Women & Men
Introduction
Women remembered many opportunities for dating at Millersville. While rules were in place to protect women at Millersville, many described adventures they shared in getting around the rules. Those who lived off campus had much more freedom. Dating was particularly challenging during World War II, but returning veterans added much excitement to campus life.
Snapping
"You’ve heard of snapping? … That was when you dated. It seems even before my time, the boys and girls were not allowed to speak to each other during the day. They could only do it during this hour after dinner. So if they wanted to have a date with a girl that night, they’d snap their fingers. We always said if you’re going out you’re going out snapping."
Jane Gray Smith, Class of 1933
"Back to earlier years, I guess when my parents were there they really weren’t supposed to talk. There was a Dean of Women [who] was like the social police. There was only a certain hour after class, after business. They called them Snappers, because they would have to snap their fingers…I want to talk to you later. In the yearbook my parents were famous as some of the main Snappers. I got the biggest kick out of that."
Barbara Keener Shenk, Class of 1949/1979
Women, Men and Dating
"Well, when we were there, we were allowed to have the dates on the campus . . . Of course, at 5:00 the bell rang and we had to go in. I don’t think the fellows did, but we did. The girls had to go in. And then of course dinner was served shortly after that. But we were allowed to go out on the campus in the afternoons, not after 5:00 of course. But then there were always maybe things in the auditorium or something like that and we could go to the indoor things and we could go together. They were not as strict as they were in the 1800's but we made out all right and there were nice little hiding places on the campus. And it worked out quite well because George and I had no problem after we really got to dating."
Lelia M. Jackson Stauffer, Class of 1929
"We were free to go to programs and things of that kind at night and we could go with a fellow if we wanted to . . . We were allowed to go to the auditorium with a date and so one Sunday, it was a dreary day and eight of us...eight couples were in there . . . We didn’t turn the lights on. And you know with all those beautiful stained glass windows in that auditorium, it didn’t get too much light. After a while, ping. . . the light went on. And there came the president . . . I forget who that was that time. I believe it was . . . Dr. Gordinier. And he turned them on. He told the boys to get out of there and get over to their dormitory and the girls . . . you come and go to your dormitory. He chased us . . . Probably because we didn’t have any lights on."
Lelia M. Jackson Stauffer, Class of 1929
"They were really relaxed when I was at Millersville because earlier the women and men were kept strictly separate. And the men couldn’t even stand out at the gate and watch the trolley car . . . with the lady showing their ankles when they got off the trolley car. That was in the first prayer meeting . . . well, the first dance . . . four ladies got together, the four women teachers had prayer meeting. They were so upset that they allowed dances. Now that was before my time. So they were really relaxed by my time. But then they were further relaxed when I came back as a faculty member . . . We danced with the boys. And the Charleston was all the rage."
Laura Buller Doering, Class of 1935
"There were a lot of couples dating when I went to Millersville. We had rules . . . we had to be back in our room, you know . . . I think you could have two 10:00 late nights a month. And the first year I wasn’t in the dorm, but the second year I was in the dorm and I don’t think it was any different from most other campuses because they were together in social events. They used to have what they called the Rat Race every evening . . . go over and dance for half an hour. You could go to the library together. You could walk around on the campus together. I never had a boyfriend at Millersville. I had a boyfriend who came to Millersville to see me the second year, but I never dated any of the boys that . . . when I was going to Millersville. But I think they had a nice relationship. And they were allowed to meet over in the . . . they had a big lobby in Old Main. They were allowed to socialize on the campus and they were also allowed to go off campus if they got permission."
Mae Slater Wingenroth, 1936 – 1937, 1953 BSE
“Of course we all wore skirts, pants for women had not come into vogue yet. And during my junior and senior year I must admit I think I was rather popular because some of the girls I was friends with would come over to my house, it was a weekend and then of course their boyfriends could come too…if they were in the dorm the would have to be in the dorm at a certain hour, I forget what hour [it] usually was, eleven, or something like that.”
Catherine Charles Glass, Class of 1953
Dating in Wartime
"When Dick had a friend, we invited a girl to go with him. But there wasn’t anybody else around to date. . . [There were] . . . 18 guys . . . they were 4F . . . they had some physical disability, most of them . . . One thing we did . . . Franklin & Marshall had a contingent of Naval [men], they were students who were going into the Navy and they were at Franklin & Marshall getting some of their academic training. We would go in there for dances once in a while. And then the USO had dances at the Moose [Lodge], I think it was, on East King Street and there was a second floor dance hall and we would be invited in there so there would be some girls for these . . . servicemen to dance with."
Frances Keller Keller, Class of 1945
"One of the girls who was a Quaker fell desperately in love with a Jewish boy she met at F&M and they just knew that there was no future for them. They were desperately in love and finally he had to go off to the Navy and she ended up marrying a boy from Quarryville and was the librarian in Quarryville forever and ever and ever."
Frances Keller Keller, Class of 1945