Bauarschi, Emma Bernardon - Oral History Interview

Abstract

Emma Bernardon B'56, '57 had the privilege of being the first female Foreign Service Officer (FSO) in Kampala, Uganda in East Africa. She has a newspaper clipping from the local paper, which wrote a story about her. She met her husband, who was of Lebanese heritage (born in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika, now known as Tanzania, where his family had been settled for three generations), while posted in Uganda. The Foreign Service would not approve her marriage (as was common for women FSOs at the time), so she was forced to resign. She was one of eight women in the first year of the Bologna program. The women all had to find their own housing, while the men had housing provided through the school. She used to go to the movies in Bologna to watch American films dubbed in Italian to practice her language skills. She remembers that her class on European Integration was one of the best. Later, she blended her domestic life in Houston, Texas, with her international background, working with foreign exchange students (including Fulbright Scholars) at the Institute of International Education. She was one of eight women in the first year of the Bologna program. The women all had to find their own housing, while the men had housing provided through the school. She used to go to the movies in Bologna to watch American films dubbed in Italian to practice her language skills. She remembers that her class on European Integration was one of the best. Later, she blended her domestic life in Houston, Texas, with her international background, working with foreign exchange students (including Fulbright Scholars) at the Institute of International Education.