diff --git a/src/StructsOfArrays.jl b/src/StructsOfArrays.jl
index 12c2751..c42b048 100644
--- a/src/StructsOfArrays.jl
+++ b/src/StructsOfArrays.jl
@@ -46,4 +46,21 @@ end
         x
     end
 end
+
+function Base.getindex{T}(A::StructOfArrays{T}, s::Symbol)
+    idx = findfirst(fieldnames(T), s)
+    if (idx == 0)
+        throw(KeyError(s))
+    end
+    A.arrays[idx]
+end
+
+function Base.setindex!{T}(A::StructOfArrays{T}, x, s::Symbol)
+    idx = findfirst(fieldnames(T), s)
+    if (idx == 0)
+        throw(KeyError(s))
+    end
+    A.arrays[idx][:] = x
+end
+
 end # module
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index a03e03a..4bddb44 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -31,3 +31,10 @@ small = StructOfArrays(Complex64, 2)
 @test typeof(similar(small, SubString)) === Vector{SubString}
 @test typeof(similar(small, OneField)) === Vector{OneField}
 @test typeof(similar(small, Complex128)) <: StructOfArrays
+
+fields = StructOfArrays(OneField, 2)
+@test typeof(fields[:x]) === Vector{Int}
+@test length(fields[:x]) == 2
+
+fields[:x] = [1, 2]
+@test fields[:x] == [1, 2]