Patricia Fairfield-Artman Oral History Collection
-
-
Oral history interview with Clara A. Ridder, 2004,[text/print transcript]
-
Clara A. Ridder (1915-2012) graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1936 with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. In 1938, she obtained a Master of Science in Nutrition from the University of Arizona and received a PhD in Home Economics from Cornell University in 1950. Ridder served as the Perkins County, Nebraska home demonstration agent from 1938 to 1940; the Colorado Nutrition Council executive secretary from 1943 to 1945; and as the Sevel, Inc. director of home economics from 1945 to 1948. Ridder talks about her childhood on her father's ranch in Nebraska and teaching at a one-room schoolhouse after she graduated from high school in 1929. She remembers the difficulties her father faced during the Great Depression. Ridder recalls working while going to school for her degrees, her decision to change her PhD focus to design, and her extensive study on chair design. She remembers her teaching career at New Mexico State College, Florida State University, University of Arkansas, and Woman's College (now UNC Greensboro). Ridder discusses the physical and curriculum changes at Woman's College, her reshaping the housing and interior design curriculum, and the transition to co-education. She recalls Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Mereb E. Mossman and the increase of male faculty. Ridder also comments on budgetary concerns, faculty relationships, and the academic quality at the college.
-
-
Oral history interview with Dorothy Darnell, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Dorothy Darnell (1923-2018) received her Bachelor of Science in Secretarial Administration in 1944 from Woman's College, now UNC Greensboro. She taught at Greensboro Senior High School and at Elon College before coming to Woman's College in 1956 as a part-time instructor in business. In 1987, Darnell retired as assistant dean of the Office of Academic Advising. Darnell talks about her personal history, her education, and the effects of the Great Depression on her family. She describes attending the Woman's College and being a student. Darnell discusses her husband, her busy life teaching after having children, and working under Acting Dean Vance Littlejohn in the Graduate School. She also describes her various positions within the Woman's College, including associate dean of the Office of Academic Advising and the being the first designated person to work with students with disabilities. Darnell remembers Tom Martin who was one of the first male students on campus; faculty members Louise Alexander, Laura Anderton, and Allen Trelease; and college administrators Harriet Elliott, Brooks Graham, William Moran, Mereb Mossman, Tommy Lou Smith, Patricia Sullivan, Katherine Taylor, and Charles Tisdall. Darnell also talks about the Civil Rights Movement, student life, and the college becoming co-educational in 1963.
-
-
Oral history interview with Jane Tucker Mitchell, 2004,[text/print transcript]
-
Jane Tucker Mitchell (1931- ) graduated from Mary Baldwin College in 1953 and received her master's degree in 1955 from George Washington University. In 1958, Mitchell joined the faculty of Woman's College, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as an instructor at the Curry Demonstration School. In 1964, she received a Fulbright Grant to study in France and obtained her PhD in 1973 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mitchell recalls her parents operating a hotel in West Virginia, the affect that the Great Depression had on her family, and her early education. She remembers her undergraduate years at Mary Baldwin College and obtaining her master's degree at George Washington University. Mitchell discusses coming to Woman's College and her experiences at the Curry Demonstration School and the Department of Education. She discusses the co-educational transition, the physical expansion, and the student body growth of the college, as well as the Civil Rights Movement in Greensboro. Mitchell also talks about obtaining her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her joint appointment to the Department of Romance Languages and the Department of Education. She speaks about student/faculty relationships, faculty life, and the politics of being a university instructor. Mitchell recalls the closing of the Curry Demonstration School, the difficulty in grading student teachers, her personal accomplishments in teaching, and the enticements the university provided to bring in new faculty. She also describes her life after retiring from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1996.
-
-
Oral history interview with Jean Buchert, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Jean Ruth Buchert (1922-2016) received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri at Columbia. She received a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed her to study in Rome, Italy from 1953 to 1954. In 1957, Buchert completed her PhD at Yale University in English Language and Literature with a specialty in Renaissance. From 1957 to 1991, she taught English at Woman's College, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Buchert served as vice chairman of the Faculty Council, secretary of Epsilon chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa, and was on the Board of the SAT college entrance examination. Buchert talks about her personal history, including her education, and traveling the country, as well as work history. She recalls student life when she taught at the university, ideals of the time, student involvement, and faculty influence. Buchert describes faculty backgrounds, chancellors, and certain issues that arose during her time at the university. She covers Chancellors Edward Kidder Graham, Otis Singletary, and William Moran and their effect on faculty. She also speaks a great deal about Vice Chancellor Mereb E. Mossman. Buchert describes how faculty promotions were handled and the transition to co-education. She also recalls faculty/chancellor relationships and the Chancellor Moran/Alumni Association dispute. Buchert comments on the Board of Trustees, Greensboro Sit-ins, the School of Business, and Allen Trelease's book about the university's history.
-
-
Oral history interview with Josie Nance "Nancy" White, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Josie Nance "Nancy" White (1925-2007) graduated in 1946 from Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with a Bachelor of Arts. She received her Master of Education in 1955 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her PhD from Woman's College in 1963. White taught public school in Salisbury, North Carolina, from 1946 to 1951, and taught in the School of Education and the School of Home Economics at the college from 1951 to 1988. She received the university's Alumni Teaching Excellence Award in 1970, the Gladys Strawn Bullard Award in 1986, and the Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1993. White discusses her childhood, parents, education, and career. She describes her experience teaching at Curry School and how she obtained her PhD. White explains how she enrolled in the Child Development-Family Relations doctoral program and became the first and only person to receive a PhD degree from Woman's College before the college became co-educational and obtained university status in 1963. She details her decision to teach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her campus experiences. White describes how she created a program for early childhood majors and childhood development majors to broaden their scope by minoring in one or the other areas. She discusses being an advisor to the Golden Chain Honorary Society and becoming an honorary member of the society. White speaks about being an advisor to Student Government Association, the transition to co-education at the college, and the Civil Rights Movement in Greensboro. She talks about student life, Chancellor Patricia Sullivan, and faculty/student relationships. White also recalls developing a child care program for university employees and her life after retirement from teaching.
-
-
Oral history interview with Laura G. Anderton, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Laura Gaddes Anderton (1918-2011) graduated in 1940 from Wellesley College. In 1943, she joined the United States Naval Reserve know as Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Anderton received a Master of Science from Brown University in 1948; a Certificate from the University of London, England in 1953; and her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1959. From 1948 to 1987, she served in various capacities at the Woman's College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) as instructor, associate professor, professor, and associate dean. Anderton describes her different roles at the university. She talks about her career history and ambitions, as well as the students, faculty, and developing technologies at the college. Anderton discusses the co-educational transition, student government, and the Civil Rights Movement. She also touches on women in biology, Chancellor Pat Sullivan, the Golden Chain Society, the Home Economics Cafeteria, and African American students on campus.
-
-
Oral history interview with Rosemary McGee, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Rosemary McGee (1926 - ) graduated in 1947 from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos, Texas. In 1949, she received her master's degree from Illinois State Normal University in Normal, Illinois, and her PhD from the State University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1954. McGee served as professor, acting dean in the Physical Education Department, and dean of women at Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now UNC Greensboro. McGee discusses her personal history growing up in Texas, her education, and her career. She describes coming to Woman's College to teach and her experience with the Physical Education Department, now the School of Physical Education. McGee recalls faculty life, the co-educational transition, the Civil Rights Movement, and the first African American students on the campus. She also discusses the establishment of master's and doctoral degree programs for the Physical Education Department. McGee describes her experience and duties as the dean of women and the acting dean of Physical Education Department, during which she equalized salaries for women faculty. She recalls faculty committee politics and her decision to retire early. McGee also talks about her life after retirement, faculty attitudes toward co-education, and the influence of Chancellors William Moran and Patricia Sullivan.
-
-
Oral history interview with Sarah "Sally" M. Robinson, 2004 [text/print transcript]
-
Sarah "Sally" M. Robinson (1939-) graduated in 1961 from Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, now UNC Greensboro, with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. She received her Master of Science in 1964 from Springfield College, Massachusetts, and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974. Robinson talks about her academic experience as a student at Woman's College, working at various campus offices between semesters, and student life in the dormitories. She discusses her experience as a professor at other universities and at UNC Greensboro, the impact on the college during the transition to university status and co-education in the 1960s; the Home Economics Cafeteria; male faculty; and the music, home economics, nursing, and physical education departments transition to school status. Robinson also recalls strengths and weaknesses in different departments and interdepartmental relationships. She touches on the Civil Rights Movement and goes into detail about the integration movement in the Greensboro public schools. Robinson speaks about women in leadership roles at the college, faculty meetings, the development of the Master's in Fine Arts program at Woman's College, and the dance labanotation system. She recalls her education and career history, planning her own master's program, working with The Society for People with Disabilities, and attending the Southern Association for Physical Education for College Women meetings.
