When Womyn Arrived – Pictures of Princeton's First Female Students in 1969

It was in 1969 - as the world outside its gates clamored for equal access to intellectual power - that Princeton University first admitted women as undergraduates.

Princeton's transition from over 200 years of single-minded male focus to coeducation was, frankly, hard work for everyone involved: university officials, male students, as well as the female newcomers.

But to its credit, the Princeton of that era displayed, for the most part, a good-natured grace as it bashfully admitted women into its ranks. The gutsy women students displayed their own amazing grace, and much patience, as they took the university up on its offer of acceptance.

For decades before, there had been murmurings of support for the admission of women to Princeton by various alumni.

(Photos by LIFE/ Alfred Eisenstaedt, via The Capital Century)