THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Dr. Carolyn Rhodes
May 16, 1925 – March 24, 2019
“We gathered data about the status of women at ODU, then started thinking and became depressed. We began to dream utopian dreams – a women’s center, a day-care center and a women’s study program.” – Dr. Rhodes, 1978
Professor Emerita of English and Women’s Studies at Old Dominion University. Co-founded the University’s Women’s Caucus, Friends of Women’s Studies and the Feminist Education Trust Fund. Served as principal investigator for the Women’s Studies Pilot Grant funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities, which established the University’s Women’s Studies program as the first in Virginia.
Photo. Dr. Carolyn H. Rhodes, professor of English (left) and Dr. Nancy T. Bazin, associate professor of English and new director of Women’s Studies, 1978 (Photo: Old Dominion University Libraries).
Dr. Carolyn Rhodes, Old Dominion University. Women’s Center, 1987.
More About Carolyn:
- Obituary
- “ODU Remembers Carolyn Rhodes as a Pioneer and an Inspiration,” by David Simpson
- “Carolyn Rhodes, Pioneer and Inspiration,” by ODU Student Assistant Carolyn Vanderlinder
- Still in Play: Reflecting on the Work and Life of Carolyn H. Rhodes for Women’s History Month, March 2021
- “For the Children: A Brief History of Childcare at Old Dominion University,” by Steven Bookman
- A Guide to the Carolyn Rhodes Papers, Old Dominion University
- “Women’s Study Center – Dream to Reality,” by Terry Perrell, 1978
