The following is a collection of papers related to the Hopkins v. Price Waterhouse and the Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins court cases, a seven-year battle against Hopkins’ employer for gender discrimination. Her final victory in 1990 helped to expand workplace discrimination laws to include gender stereotyping. The collection date ranges from 1967-2000 and includes numerous newspaper and periodical articles that document the journey from beginning to end, court transcripts, personal and professional correspondence, materials related to her book So Ordered: Making Partner the Hard Way, a scrapbook album, and other papers. In addition, Hopkins’ personal correspondence (1965-1989) with a former Hollins professor is located in a separate collection: Julia Randall Papers.

Ann Branigar Hopkins was born in December 18, 1943 in Galveston, Texas to Tela Maurine Chiles and William Hopkins. Her father was a career Army officer while her mother worked as a nurse. She attended Hollins College (now University), 1961-1965, receiving her B. A. in Mathematics and an award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics. She earned her M.S. in Mathematics at Indiana University (Bloomington) in 1967. In 1974 she married Thomas Peter Gallagher, Jr. and had three children: Tela Margaret Gallagher, Thomas Gilbert Gallagher, and Thomas Peter Gallagher.

Her first job was as a mathematics instructor at Hollins for the 1967-1968 academic year, filling in for a professor on sabbatical. From Hollins, she moved on to IBM and several other corporations before obtaining a position at Price Waterhouse. While at Price Waterhouse, Ms. Hopkins became a candidate for partnership in 1982. In 1983 she learned that she had not been selected, despite past favorable evaluations. Upon discovering she was passed over for several men who had not brought in as much business as she had, Hopkins decided to sue Price Waterhouse for sex discrimination. Consequently she experienced retaliation and harassment by firm officials, who eventually terminated her employment on January 17, 1984.

Her journey took her through the Washington D.C. Federal District Court, the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. There were five separate court cases from 1985-1990. In the meantime, she found employment at the Department of State, as a consultant (1984-1988), and the World Bank in 1988. By May 1990, the courts determined that Hopkins had been discriminated against and should be reinstated at Price Waterhouse as a partner. Price Waterhouse was also instructed to give Hopkins $379,000 in back pay. On February 18, 1991, she was finally able to return to Price Waterhouse.

Hopkins’ story was published as part of a larger book in A Few Good Women by Jane White (published by Prentice Hall in 1992) and she also received invitations for speaking engagements and interviews. Although Hopkins didn’t consider herself a “leading edge person” or a role model, she became one to many women across the country.

At the suggestion of others, Hopkins decided to write her own book. She began work on a manuscript, documenting her journey through the court system. The end result was So Ordered: Making Partner the Hard Way, published by the University of Massachusetts Press, in 1996.

After returning to her job at Price Waterhouse in early 1991, she worked more than a decade for Price Waterhouse (now Price Waterhouse Cooper) before retiring in 2002. Hopkins lived in Washington, D.C. for most of her life until her death on June 23, 2018.

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Miscellaneous

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A Few Good Women, Breaking the Barriers to Top Management, Chapter 16, Jane White (1992)

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So Ordered (draft), Ann B. Hopkins (1992)

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So Ordered (draft), Ann B. Hopkins (1992)

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Memorial booklet (2018)

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The Reluctant Plaintiff, Mary Welek Atwell (2019)

Press

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Woman sues Price Waterhouse for sex bias, David Sellers (1984-03-21)

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Bias Lives, Sophie M. Korczyk (1985-04-16)

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Accountant Guilty of Sex Bias, New York Times (1985-09-21)

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Judge Faults Firm’s Sexual Stereotyping in Not Promoting Woman, Sandra Evans (1985-09-21)

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Supreme Court Gets Wall St. Sex Bias Case, Mary Papenfuss (1987-03-01 (approximated))

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The Big Eight Still a Male Bastion, Eric N. Berg (1988-06-12)

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Determined to be Heard: Four Americans and their journeys to the Supreme Court, Melody Deshaney (1988-10-02)

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‘Social Grace’ Case Raises Question of Subtle Sex Bias in Workplace, Al Karsen (1988-10-02)

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A Hard Nose and a Short Skirt, Richard Lacayo (1988-11-14)

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Obvious Case of Sex Discrimination, Martha Charmallas (1988-12-13)

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The People Page Highlights Multi-faced, Multi-talented Hollins Alumnae, Don’t Tread on Me, Hollins Alum Magazine (1989-01-01 (approximated))

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Court 6-3 Eases Tasks of Plaintiffs in Job-Bias Suits, Linda Greenhouse (1989-05-02)

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High Court Ruling on Sexual Bias on the Job Gives Edge to Worker, Associated Press (1989-05-02)

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U.S. Court Puts Burden on Firms Over Sex Bias, Associated Press (1989-05-02)

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High Court Shifts Burden to Firms in Sex Bias-Cases, Stephen Wermiel (1989-05-02)

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Court Backs Women on Sex Bias, Al Kamen (1989-05-02)

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No Lipstick, No Partnership?, Washington Post (1989-05-03)

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Sex in the Executive Suite, Gene Owens (1989-05-07)

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Religious Frenzy vs. Sexist Whimsy, Robin Abcarian (1989-05-07)

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A Slap at Sex Stereotypes, Andrea Sachs (1989-05-15)

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Myth America in the Workplace, U. S. News & World Report (1989-05-15)

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Is Price Waterhouse A Help to Victims of Sex Discrimination, N. Thompson Powers (1989-05-15)

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Wrestling With Bias, Daniel Seligman (1989-06-05)

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Female Faces are Still a Rarity Atop U.S Corporate Ladder, Barbara Coleman (1989-09)

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Judge Orders Partnership for Woman, Laurie Cohen (1990-05-15)

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Partnership Awarded in Bias Case, Laurie Cohen (1990-05-16)

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Partnership Awarded to Woman in Sex Bias Case, Tamar Lewin (1990-05-16)

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Legal Victory for Working Women, Susan Ellicott (1990-06-17)

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Legal Victory for Working Women, Susan Ellicott (1990-05-17)

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Nothing Like a Dame, The Times (1990-05-18)

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Bucking the System, Aaron Epstein (1990-05-18)

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Woman Bucks the Corporate System By Not Acting Her Sex, Aaron Ep (1990-05-19)

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Winner of Sex Bias Suit Set to Enter Next Arena, Tamar Lewin (1990-05-19)

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Price to Pay for Female Partnership, Sunday Times (1990-05-20)

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Unwelcome, Partner, The New York Times

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Give Her a No-Show Partnership (1990-05-21)

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Chicago Corporate Women on Clothes, 'Charm' and Competence in Wake of Supreme Court Bias Case, Genenieve Buck (1990-05-21)

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Beating Men at Their Own Game, Dorothy Storck (1990-05-22)

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Tough 'Broad Sues to Get Her Promotion, Kathleen Parker (1990-05-27)

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The Cost of Suing a Former Employee, Deborah L. Jacobs (1990-05-27)

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Perseverance Pays Off (1990-05-28)

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Partner By Order, The National Law Journal (1990-05-28)

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Ann Hopkins (1990-05-30)

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She Didn't Get Her Partnership, Pamela Mendels (1990-06-03)

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How About "Mea Culpa?", Sheila Anne Feeney (1990-06-03)

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Bad Image, Like Shadow, Is Hard to Shake, Genenieve Buck (1990-06-03)

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Princess Charming at Price Waterhouse, Daniel Seligman (1990-06-18)

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One Woman's Battle, The Boston Globe (1990-06-19)

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Getting Mad, Then Getting Even, Deborah L. Jacobs (1990-07-01)

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Good Huntin, Ian Williams (1990-07-5)

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Audit Firm: Victim or Accomplice, Alison Leigh Cowan (1990-07-17)

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Labor Dept. Wants to Take on Job Bias in the ExecutiveSuite, Peters T. Kilborn (1990-07-30)

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Why Women Aren't Getting to the Top, Jaclyn Fierman (1990-07-30)

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Judge's Ruling is a Victory for Women Who Work, Patricea McLaughlin (1990-08-02)

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New Judges Get No Rehearsals, Gary Sturgess (1990-09-10)

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Businesses Fear Case May Bring Courts Into Partnership Matters, Eric J. Wallach (1990-09-24)

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Sex Bias Plaintiff Wins Appeal, Richmond Times (1990-12-05)

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Litigant Closer to Partnership, The Washington Times (1990-12-05)

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Judge Orders Partnership in a Bias Case, Ann Hagadorn and Wade Lambert (1990-12-05)

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Appeals Court Upholds Order to Make Woman a Partner, Albert B. Crenshaw (1990-12-05)

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Price Waterhouse Ordered to Admit Plaintiff to Partnership, Ken Heinen (1991-02)

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Senate Approves Civil Rights Bill, 93 to 5, and Gives Up Its Own Exemption, The Washington Post (1991-10-31)

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Price Waterhouse, Working Woman (1991-11)

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Dressing For Power, The Washington Post (1992-01-05)

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Job Bias Celebrity at Hollins, Beth Macy (1992-02-19)

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Life After the Lawsuit, U.S. News and World Report (1996-08-19)

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If Wall Street Is a Dead End, Do Women Fight or Leave?, The New York Times (1999-08-03)

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Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins: A Personal Account of a Sexual Discrimination Plaintiff, Ann Hopkins (2005-Spring)

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Standing in the Gap: A Profile of Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs, Andrea Giampetro-Meyer (2006)

Work-related

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Hopkins Engagement Calendar for 1983, Anne B. Hopkins (1983)

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1990/1991 Price Waterhouse & Co. Diary-Manual of Anne B. Hopkins, Anne B. Hopkins (1991)

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1982/1983 Price Waterhouse & Co. Diary-Manual of Anne B. Hopkins, Anne B. Hopkins (1983)

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1983/1984 Price Waterhouse & Co. Diary-Manual of Anne B. Hopkins, Anne B. Hopkins (1984)

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1981/982 Price Waterhouse & Co. Diary-Manual of Anne B. Hopkins, Anne B. Hopkins (1982)

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1979/1980 Price Waterhouse & Co. Diary-Manual of Ann B. Hopkins, Anne B. Hopkins (1980)