The Hepburn Alma Mater: Bryn Mawr College

"In a 1973 visit to the College, Hepburn told Bryn Mawr undergraduates, "Bryn Mawr isn't plastic, it isn't nylon, it's pure gold... I came here by the skin of my teeth; I got in and by the skin of my teeth I stayed. It was the best thing I ever did. Bryn Mawr was my springboard into adult life. I discovered that you can do anything if you work hard enough. I feel that I was enormously lucky to come here. I am very proud when I see the name, very proud." In 1977, Hepburn was awarded Bryn Mawr's Highest honor, the M. Carey Thomas Award." (Bryn Mawr)

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in ADAM'S RIB (1949)

Katharine Hepburn’s brand of feminism can be traced back to the philosophies and practices of Bryn Mawr College, one of the Seven Sisters Colleges of the East. Both Hepburn and her mother attended the college which was seen by many to embody the feminist ideals of its first dean and second president, M. Carey Thomas, the nation’s leader in the fight for higher education for women. Hepburn’s connections to the college, both directly through her own experience as a student, and more significantly through the indirect connection with her mother’s generation of Bryn Mawrters, lead to a specific brand of feminism, identifiable as unique to the Bryn Mawr experience.