The Ties That Bind
Introduction
Women described the challenges of pursuing their careers after obtaining teaching degrees at Millersville. Some were not allowed to teach after they were married, or had to put their education and/or careers on hold. Women of color experienced racist behavior on the part of some and encouragement and support from others at the predominantly white school. Women often faced expectations based on traditional gender roles while studying or working at Millersville.
Models of Behavior
“we were supposed to be pretty models of behavior and . . . I remember, even as a day student . . . Dean Lyndon used to have little teas in the afternoon and of course you’d have to dress up, I mean, of course we wore skirts all the time anyway but we had to go and drink our tea and have pleasant conversation.”
Catherine Charles Glass, Class of 1953
“In [the] Library Science department, we were encouraged to dress professionally . . . I remember our teacher, Miss Nelson, telling us to dress appropriately . . .very often if I wore something that was nice, they would tell me about it. They’d go out of their way to tell me about it . . . We were always an example to our students. Always respectful.”
Betty Curtis, Class of 1960
Women of Color
“Well, I had a music teacher who asked me why was I here, why was I at Millersville, why wasn’t I with my people? . . . 1958, my freshman year, away from home, and I never learned how to play music, never learned how to play the piano. I got enough to get out of the course, but no, that was . . . ‘why are you here, why aren’t you with your people?’ You know, all of 17, what do you say? I said . . . well I’m here to get an education.”
Yvonne Lambert Toney, Class of 1962
“Well, there were very, very, very few minorities and, as I said, I had a roommate my freshman year, but my sophomore, junior, and senior year I had a room by myself. I didn’t have a roommate. I think now if you want a single room, you have to pay extra . . . No, I didn’t pay extra. I guess they were just trying to keep peace. So when I asked, they gave me a single room and I had a single room the whole 3 years.”
Yvonne Lambert Toney, Class of 1962
“Because I was older . . . not only that, I was black . . . Yvonne’s mother was so delighted to meet me because her daughter was coming to Millersville and Yvonne had been fighting to get into Millersville for some time because her teachers at Coatesville refused to give her a recommendation because they said all black teachers should be trained at Cheyney State Teachers College and her mother said . . . no, I want her to go to Millersville . . . I said . . . ‘don’t worry, I’ll look after Yvonne.’ . . . Yvonne would come to me and say . . . ‘Betty, these people want to know what you are.’ Yvonne was very dark. I was not. And I said . . . ‘what do you mean what I am?’ ‘What race you belong to.’ I said . . . ‘girlfriend, just tell them I’m an American.’ I said . . . here I came through the discrimination in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . . . served in the United States military, completed 2 years at this magnificent institution out at Los Angeles . . . nobody ever asked me anything of this type. And we were always welcome as vets.”
Betty Curtis, Class of 1960
“I was there that autumn and then the winter semester and then I never returned to . . . living on campus . . . I went to the YWCA and spent the rest of my time at the YW . . . that was a cool experience . . . That was much more interesting and you had all kinds of people there. You’d have young ladies who come from all over Pennsylvania to work in different offices and one thing or another, so they were more work oriented. And it was a very interesting time. That’s when the pill came out. Should we use the pill or shouldn’t we? We had all these discussions and it was an interesting time. And that was a whole different atmosphere.”
Betty Curtis, Class of 1960
Restrictions in the Workplace
“[Miss Helen Ganser: ‘] Come in, Miss Keller . . . now I saw Mr. Keller sitting on the charging desk. You know that’s very unprofessional . . . Also, you realize that the state is basically paying for your education. The honorable thing you understand is not to marry, it’s to work for the state.’ Well I really listened to her because in January of ‘46 we were married.”
Frances Keller Keller, Class of 1945
“I just taught three years. I would have taught longer. But it was during the Depression and . . . if you were married and your husband had a job, then you could not teach. The job I got, the first job I took over the school from a woman who had taught for quite a few years and she had to stop teaching because her husband had a job. I guess that was so that one person in the family had work . . . To spread the jobs out a little more, rather than have two in one family, maybe another family not have any. . . As soon as I got married I had to stop teaching.”
Dorothy Nissley Elmer, Class of 1934
“I wanted [to teach] 6th grade but they saved the student teachers who were the males for 6th grade although there were two in 5th grade. They had the first choice.”
Janice Brenneman Duffy, Class of 1952
“I think maybe the men were promoted a little bit sooner than the women that were there. . . The women were going to stay regardless . . . So that the men might have been a bit more ambitious and would have moved if they could have gone to another one. So I had the feeling that the men did have the preference for the promotions and stuff like that.”
Edna Ross Simon, Faculty, Education, 1961-1972