This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from John Kaspar.  He was born and raised in Vineland.  He attended public schools and graduated from Vineland High School in 1957.  His father’s family hailed from Eastern Europe and all worked in various trades.  His father was a machinist.  His mother came from a family with deep roots in Vineland and became an elementary school teacher after earning a teaching certificate from Glassboro Normal School in 1929.  John was the oldest sibling, and he entered the Marine Corps right after high school.  After serving in the Marines for three years, he left the military and started a four-year apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) #592.  After he have finished his apprenticeship, he began working in full as an electrician.  In a relatively short time, he became involved with the union, first serving as Treasurer and then as Business Manager.  When he was Business Manager, there was a case that came through the local that went into the court system.  One of the national leaders of the IBEW helped with the case and told John that the results of the case would have national ramifications for working people all over the United States.  He remembers looking around in the court during this case and thinking that the lawyers and judge in the courtroom were going to decide something so important and not one of them ever had a callus on their hand.  None of them were working people.  When John ran for a second term as Business Manager, he lost the election.  This led him to reflect on what he wanted to do with his life, especially with his realization about the court system.  During the next year, while again working as an electrician, he thought about what he might want to do.  By this time, his baby brother, Paul William Kaspar, had become the first person in his family to get a full college degree.  He had studied mechanical engineering at Drexel.  He later continued his studies at Stanford University.  Eventually, he decided to attend Cumberland County College, beginning in the Fall of 1977.  He earned his Associate’s Degree one year later in June 1978.  He did this despite continuing to work full-time.  He began taking courses at Glassboro State College in the summer of 1978, then fully matriculated there in the Fall as a history major.  He graduated in June 1979, again completing all academic requirements while working full-time on the night shift.  In the end, he completed his entire Bachelor’s degree in just 21 months.  He pushed so hard because he knew that going to college was far easier while working the night shift.  He was worried that the night shift might end at any time, which would make it much harder and slower for him to get his degree.  Even before graduating from GSC, he had been accepted at the Temple School of Law.  He earned his law degree in the Spring of 1982.  Again, he worked full-time during these three years.  He had no choice, as he had five children.  After graduating, he left electrical work and the IBW and joined a law firm in Vineland.  After a number of years, they named him a partner.  He then left to go out on his own, working first as a prosecutor in Vineland.  In 1991, Judge Martin Pagliughi of the Vineland Municipal Court retired.  In 1992, the mayor of Vineland nominated John to replace Judge Pagliughi, and the City Council confirmed his appointment.  Reappointed four times, John retired in 2007. He is proud of several things that he did as judge.  He was the first person south of Trenton to put in closed circuit television, which enhanced security at the time. Today, it is everywhere.  Another thing for which he remains proud is that we way that he dealt with domestic violence cases.  Many of his fellow judges decided these cases by telephone.  He always insisted, no matter the time of day or night, on seeing the individuals face to face.  He often had to award the custody of children in such moments, and he believed then, and now, that it was vital to observe the demeanor of the witness instead of relying on the secondhand opinion of the police officers.  In 2008, Mayor Robert Romano asked him to return after his successor resigned.  He retired a second time in 2013.  In retirement, he has played a lot of golf while also overseeing several rental properties.

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I didn’t consider going to college when I graduated from high school or even after I got out of the Marines, although I would have been able to use the GI Bill. I had not been a good student in high school.  The person who eventually pushed me to go to college was my wife.  She had been a history major at Beaver College (now Arcadia University), and she said that I should study history because I liked the subject so much.  Indeed, my father was also a history buff, and he took me to Gettysburg a couple of times while I was in high school.  Another moment that foreshadowed my later academic success took place in my senior year.  I got the highest mark that year in United States history. I didn’t think too much of it at the time.  Mainly, I remember the two students vying for valedictorian were frustrated that they had not gotten this mark.  After I was older, I made a friend who shared my history enthusiasm, and we visited Gettysburg every July 3^rd for many years until he passed.  We visited a number of other sites, including those related to the American Revolution as well as the Civil War.  Visiting Antietam Battlefield in December when they lit 23,000 candles, one for every casualty at that battle, was one of the most impressive things I ever saw. 

After I completed my degree at Cumberland County College, I considered both Rutgers Camden and Glassboro State College.  Rutgers didn’t promise to accept all my credits, but GSC agreed to take them all.  So, it was a no-brainer. 

My experience at Glassboro State was a blur.  I was working so hard that I would show up to class in overalls sometimes and then head to work straight after. I didn’t have time to do much outside of the classroom.  One exception to this rule, however, involved a paper for Herbert Richardson which he thought was good enough to present at a regional conference for undergraduates being hosted by Glassboro State College.  I had very little time to work further on this paper, especially as he told me that it had to be condensed and shortened for reading at this conference.  I still remember the title of this paper, which was “British Interference with Slavic Nationalism.”  Despite being so busy, I did find time to do this editing and read the paper at the conference, which was fortunately on a Saturday.

I enjoyed my course with Dr. Richardson.  I also remember Professor Marie Wanek.  I really liked her.  She was very professional.  It is hard to explain why I felt such warmth to her, but I still have that feeling all these years later.  I also recall Professor Gary Hunter.  It has been a long time, so I don’t remember exactly what class I had with him, but I do remember meeting him one time outside of class. I was visiting a friend of mine, Cavini Andro, who had travelled to the South to be involved in the Civil Rights Movement.  When I dropped by his house, I found Dr. Hunter visiting and interviewing him for his research.

I remember one class that had a very interesting research project.  I believe this was with Richard Porterfield.  You were charged with tracking a property all the way back to the 17^th century.  The building that I got was a historical home up in Repaupo. I remember spending Fridays doing research on this project, sometimes down in the basement of the Gloucester County Courthouse and sometimes up in Trenton at the State Archives.  I eventually traced that property all the way back to the grant from Charles II.

Looking back on that time in my life, I just think about how busy I was during this period.  I was either in class, driving, studying, or working almost 24 hours a day.  I can say that the research skills that I learned at Glassboro State, especially on the property research assignment, proved very valuable to me in law school and then later as a lawyer. 

My family has a long history with the place currently called Rowan University. Counting my mother and me and several family members of mine, we have degrees with five different names from Glassboro Normal School to Glassboro State Teachers College to Glassboro State College to Rowan College to Rowan University.  When the College changed its name to Rowan in the 1990s, they asked me if I wanted a new degree with the new name. I said yes, but I mentioned about my mother graduating in 1929 and getting a new degree for her as well. They sent them both to me.  When I presented it to my mother, you would have thought she had found the holy grail. My mother only received her teaching certificate in 1929.  This new degree said that she had a Bachelor’s degree.  She framed it and proudly displayed this in her living room for the rest of her life.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100+,” an ongoing collection of memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff that began as part of the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Due to interest in the project, the number of interviewees continues to grow.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 and Project 100+ entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/