Postwar Years
Women in Radio
At the new Faunce House studios, two women prepare for their live perfornance on the Brown Network, renamed WBRU in 1945.
As a direct result of World War II, women became a permanent and vital part of radio at Brown. The initiation of Pembroke women into the Brown Network increased their visibility on campus and in the community.
Pembroke women had first joined the Brown Network as announcers and administrators in 1939, when broadcasting on the Pembroke College campus began. Determined to stay afloat during World War II, the Brown Network allowed Pembrokers to join in full force as programmers, news announcers, engineers, and business managers.
Two women adjust the soundboard in the WBRU studio, ca. 1950
After World War II, women remained active at WBRU but were again limited by traditional gender roles and given only secretarial or public-relations positions. In 1946, WBRU had two female officers — the station relations manager and research director — out of nine total officers. When Brown and Pembroke students heard women's voices over the airwaves, these voices were nearly always singing, acting in a skit, or discussing the campus social scene.
By the mid-1950s, the role of women in Brown radio began to change significantly. In November 1956, the Providence Journal praised Betsy Dalton as "one of the most popular disc jockeys on WBRU." The war marked the birth of a new and lasting collaboration: a Brown and Pembroke radio station.