Gardening. Psychology. Puppetry. Faux-book collecting... In the past 10 years, Dartmouth's first lady has done a lot of things from her house at the end of Webster Ave.
Bathsheba Freedman does much more than support the longest serving president in the Ivy League.
As the developer of arts programs for children, an active member of several community service groups and a psychology lecturer, she leads a busy life of her own.
"It is challenging to be accepted as myself and not the president's spouse, to be seen as an individual, and not always as a representative of my husband," she told The Dartmouth in an interview earlier this week.
Puppets to psychology
Bathsheba Freedman smiled as she described her role as a puppeteer for a group called Kids on the Block. The group performs skits for young children from around Hanover to educate them about health issues, she said.
In her 10 years at the College, Bathsheba Freedman has volunteered numerous hours to serve the Dartmouth and Upper Valley communities.
She developed a program at the Hood Museum to show elementary and high school teachers and students how to learn about art in any discipline.
She serves on the board of directors for the Head Rest program of the Upper Valley, which gives temporary shelter and addiction counseling to the homeless.
She is also involved with the Campus of Difference program, which provides legal defense and education against discrimination for all groups. She serves as a facilitator of workshops on the issue of group difference.
Bathsheba Freedman, who grew up in New York City, lived in Philadelphia when College President James Freedman was the dean of
Bathsheba Freedman's academic work reflects her many interests too. She majored in art history at Brandeis University, and earned her PhD in human development from Bryn Mawr College.
the law school at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a senior lecturer in the psychology department, she has taught an advanced course on psychological assessment and a freshman seminar on men, women and work. She is about to begin some research with a student on the issue of ethnic identity in women.
The first lady
In addition to all this, Bathsheba Freedman also supports her husband in his role as president of the College.
"It is a responsibility that I take very seriously," she said.
The president's house welcomes many guests each week, and Bathsheba Freedman helps her husband entertain them. She said she enjoys those evenings, but the large receptions are a challenge.
Reflecting on her time as the College's first lady, she said she will miss the opportunity to meet people like August Wilson, currently on campus as the Winter term Montgomery Fellow.
"To be exposed to their wonderful creativity is an exceptional privilege," she said.
Bathsheba Freedman said she has mixed feelings about her husband's resignation. "It has been nice to put down some roots and make significant friendships" in the area, she said.
But she said she looks forward to spending more time with her husband, who will be less pressured and have more time to relax.
She said she hopes to continue her involvement with the College, but feels that she and her husband "need to be creative about moving in a new direction, in order to give the new president space."
But the rest of her plans for the future are "up in the air."
Bathsheba Freedman met her husband while he was working as a clerk for Thurgood Marshall, the late Supreme Court justice who was then a federal appeals judge.
While riding on a subway to his first day of work, James Freedman had a memorable encounter with an old friend from Yale University.
"He had met Ed, whom I was going out with, on the metro," Bathsheba Freedman previously told The Dartmouth. "Jim asked Ed how do you get dates in this city and Ed gave him my phone number. Ed and I weren't really dating anymore because I had decided he wasn't the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but I was still cooking dinner for him sometimes on Friday nights."
"When Jim called, I knew he was the one. He was kind of shy, very intelligent and very considerate," she continued. "We were married 16 months later."
Life on frat row
Bathsheba Freedman's other interests are also evident in the decor of her home, located at the end of Webster Ave., commonly called "frat row."
Seated among the countless plants in her living room, Bathsheba Freedman is obviously an avid gardener.
Both she and her husband enjoy reading, and their home boasts a vast library, but she also collects faux books. Faux books look like books, but are actually other objects, such as cookie tins.
She said they demonstrate one of her specific interests in art, "the interplay between illusion and reality."
Bathsheba Freedman has sentimental attachments to the house despite, its location on fraternity row. She said she was "less than thrilled in the beginning, but now it doesn't bother me in the least."
She said the fraternities have been good neighbors, and the partying does not usually start until she and her husband are asleep. And, on a spring afternoon, Bathsheba Freedman said she does not mind sitting on her porch, and hearing the rock music.
Referring to their upcoming move when James Freedman steps down from the presidency after Commencement, she said, "I told Jim, if we ever move again, it's not going to be one degree farther north, or to a place that is one person less populated."
But Bathsheba Freedman said she has a deep appreciation for nature, and she cross-country skis.
