Messenger - Vol. 3, No. 4, Page 24 Summer 1994 Hoffecker pens history of women at Delaware The road to equal education and opportunities for women at the University of Delaware has had several detours over the years, according to Carol Hoffecker, author of Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware. The Richards Professor of History and associate provost for graduate studies, who has written several books on Delaware history, was intrigued by the idea of writing a history of women at UD when approached by the Office of Women's Affairs. Uniquely qualified for the task, she has viewed the University from the perspectives of an undergraduate, faculty member and administrator. The book is dedicated to three women, including the two largely responsible for establishment in 1914 of the former Women's College-Winifred Josephine Robinson (1867-1962), first dean of the college, and Emalea Pusey Warner, president of the state's Federation of Women Clubs, who worked tirelessly to gain support for the college. As Hoffecker writes of Mrs. Warner, "If higher education for women in Delaware had a founding mother, it was she." The Women's College and Delaware College for men were coordinate colleges that combined in 1921 to form the University of Delaware. The other woman honored by Hoffecker's dedication is philanthropist Amy E. du Pont, who established the Unidel Foundation that has benefited the University over the years. The music building is named in her honor. Hoffecker herself attended Delaware in the late '50s, graduating in 1960 and returning as a faculty member in the '70s. The 168-page, soft-bound book has 63 photographs, most of them from the University Archives and some of which have never been published before. There are seven chapters, all with endnotes, and a foreword by faculty colleague Joan del Fattore, who chaired the University's Commission on the Status of Women from 1990-1992. The book is available at the University Bookstore for $15. Mail orders are being accepted there, with a charge of $3.50 per book for postage and handling. Proceeds will benefit the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program. -Sue Swyers Moncure