11

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

3 linear ft.

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Papers of Gertrude Leighton, Record Group 3H, College Archives, Bryn Mawr College, Special Collections.

Date:

1930-1982 (inclusive)

Creator:

Leighton, Gertrude

Abstract:

Gertrude Leighton was born in Belfast, Ireland. Leighton first came to Bryn Mawr College as a member of the class of 1938 and majored in classical archaeology. In 1940, she was hired by Barnard College as a lecturer in the English Department. She entered law school at Yale in 1942, graduated in 1945. Leighton returned to Bryn Mawr in 1950 as Assistant Professor of Political Science. Later promotions made her full professor and department chairman. The collection consists mainly of office materials. There are syllabi and reading lists for BMC political science courses taught. There are miscellaneous materials from senior conferences, the journal club, and special conferences. Boxes 2, 3, and 4 contain typed drafts for an unpublished fifteen-chapter book Leighton was writing in collaboration with Richard G. Lonsdorf.

Gertrude Leighton was born in Belfast, Ireland. Leighton first came to Bryn Mawr College as a member of the class of 1938 and majored in classical archaeology. Following her graduation, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1940, she was hired by Barnard College as a lecturer in the English Department. She entered law school at Yale in 1942, graduated in 1945, and practiced at the firm Carter, Ledyard, and Milburn for two years. She returned to Yale Law School to pursue an advanced degree to prepare herself for a teaching career.

Leighton returned to Bryn Mawr in 1950 as Assistant Professor of Political Science. Later promotions made her full professor and department chairman. She served on several campus committees and was Secretary of the General Faculty from 1975 to 1982. Among the courses she taught were International Law and Law and Society, considered to be her favorite course.

Leighton retired in 1982 but remained a visiting professor in the Master of Law and Social Policy Program of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

Leighton also taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1959 to 1965.

The Gertrude Leighton papers consist mainly of the office materials and academic materials of Gertrude Leighton, Bryn Mawr class of 1938, and later a professor of Political Science. The collection, which ranges from 1930 to 1982, contains syllabi, reading lists, evidence of conference participation, and class notes.

The collection consists of five series: "Series I: Course Materials," "Series II: Correspondence," "Series III: Miscellaneous Material," "Series IV: Unpublished Manuscript Material," and "Series V: Class Notes."

"Series I: Course Materials" consists of syllabi and reading lists for BMC political science courses taught from the 1950s to 1989, as well as exams for political science courses from the 1930s to 1981. There are miscellaneous materials from senior conferences, the journal club, and special conferences. "Series II: Correspondence" contains departmental correspondence, miscellaneous correspondence, correspondence as Secretary of the General Faculty; and correspondence re: "Woodrow Wilson and the World of Today" conference 1/5-6/1956. "Series III: Miscellaneous Material" holds a Memorandum on Rules and Practice and the Chairman's Calendar in Political Science; a Report on the National Conference of the US National Commission for UNESCO; a reprinted article entitled "Rights of Man in the World Community Communal Illusions Versus Rational Action;" and a typescript called "Chapter IV, Standards and Sanctions." "Series IV: Unpublished Manuscript Material" contains typed drafts for an unpublished fifteen-chapter book Leighton was writing in collaboration with Richard G. Lonsdorf. The title was to have been A Psychodynamic Approach to Law: Case Materials on Law and Psychiatry. The book may have been intended as a text or source book for a class she taught with Lonsdorf called Law, Policy, and Personality. "Series V: Class Notes" contains lecture notes for this class.

This collection provides insight into the political science department at Bryn Mawr College during much of the 20th century. It would be a valuable resource to political science students and researchers.