Bettie's Post-College Life


Bettie's 1937 class picture
A senior year photograph of Bettie’s class.
Simmons College. (1937). Microcosm: 1937. Andover, MA: Andover Press.



After leaving Simmons with her degree in 1937, Bettie attended Yale School of Nursing and earned a master of nursing in 1942. According to the Yale University Catalog of 1940-1941 her program lasted thirty-two months. The program included public health studies and community work as well as an internship at a hospital. At Yale, she went on a blind date with a young man originally from New Hampshire who was just a few months younger than herself. Her blind date, Merritt Williamson, had earned his bachelor of engineering and master of science in engineering at Yale, and by 1938, he was working on his PhD.

Bettie with her husband Merritt standing outside a house
Photograph of Jean G. Williamson and husband, Merritt Williamson, taken in 1944.
Source: Marilyn Lance

The two married July 3, 1943 at the Yale chapel. Bettie became the head nurse at New Haven Hospital. The couple lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut until Merritt enlisted in the Navy and was stationed in California. While there, Merritt also worked at CalTech in Pasadena, California. The couple (and their growing family) moved from California to Chicago to Pennsylvania between 1945 and 1966. By 1966, the Williamson family had grown to include six daughters. Bettie was a steadfast support system for her husband and family throughout her life. She gave up a career in nursing to raise her daughters and until the early 1960s when she taught at the Home Economics School at Penn State University.

Bettie in her wedding dress
Photograph of Jean Elizabeth Goodrich (married name Jean G. Williamson) on her wedding day, July 3, 1943.
Source: Marilyn Lance

The 1966 move resulted in a prestigious professorship at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee for Dr. Williamson and later (1970-71) a job as Instructor of Community Health Nursing in the Vanderbilt School of Nursing for Bettie.

Bettie lived a life full of family; with six daughters, it would seem impossible not to live for one's family! She also had outside interests. In the 1950s, Bettie started piano lessons and practiced everyday from 3:30-5:30 pm for the rest of her life. For many years, Bettie taught Lamaze to expecting mothers. She was an active Red Cross volunteer during blood drives. As seen in the scrapbook, church was a part of Bettie's life since her teenage years; she continued active participation in the Episcopal Church throughout her life.

Dr. Williamson died in 1985 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was survived by Bettie, their six daughters, and five grandchildren. Jean "Bettie" G. Williamson died on December 21, 2002 in Hermitage, Tennessee.