Pembroke College Campus, Providence

Pembroke College traces its roots back to 1891, when it was established as the Women's College within Brown University, becoming a vital home of learning for generations of women over the next 80 years. Established at a time when higher education for women was scarce, Pembroke offered rigorous academics and a welcoming community, nurturing students who would become groundbreaking leaders in their fields.

Named after Pembroke College at England's renowned University of Cambridge, it initially shared spaces with Brown before developing a distinctive campus of its own. By the early 20th century, Pembroke Hall, Metcalf Hall, and Alumnae Hall became central landmarks, built in elegant Collegiate Gothic and early-20th-century architectural styles. Pembroke Hall housed classrooms and administrative offices, Metcalf Hall provided residential space, and Alumnae Hall became a vibrant cultural venue hosting performances, lectures, and social gatherings.

By the 1960s, shifting societal attitudes around gender equality prompted Brown to offer more coeducational opportunities, gradually merging Pembroke’s separate identity into the broader university landscape. The formal merger in 1971 officially ended Pembroke's status as an independent college but secured its legacy within Brown's story.

Today, the Pembroke name lives on through the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, founded in 1981 and fittingly located within the historic Pembroke Hall. The center actively supports interdisciplinary scholarship on gender, sexuality, and social difference. Visitors strolling through campus can still appreciate Pembroke's original buildings, tangible reminders of the college's pioneering role in women’s higher education—and its lasting influence on the Brown University community.