 She earned her BA from Earlham College in 1956 as First Honor Student (valedictorian).During her junior year, 1954–1955, she studied in Paris with a Barrett Scholarship from Earlham College and received a "Certificat" from L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques.Her 1961 PhD in sociology from Radcliffe College (of Harvard University) examined changes in the feminine role by comparing temperance and suffrage women's lives and ideology.