Today’s Project 100 memory comes from Joe Martella.  He was born in San Diego, California.  His father was a career navy officer.  His mother was a housewife.  She enjoyed travelling all over the world with his father.  He has three sisters.  As a child, he lived in Hawaii for three years.  The family then moved to Philadelphia, where he attended 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grades at a Catholic elementary school.  They then left for Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, where they lived for couple of years.  In 1963, after twenty years in the service, his father retired. The family then moved back to southern New Jersey where they settled in Bellmawr, New Jersey.  For high school, he attended Camden Catholic High School in 1967.  After graduating from Glassboro State in 1972, he began working for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey as a police officer.  He worked there until 1994, retiring as a captain.  He then joined the United Nations as part of their security service.  He worked there for twenty years, retiring in 2014.

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I chose Glassboro State College because of money.  I had dreamed of going to Villanova, but it was too expensive, costing about $1600 a year.  GSC, meanwhile, was only $175.  By the time, I graduated it was $450.  Even that increased amount, however, was still something that one could handle by working in the summers and part-time.  Today, sadly, the tuition at all colleges makes what I did impossible.

I wanted to teach, which was another reason I chose Glassboro State.  I began as an English major because I had a great high school English teacher.  However, my grades in my English classes were not that good, so I switched over to social studies and secondary education.  I began my practicum at Moorestown Middle School, which was when I realized I was not cut out to be a teacher.  I then switched to just being a straight history major.  Due to this change, I lost a semester.  I lost a second semester due to the Vietnam War.  I was unlucky because my draft number was only 13, making me very likely to be drafted.  So, I sought to join the New Jersey National Guard. In this, I was lucky because I was accepted, something that one could not count on as many individuals wanted to join the guard to avoid being sent to Vietnam.  I spent six months training before returning to Glassboro State.  All this meant that it took me five years to get my degree.

I remember only a few of my faculty members by name. Professor Zahn was an education professor that I remember.  I also remember Lester Bunce.  In fact, I dated his daughter, Wilma Bunce.  I also remember Robert Hewsen, who taught me about Eastern Europe and Central Asia and parts of the world that I thought I would never need to know.  Lo and behold, later those places all came to be important in the world and such knowledge was useful to me in my job at the United Nations. 

My fondest memories are of Richard Wackar, who coached me in football.  I was a halfback. Football had only recently returned to the campus.  Coach Wackar had such great character.  I remember that if he heard anyone curse on the field, he literally had them bend over and he kicked them in the rear.  I still tell my children stories and lessons I learned from Coach Wackar. He touched many, many people, as evidenced by the great turn out at his memorial service. 

I remember when Lyndon Johnson gave the Commencement Address in 1968.  I went to hear him speak, even though I was not graduating of course.  I was about twenty feet from when he left the stage.  Later in life, I met Henry Rowan.  Due to her work saving certain aviation structures, my wife was inducted into the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame the same year as Henry Rowan.  I introduced myself and thanked him for his gift.

I really enjoyed my time at Glassboro State, all five years.  I matured and developed there.  The most important things I learned were simple things like learning to follow directions and how to get along with others.  I remember that I learned a lot from being around kids from northern New Jersey.  They were different from those of us from southern New Jersey, possibly because of their being close to New York City.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100,” the collection and sharing of one hundred memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff.  One memory will be released per day in the 100 days leading up to October 20, 2023, the date of a reunion celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  The reunion will take place at 7pm at the Summit City Farm and Winery in Glassboro, New Jersey.  Registration for the reunion will be open from July 11^th and will remain open until the venue reaches its 100-person capacity (or October 13^th if capacity never reached).  We do anticipate that the reunion will sell out, so please register as soon as possible by visiting the Alumni Office’s registration page here:  alumni.rowan.edu/historyreunion2023.

You can also find the up-to-date set of Project 100 memories on the Department of History’s webpage.  William Carrigan arranged, interviewed, transcribed and/or edited these memories.  Laurie Lahey proofread and helped edit the final versions.  If you wish to share your own memories, please email Dr. Carrigan at carrigan@rowan.edu.  Alumni with Facebook accounts are encouraged to join the RU/GSC History Alumni group here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/251485937221524.