StoryCorps: Linda Salzman Gottlieb '60 and Nicki Newman Tanner '57 Discuss How Wellesley Prepared Them to Make Their Voices Heard

Our Monday Daily Shot StoryCorps series is devoted to sharing conversations about Wellesley's effect on the lives of its students and alumnae. This week, we present a conversation between longtime friends Linda Salzman Gottlieb '60 and Nicki Newman Tanner '57. Gottlieb shared the frustrations she encountered in regard to sexism after graduation, and together they discussed how Wellesley prepared them to make their voices heard.

"As I think back upon my life," Gottlieb said. "I think that that courage to speak up—certainly the attitude, a certain ability to be irreverent—was formed at Wellesley, by the professors, who would literally say, 'Speak up, Ms. Tanner. Speak up, Ms. Salzman. Speak up.' Your voice was encouraged, and that confidence gained among sisters..."

"...You could do anything you wanted," Tanner said. "That, to me, was the most liberating idea that you didn’t have to compete with anything but your own best self."

Listen to an excerpt of the conversation.

This conversation, and other stories representing a rich mix of anecdotes, insights, and memories, will be preserved for future generations to serve as a lasting record about the women of Wellesley. The stories will be posted to the Campaign microsite and added to Wellesley's archives. StoryCorps, known as "America's oral history project," will also add these stories to the national archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Alumnae are invited to record their own stories by using the StoryCorps app or add their voice by submitting their written stories directly to the Campaign website.