Pinstripes & Pearls: The Women of the Harvard Law School Class of '64 Who Forged an Old-Girl Network and Paved the Way for Future Generatio

by Judith Richards Hope

Book Overview

Featuring a foreword by Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, Pinstripes & Pearls is "both a poignant history of the struggles of the women in the Harvard Law School class of 1964... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074321482X
• ISBN13: 9780743214827
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An Exceptionally Beautiful, Moving and Interesting Book

Before commenting on this book, let me mention that I am a graduate of Harvard Law School in 1971. By then, women were about 10 percent of the class, and some of the problems described in this book had been overcome. But many had not. Since then, I have had the pleasure of attending many of the special celebrations on the anniversaries of the admission of women to the school on September 1950. But in those gatherings, I have heard few stories as moving as the ones in this book.This book moved me even more than the fine memoir, One-L, that has become a classic concerning legal education. Ms. Judith Richards Hope is one of the most successful graduates of Harvard Law School in the last 40 years. Many in her situation would have chosen to write a memoir, basically recounting how she did so well. I admire her for choosing to write the story of all the 20 women in her class (1964) and also including the remarkable Elizabeth Dole who worked in the library during that class's first year before deciding to apply and join the class of 1965. The book begins with the history of why women had been excluded from Harvard Law School. Mostly it's nonsense about not being sure of the intellectual capacity of women, not wanting to keep a man from practicing law who might stick with it for more years than a women, concern about whether law firms would hire women, and the cost of putting in women's bathrooms. It's not a pretty story, but that's all history now. Women saw, they came, and they persevered and prospered.If you are like me, you'll enjoy hearing about the family backgrounds that encouraged these women to enter what was a challenging and hostile educational environment. The silliness at the school will alternately amuse and annoy you. There weren't enough bath rooms. Some professors chose to have Ladies Days when they would call on women, and ignore them otherwise. Well-intentioned efforts often backfired and made the women feel uncomfortable . . . such as when Dean Griswold had everyone over for dinner at his home.The law firm silliness was even worse. It was impressive how the women got around that. Ms. Hope's negotiating strategy with Edward Bennett Williams was remarkable. Then, trying to be a perfect mom and a great lawyer created even more silliness . . . and lots of fatigue. But they did it. It's great!!!I know many of the people described in the book, and I thought that they were characterized accurately with one exception. Eleanor Appel of the Placement Office comes in for a lot of criticism for not trying to make law firms change their prejudiced ways. What the book does not make clear is that Ms. Appel was not a lawyer. She was a Radcliffe graduate. With no one in the faculty to back her in forcing recruiters to change, all she could have accomplished was getting herself fired by trying to make recruiters change. I personally overheard many conversations she had where she argued effectively the case that women and minor

This book is amazing!

If you are a woman who struggles to balance career aspirations with a dedication to domestic ideals this is a must-read book. In an honest and compassionate manner Hope details the lives of the women in her class. These are women who listened to their intellectual hearts despite society's pressure to hold them back. I am inspired!

Read This Book!

Pinstripes and Pearls made for a very late evening -- I couldn't bring myself to put it down to go to sleep. I found myself cheering for the author and all of her classmates as they struggled through life, law school, relationships, and their legal careers -- and laughing out loud at some of the humorous twists in their lives. Mostly, though, the book made me feel like I could conquer the world someday. I realized that whatever difficulties I and my peers are now facing as new women attorneys have been confronted -- and triumphantly surmounted -- by the very successful author and her impressive classmates. I marveled at the fact that prior to reading the book, I assumed that each of the story's protagonists had achieved their goals so effortlessly. It was refreshing to know that it was difficult for these prominent women too, but that they all got through it all in the end with grit, fierce determination, and love.The book was inspiring and immensely satisfying to me as a woman attorney. I intend to pass it along as a birthday gift to all of my attorney friends and law school classmates. I highly recommend reading it.

Follow your Dream

When I first heard of the story, I thought "oh no, not another book about women lawyers" ~ but then I read it and became intranced with the lives of these HLS Women of '64. Think about the time, and you realize what great accomplishments these women made. This book will benefit the younger generation of women, or any woman for that matter who needs a boost to know that she can do anything she wants to do, but having the confidence to put one foot in front of the other regardless of background. The storyline is about 15 women, so keeping that in mind will make the book a much easier read. I highly recommend Pinstripes & Pearls for just the shear pleasure of learning a bit more of the inside details of these women's lives. The author did a great job at the difficult task of digging out details about Harvard's history as well. Thank you!

Pinstripes and Pearls -- a success story

I loved this book!! What an inspiration! I was so interested in knowing what motivated these women to go to Harvard back in the 60's. I found it also interesting that all of the women in the book had the support of their fathers. How wonderful! Their determination to succeed should give hope to every woman today. The descriptions of the women's experiences at the Harvard Law school is at times moving and humorous. Their lives from an early age to their lives' today was exciting to read. And to get a glimpse of Harvard through the eyes of the author and others at Harvard in those days who have risen to such fame and prominence in our society today was fascinating. I think Judith Hope did a great job writing this book, and I particularly enjoyed reading about her life -- wow!! What an exciting life!