This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Antoinette (Toni) Libro. She was born in Somers Point and raised in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Toni’s father was a builder and residential contractor. Her mother was a homemaker, but she also worked part-time for Garden State Publishing Company, which released several periodicals about agriculture such as Poultry Digest. She oversaw the women who bound the various magazines as they came down the conveyer belt. Toni had an older sister named Joan who recently passed away. Neither of Toni’s parents attended college, but they insisted that both Toni and Joan attend college. Joan attended Trenton State College and became an accomplished pianist and music teacher. Toni attended public schools and graduated from Ocean City High School in 1956. She enrolled at Glassboro State College in the Fall of 1956 as an English major, a social studies minor, and with certification in secondary education. She graduated four years later in 1960. She did her student teaching in senior English at Ocean City High School and finished out the year for her cooperating teacher, Walter Williams, who had taken ill. The following year, she taught English at her alma mater, Ocean City High School. After this year, she decided that she wanted to live in New York City. She enrolled in a graduate program at New York University and moved to the West Village. A year later, in April of 1963, she got married, left the graduate program, and returned to Sea Isle (though she kept her apartment in the West Village). In November of 1964, she gave birth to Aimee Lee. In addition to raising her daughter, she enrolled in the English master’s program at Glassboro State and took a job teaching art at Sea Isle City Elementary School. In the middle of the 1968-1969 academic year, a position opened in the Communications Department for a faculty member to teach Composition. The College offered her the position. She took it after consulting with her principal who encouraged her not to pass up the opportunity. This led to a career at Glassboro State and Rowan University that lasted for almost four decades. During this time, she returned to NYU and earned her Ph.D. in a humanties program that led her to study abroad for two summers, first in Paris and second, in Kyoto, Japan. Those years will be the subject of a future interview.  After retiring in 2006, she and her husband sold their house in Pitman and bought a house in St. Augustine, Florida.  She still owns their house in Sea Isle City but resides in Florida while spending the summer months in New Jersey. 

*****

 I took the entrance test at Glassboro State College was accepted. I applied to no other college, and I only did this because my parents insisted. I actually didn’t want to go to college at the time. Glassboro State, however, had just opened up its curriculum so that you could now study English literature and prepare for high school teaching. Prior to 1956, the College only trained students to teach in elementary schools or junior highs. Once I arrived on campus, I fell in love with Glassboro State. My high school experience, where I had done well and finished sixth in my class, could not compare to what I was learning in my college classes. Glassboro State had recently hired a number of very talented young faculty as part of the expansion of the curriculum.

Right from my arrival on campus, I joined the staff of The Whit, where I was an occasional writer, the layout editor, and a cartoonist. George Reinfeld was the faculty advisor for this weekly newspaper. Professor Reinfeld was also my instructor for two journalism classes and later American literature. I can remember his teaching of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. I can still see in my mind a drawing of Walt Whitman that he had in his office. Professor Reinfeld was very demanding in his courses, but I loved them and learned how to write a news story. He smoked a pipe and walked across campus eating an occasional chocolate mint ice cream cone.   

I can’t remember now how I first heard about the The Whit, but it was probably from Professor Reinfeld’s class. It is hard to say, however, as I may have just thought it was the thing to do. In any event, my good friends also worked at The Whit, including Harriett Reardon and Dick Trent (who later became the Editor-in-Chief). I very much enjoyed my time on The Whit, but later on I became even more interested in launching the College’s first literary magazine. English professor John Roch became the first faculty advisor, and we named the new publication, Avant. I can still close my eyes and remember the meeting where we decided the name. We were upstairs in Memorial Hall, and I had written some ideas on the back of an envelope. I remember one idea was “Realms,” but also, Avant. However, most of us liked “Avant” best of the names we tossed around. It seemed to capture the forward-leaning spirit of the times. We planned the magazine during my junior year, and it launched in my senior year. There was a lot of work to make this happen, soliciting manuscripts, selecting manuscripts, editing manuscripts, finding a publisher, printing, and then distributing the final product. 

I took Professor James McKenzie for multiple classes. He had received his doctorate at Harvard where he had studied under one of the nation’s leading Shakespeare specialists, George Kittredge. I took courses with him on the Romantic poets and on Shakespeare. His deep connection to the work was always evident, and the depth of his affection came through.  Through his teaching, he was able to help us young people see meaning in the text that was not readily evident. In addition, he had a regal bearing that impressed us. He also had a wry sense of humor. He was also demanding, and I can remember that he made us memorize line-by-line five or so Shakespeare sonnets and write them out word for word for our final exam. I can still rattle off some of these sonnets today! Finally, I can remember him standing out at Commencement because he wore his crimson robes from Harvard. I thought this was appropriate because he was a standout faculty member.

Nathan Carb was hired while I was an undergraduate, beginning in my senior year. He was the youngest PhD ever hired at Glassboro State. He was a wonderful professor and taught European playwrights and authors. I particularly remember our reading Pirandello and his play, “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” and Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” among others.  He impressed us undergraduates.  He was worldly and loved to travel. He particularly loved Venice.  His teaching was infused and enriched by his cosmopolitan experiences, though he did so in a subtle way.  He had a wonderful sense of humor, and I remember his using his wit and irony to teach various works.

Professor Richard Gillespie taught theater at Glassboro State. I remember him calling us together one day. He said that we had to come to listen to a record he had acquired. I can’t remember where we listened to it now. Maybe it was at his house? Maybe it was in Memorial Hall? I never forgot the record; it was the soundtrack of West Side Story. He said that no one had ever heard anything like this, and we had to hear it. We sat on the floor mesmerized by what we were hearing—the soundtrack. I can still feel the excitement we felt that night. This story demonstrates things that were so important about my time at Glassboro State. First, it shows the enthusiasm and passion of the faculty and their desire to share it with us students. Second, it shows that our learning took place as much outside of the classroom as inside it.

Professor David Lloyd, later a very accomplished haiku poet, was one of the leaders of the theater department. He was responsible for my joining a production of “Othello,” which he was directing. I played Bianca. This became a legendary performance for many reasons, including the lead performance of the actor who played Othello, Clarence Martin. Another important element in the play was the acting of Bill Long, who played Cassio to my Bianca. It was an ambitious black box production in the basement of Bunce Hall. The basement was where we put on serious and experimental productions as opposed to the more mainstream productions that took place in Tohill theatre. Campus Players presented the show on for six nights from May 23^rd to 28th, 1960.  All were sold out. All who were there knew it was special, and that feeling has only been strengthened over the years.

I can still remember the exact seat I occupied in Harold Wilson’s class, United States history.  Dr. Wilson so impressed me. He was always “there.” He was always present. It was so clear that he took a real interest in his students.  He had a really nice personality and a good sense of humor.  He made history come alive, and I can still remember our discussions. He could go far beyond the text to help us understand what we were studying. I can remember one time where he brought up a novel called The Valley of Decision. He asked if anyone knew who wrote the book. I raised my hand, and said, “Marsha Davenport.” He was stunned by this, and said, “How did you know that?” I said that I had just read it. I can still remember the feeling of this moment.  He invited us to his home in Glassboro during the semester. We had a lovely lunch, and I remember that his wife was there. We had an opportunity to talk in a more casual way.  His invitation to his home made us feel so welcome. I seem to remember a wrap-around porch at his home. In any event, such invitations are more examples of the importance of outside-the-classroom experiences. As I recall, some of us were also invited to Dr. McKenzie’s tiny apartment in Pitman and Dr. Marie Campbell’s home, who taught folklore and American literature courses and carried her books in a wicker basket across campus. I can remember reading Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton in her course and still have the textbook of stories that we used in her class. She was a noted folklorist and spoke with a southern drawl, and struck us as different from other professors, perhaps due to her longtime connection southern Appalachian folktales and eastern Kentucky. I remember her using the word ‘amoral’ for the first time in one of our literature discussions.

When I was an undergraduate, Stanton Langworthy was in the Education Department. I took a course with him titled, I think, “Foundations of Education.” I was very impressed with him. It is hard to describe what made him special. The issues we discussed in class were fascinating, and he had a great way of bringing life to them. He took his time talking, lots of pauses, but lots of authority. We all sat around a big seminar table. I can remember one time he was handing back papers, and he was overall displeased. However, he said that there was one paper that was an exception “from that girl in the black turtleneck,” and he pointed to me. I was shocked, but it obviously made me happy, and I carry that memory with me all these years later. Later, we had a memorable conversation about my hopes for my future, and we became friendly afterwards. When I joined the faculty, he was still on the staff.  A few years on, he sent me a note after a promotion that meant a lot to me.  I remember it said something like he enjoyed “seeing my star rise.” Another thing that I remember is that Stanton’s granddaughter Elizabeth Voltz played Alice Paul in a play that I wrote called “Watchfire for Freedom.” This was in the 1990s, although the play was not actually produced at that time, we were in rehearsals.  We dedicated the 1960 Yearbook to Stanton Langworthy.  

I loved John Sangree.  I had him during my first year for biology.  I can remember him telling us that the trees and other plantings on campus were just as much part of our daily lives as the buildings and other man-made structures on campus.  I remember him teaching us about the trees with such wonder that we took on his deep affection for them.  He was a very good teacher, but he came across as an even greater person.  He was the kindest, sweetest, and most genuine person I had ever met.  During that class, his wife passed away.  He told us about it, and he was just so sad.  I remember him saying that he was going to go home and put on classical music because it was something that could soothe his soul.  I am so happy that they named the greenhouse after him, and I hope they never tear it down.  He was one of the founding professors at the Normal School.

I did not have Richard Mitchell or Ed Wolfe while an undergraduate, but I had both of them when I returned to get my master’s degree.  Mitchell was a brilliant teacher, and it was fun to be in his class.  He expected a lot of us as students, but he gave a lot of himself as well.  He was a strong personality.  I got along well with him, but he did not get along well with everyone.  I remember that we had to critique a book and present it to the class; I did The Grapes of Wrath and he said afterward that it was as good as any professor could do! As Dean, I remember him coming into my office (with his Komondor dog) and asking to transfer from the English Department to the Communications Department because of some conflict.  I had Ed Wolfe for a graduate class, but I really got to know him during his trips with Mike Kelly to England and other parts of Europe.  My entire family went multiple times on these trips.  In fact, my future son-in-law proposed to my daughter in Venice on one of those trips!

I can’t begin to tell you how much Glassboro State College means to me.  Not only did I learn so much, I had a wonderful time. I lived in Oak Hall for two years, (freshman and senior years, my favorite residence), one year in Laurel Hall, and one year in Linden.  I loved living on campus.  You don’t have to go to an Ivy League college to have a top-notch university experience. I don’t think that I could have gotten a better education anywhere in the country.  The faculty were brilliant, and the classes were just great.  So many doors were opened to me.  In literature alone, the gifts bestowed on me ranged from the depth of Shakespeare to appreciating the Romantic poets to understanding literary criticism to an everlasting love of theatre and writing.  It was a beautiful experience.  The College was relatively small, and it was easy to make friends and to get to know the faculty outside of the classroom, some of whom became lifelong friends. 

*****

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/