Home

10%

The first 25 years in 25 images

Photos and film from 1923-1948

By Rowan University

April 14^th, 2023

1. Start spreading the news

At its February 1923 meeting, the State Board of Education announced that Dr. Jerohn J. Savitz would be Glassboro Normal School’s first principal. Dr. Savitz also became the school’s first promoter and recruiter as he eagerly wrote to inform area newspapers and high schools that Glassboro Normal School was set to open.

“Comparatively few students have been accorded the opportunity of enjoying the privileges and sharing the responsibilities of establishing a new normal school.”

—Dr. Savitz’ message to seniors published in the first yearbook, covering 1923-1924.

2. Ticket, please?

Passenger train service on the busy railroad through Glassboro ensured that students could commute from throughout South Jersey to Glassboro. At the Glassboro station, below, students board the train to head home. In 1936, students coming from the southern counties hailed from Blue Anchor, Landisville, Woodbury, Bridgeton, Westmont, Swedesboro, Atlantic City, Camden and other towns.

3. All-purpose building

Of course, College Hall had college classrooms and offices, but it also contained the library, cafeteria, gymnasium, a kitchen for teaching home economics and a demonstration school where aspiring educators could observe faculty teaching local children enrolled in elementary classes.

— From A History of Glassboro State Teachers College, published in 1940.

4. Free ride

In the early days, Glassboro students paid nothing for tuition and text books. Except for train tickets or car fare to commute to campus, students had a free ride, courtesy of the state, until 1932. Among the 23,000 volumes available to students in the Normal School library by 1940, students found the books below, which covered teaching methods, subject matter and literature.

5. First grads go forth

The Class of 1924 included seniors who transferred from normal schools in northern New Jersey. For those who lived in the southern counties, it was a great advantage to study at the new school in Glassboro, closer to home, and take teaching assignments in the underserved southern region.

From the 1924-1925 New Jersey State Normal School Glassboro Catalogue.

“That you may go forth from this school into a life of industry, service, and power is the sincere wish of your principal and friend.”

—More of Dr. Savitz’ message to seniors, from the 1924 Oak.

6. All the world’s a stage

More than 2,500 people from the area came to see the June 23, 1925, performance by Glassboro Normal School students pictured below. Staged during Commencement Week, the historical pageant, New Jersey Past and Present, involved 400 students performing five episodes. The opening scene included dances by Training School children playing butterflies and grasshoppers of the wilderness. It would be the first of many student shows held at the campus “Outdoor Theatre of the Woods,” an amphitheater west of the current Bunce Hall.

“New Jersey in past and present was depicted in the most elaborate historical pageant ever attempted in this part of the State.”

— June 24, 1925, The Philadelphia Inquirer

7. Training teachers by schooling students

Glassboro’s aspiring teachers learned methods and practice by observing elementary classes in the demonstration school housed in College Hall. The school was nearly a private academy, where parents vied to have their children enrolled at the esteemed Normal School.

A sixth-grader in 1929, Frances Miller described school life in a yearbook essay:

“In 1924, when we entered the first grade in Glassboro Training School, only two members of the present sixth grade class were there. Elizabeth Rodgers and I, Frances Miller, started in first grade where we learned to read and write. We were promoted each year and other students joined our class. This year we have studied more subjects, given plays, entertained schools, played many games and had a picnic at Camp Savitz.”

Demonstration School students pose with the stoic Principal Savitz.

8. Boarding at Whitney Mansion

Many students lived too far from campus to commute without hardship each day. With a shortage of borough residences where students could find room and board and before the first dormitories existed, President and Mrs. Savitz opened their historic home on campus to accommodate 30-35 students.

Photo of Whitney Mansion’s student residents, circa 1930.

9. A vintage video tour

Glassboro’s whole campus occupied about 50 acres in the early years. Around its only academic building, the young college laid gardens, orchards, tennis courts, an outdoor amphitheater and plenty of recreational space. Take a tour, below, via 1940s film, photos, a hand-drawn map and music from the era.

10. Jot the Foxtrot

Dances and other social activities were in full swing starting in the ’20s, with careful attention to rules. Women students had to get their parents’ permission to be escorted by a male companion. Themed socials included dance cards for coeds to plan and record a partner for each dance. Some cards included a handy mini pencil, like this one from the 1932 Autumn Hop.

11. Healthy competition

A great believer in extracurricular activities, Dr. Savitz, in 1924, ordered the construction of four tennis courts and an athletic field. Varsity field hockey and basketball organized first, as well as intramural basketball, field hockey, tennis and volleyball. Mrs. Savitz, the president’s wife and an avid sports fan, traveled with the teams on road trips, joining students and faculty who stoked school spirit.

From the 1946 field hockey season, published in the 1947 Oak yearbook.

“Ground...sticks, ground...sticks—start that ball a-rolling down the field! Never mind black and blue shins, cracked knuckles, or broken noses. Just keep right on playing for good old GSTC!”

— About the 1945 Field Hockey team published in the 1946 Oak Yearbook.

12. Common interests

A variety of clubs and literary societies allowed students to expand knowledge, pursue interests and develop friendships and experience. Early clubs devoted themselves to photography, drama, psychology, history, music, travel, art, home economics, classroom literacy, science and the outdoors.

Literary Club meeting from the 1938 Oak yearbook.

“Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well.”

— The inspirational quote the Literary Club selected for the 1938 Oak yearbook. (Original quote from the 1723 Essay on Poetry, by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham and Normanby.)

13. Living the Dorm Life

The first dormitories opened to women—Laurel Hall in 1928 and Oak Hall in 1930. The dorms solved problems for commuter students and those who boarded in borough homes, walking to school in ankle-deep mud from neighborhoods that lacked sidewalks and rental houses that forced 10 students to share a bathroom and closet.

From 1937 yearbook: The opportunity to live in either Oak or Laurel Hall is a pleasurable and coveted experience of college days.

“Every student embarking upon a college career looks forward to ‘dorming.’. . . A full schedule of social, recreational, and educational experiences leaves no time for that freshman ailment known as homesickness. . . tennis, archery, croquet, roller skating, horseback riding, and bicycling may be enjoyed.”

—From the 1937 Oak yearbook.

14. Adventures at Camp Savitz

Principal Savitz believed in experiencing the great outdoors for recreation and instruction. He helped make possible the purchase of a getaway in nearby Elmer that became a popular retreat for many years. Students and alumni raised funds for the 60-acre camp and named it for the man who enjoyed picnicking and canoeing there, too.

In the 1930s, Normal School students enjoying a picnic at Camp Savitz.

“Weekends at Camp Savitz are frequent delights. Here, the girls hike, canoe, and swim. Inclement weather finds them in the cozy living room, gathered around the fireplace, telling stories. The tale of the Camp Ghost is told and retold for the benefit of the freshmen. . . Out-of-door activities put life into jaded appetites and cooking becomes an adventure and a necessity during these carefree weekends at camp.”

—From the 1937 Oak yearbook.

15. Keepers of the light

Lantern night began in 1931 as encouragement for the school and community through the Great Depression. The impressive, glowing formations on the athletic field became a tradition that only stopped with World War II rations on materials and restrictions on lighting amid safety concerns.

When the program began again in 1952, the seniors sang their class song as their president passed the torch to the junior president with a charge to uphold the school’s ideals.

16. Focused faculty

In September 1935, freshmen pursued a new, four-year curriculum that included “content courses,” the precursor to modern general education. The curriculum emphasized subject matter: social studies, English, science, mathematics, health and physical education, music, art and home economics. Faculty adjusted teaching to focus on their subject expertise, rather than instructional methods.

Science and mathematics faculty member Mildred King Sangree. From the 1936 Oak yearbook.

17. Hats off

When Marvin Creamer ’43 was sophomore class president, he wanted to encourage new students to be identified and help them to make friends and acquaintances on campus. From 1940 and for more than 30 years, new students wore a bright-colored hat, known as a dink, as part of their orientation program. In late September, if the freshmen won a tug-of-war against the sophomores, they could abandon their dinks the rest of the semester.

18. Hot off the presses

Student publications were serious and ambitious organizations. A campus newspaper run entirely by students was one of President Bunce’s initial goals upon his appointment in 1937. On March 1, 1938, the student journalists showed off their first edition. In its first 10 years, The Whit won several top awards from Columbia Press Association.

The Whit staff gathered for a photo published in 1943 yearbook.

19. Honorable duty

As patriotic students and faculty left the college to serve in World War II, enrollment dropped by two-thirds, with only two male students left at Glassboro and women leaving to fill positions traditionally held by men. A proud American but a devoted educator, President Bunce would sometimes deny military recruiters access to his students in an effort to retain aspiring teachers during the war years. On March 27, 1943, in a reply to the Women’s Army Corps, he wrote:

“I believe it is just as patriotic a duty to be a teacher of boys and girls ... I cannot, therefore, extend an invitation to your representative to speak to our girls.”

— From Dr. Bunce’s letter to Bessie K. Taylor, cited in More Than Cold Stone by Robert D. Bole.

20. Heroic return

In 1946, Glassboro started a two-year junior college program for World War II veterans. Under the new G.I. Bill of Rights, the federal government subsidized tuition, room and board, books and supplies. Most of the veterans enrolled at Glassboro studied pre-engineering and business administration, but some opted for a new curriculum to prepare them to teach junior high school.

“In 1945 the ‘conquering heroes’ returned from the great war. The halls of Glassboro again re-echoed with memories of former gaiety, enjoyed now by our newly formed friendships.”

— From the 1948 Oak yearbook.

21. Charm school

Students founded their own governing council in the 1926-1927 academic year to act as a liaison between the student body and school leadership.

“The democratic beliefs of our school are aptly put into action by the Student Council. . . With the guidance of Dr. Bunce, these students have accomplished much in the way of ideal student government. Always willing to listen to every student problem and to offer his aid, Dr. Bunce has given us all an example to follow in our own teaching.”

— Students from the 1947 Oak yearbook.

A Student Council charm on the bracelet of Marilyn Plasket ’50.

22. Yellow Jackets on the Gridiron

With the rise in men enrolling post-World War II, Glassboro at last had enough male students for a football roster. To convince Dr. Bunce to start the team, the students argued that football would boost school spirit, attract more male students and benefit the general campus community. Dr. Bunce agreed and challenged the students to fund the effort. The first team took the field in 1947. The Glassboro Yellow Jackets won two games and lost four in their first season.

23. Soldiers and students

From 1929 to 1957, students submitted photographs of themselves with their admission applications. The archival portraits show nearly three decades of aspiring professionals in fashions and settings that document young men’s and women’s lives in New Jersey and beyond.

G.I. applicants from the late ’40s, clockwise, above, from top left:

Leland Weller ’50, served in the Army during WWII, made the Dean’s List and played intramural football and basketball;

Herma Scheeper ’51, a Marine Corps Women’s Reserve member, president of the Women’s Athletic Association and the Awards Club;

James E. Talton ’50, a Tuskegee Airman who wrote for The Whit, played varsity baseball and made the Dean’s List three years in a row;

Navy veteran Edward Oliva ’49, better known as Eddie, a football star and orchestra vice president;

Joseph Enoch Turner ’50, nicknamed “Nucky,” served in the Army in Italy during WWII, played violin and was a Whit dorm reporter and humor writer;

WWII Navy veteran Warren Charles Nutt ’50, a musician, athlete and science teacher who earned a Ph.D.

View more @rowanarchives on Instagram

24. Status symbol

By 1937, the new four-year curriculum helped qualify the school for a new name: New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro. It would be the second of five names throughout 100 years. College Hall’s iconic columns and tower became beloved symbols of the school early on, even as the school’s colors varied from orange and brown to gold and brown.

25. Cheers to 25 Years

Originally published in 1948, the 25th Anniversary history featured student art and photos, plus accounts of the school’s beginnings and the origins of the Whitney estate. A commemorative reprint of the booklet is available to download.