TCNJ

4 The College of New Jersey Magazine TALK UP SING IT, SISTERS I burst out laughing when I saw your Table of Contents photo (Spring 2018). It is an iconic shot of Kate,* who pushed our mother out of the navigator's seat so that she could read the maps and guide our father, who was driving the Dodgemobile up to Montreal. Our mother, Sal, hung out in back (it was big!), playing cards with me and our brother, Andy. Kudos for the magazine as a whole. I would have enjoyed reading it even without my personal interest! I look forward to future issues. MEG (FOSTER) SLOTKIN *TCNJ President Kate Foster's sister Just had to write to say how much I enjoyed the spring issue. The cover leaps out at you and the articles were all good — meeting the new president, congratulating our athletes, and remembering the Lindbergh trial. It takes me back while it lifts me up. DOROTHY WODDER VOSSELLER '47 MID-CENTURY REWIND Inspired by the 1930s-era scrapbook (TCNJ X10, Spring 2018), I'm writing to reflect on my times as a commuter student at New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton from 1946 to 1950. The first week laid out for us freshmen the proper social and professional behavior that would be expected of us. After all, we were going to be part of the honorable profession of Teacher. The orientation was under the juris- diction of Miss Decker, dean of women and queen of etiquette. We were taught how to dress when attending a formal event or attending a Tea, which called for hats and white gloves. We were taught how to pour tea, as well as how to conduct meaningful conversations. We had to learn how to introduce a friend to an important person. Such lessons, I thought, were silly, but in later years I lamented not having listened more carefully when I needed to introduce a professor to the mayor. Miss Decker knew best. Why these exercises in etiquette were neces- sary was not made clear, but I deduced that it had something to do with our being children of the lower classes. Not that we were rude, but we were lacking in grace and refinement. The college was giving us a quickie course in middle-class values. I am sure that the college wanted us to pass on to our future students those values that had made America great. Later that year, the campus was overrun with men returning from WWII on the GI Bill. I am sure that men who had faced death might have been reluctant to participate in lectures about how to pour tea. I believe the orientation lectures were discontinued after that. MARY NICOLA FERRI '50 You and your staff do a great job with TCNJ Magazine. However, I do have a small complaint. On your back cover, you often include a great photo, but without names. In the tennis photo (Looking Back, Spring 2018), I recognize at least three of the players and place it in the 1956–58 time frame, but am frustrated by the lack of a caption. I would also ask for more coverage of the folks from the '50s and '60s. TOM CARROLL MA '76 Editor's note: The tennis photo was of the 1939 team. These vintage photos come from yearbooks and are usually not captioned. Readers, can you help us name those pictured so we can identify them in the next issue? Write to us at magazine@tcnj.edu. Vernetta Decker

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