This scrapbook includes photographs, illustrations, commencement and class day booklets, correspondence, report cards, and ephemera collected by Emma R. Kerns, Model School Class of 1916. It offers insight into the daily lives and school careers of the Model students throughout the school's final years before its closure after the 1917 academic year. Later annotations also appear; some are perhaps by Miss Kerns before her death in 1977, but others most likely were added by past Trentoniana librarians following the book's donation ca. 1977. Any additions in a clearly different hand have been rendered in italics. Some of these italicized annotations simply read "index," probably referring to Trentoniana's card catalogue.

Due to the volume's bulky nature, it was not possible to digitize without disbinding the entire volume and scanning pages individually. Two photos of the book before this process are included at the end of the PDF. Pages have been scanned in order, skipping any blank sections; as a result, page numbers may appear to jump. Kerns also pasted many booklets and folded items into these pages, and these items sometimes required multiple scans to entirely capture. Finally, note that file size limits have required a significant amount of compression to host this PDF, and may negatively affect the quality of the images. An unaltered version is available through Trentoniana upon request.

A partial transcription of the handwritten sections is included.

Content warning: While the vast majority of this work contains no harmful content, one "joke" on page 141 includes insulting language about African-Americans.

This scrapbook includes photographs, illustrations, commencement and class day booklets, correspondence, ephemera, and manuscript materials collected by Grace B. Fletcher, Model School Class of 1907. It offers insight into the daily lives and school careers of the Model students throughout the first decade of the 20th century. While the bulk of the items pasted into the work date to around 1907, some date to as early as 1901. In addition, some annotations must have been added later, at least as early as 1916.

Due to the volume's bulky nature, it was not possible to digitize without disbinding the entire volume and scanning pages individually. Two photos of the book before this process are included at the end of the PDF. Pages have been scanned in order, skipping any blank sections; as a result, page numbers may appear to jump. Fletcher also pasted many booklets and folded items into these pages, and these items sometimes required multiple scans to entirely capture. Finally, note that file size limits have required a significant amount of compression to host this PDF, and may negatively affect the quality of the images. An unaltered version is available through Trentoniana upon request.

A partial transcription of the handwritten sections is included.

The following notes relate to specific pages of the document:

• The Class Day booklet on page 121 has not been scanned, as it is identical to one on page 87.
• The clippings found on pages 136-139 were not pasted into the book and may have originally been placed elsewhere.

The Alumni Association Records span from the beginning of the organization in 1889 until 2008. The Alumni Association still exists and is very active at present, with more than 80,000 members worldwide, as of 2025. The collection contains the organizational records used by the Alumni Association to record and accomplish its work, such as meeting minutes of the general and Executive Board meetings; correspondence; ephemera for reunions, homecomings, annual business meetings, and other college events; financial records; fundraising and merchandising items; publications; materials relating to the Alumni Entrance Gates; photographs; publicity scrapbooks; reports; newspaper clippings; and a small amount of realia related to merchandising.

The Alumni Association Records contain materials from the North Jersey Alumni Association, as well as the general association. While the records are primarily concerned with locations in New Jersey, such as the two locations of the College, it also includes correspondence from members across the country.

Of note are scrapbooks created by Iona Fackler Myers that document the controversy of former college president Robert Heussler. Additionally, the newspaper clippings and scrapbooks extensively document the life events of alumni, faculty, and leadership. These items also show the current events of the local area and the college at large for more than 50 years.

The Clara Wolverton Papers contain materials from her early education beginning in 1892, through Normal School, and her earliest teaching years ending in 1903. It comprises personal items such as her grades book, greeting cards, and notes of affection from her students, as well as professional items such as her teaching contracts and letters of recommendation, and also printed commencement programs and tickets and clippings. There are only a few items after this time period, and they document her involvement in the Red Cross and Botanical Society of Pennsylvania.

There are no materials related to teaching at Trenton Public Schools or attending University of Pennsylvania.

Her collection also initially contained six books, four of which were cataloged and added to the Historical Textbooks and General Collections of Gitenstein Library, and two were deaccessioned due to duplication.

Edward Leefeldt, who was about 28 years old in 1905, seems to have written this notebook as part of a Latin class he taught for the State Normal School at Trenton in September of that year. It includes intermediate elements of Latin grammar, related mostly to the use of the indicative and subjunctive moods, using Julius Caesar and Cicero as example texts. The volume also contained a note giving some provenance. Transcription included.

Content warning: Some of the published music in this collection was used in minstrel shows and some song lyrics may contain racist and harmful depictions of marginalized groups, sexist or misogynistic language, and xenophobic attitudes and opinions.

The collection contains autobiographical information including a curriculum vitae-like document composed after Bray’s retirement. She also jotted down notes for a “Typical day at retirement home” that might have been for an article in the home’s newsletter or other publication.

Her teaching and grading materials include handwritten music for portions of three Richard Wagner works: “Das Rheingold,” “Walkure,” and “Siegfried,” that may have been used for her 1933-1934 class: “German Music of the Romantic Period.” Grading materials include a “Colonial Class Register" notebook from 1947-1948 containing students’ names and grades for the following classes: Chorus, Elementary Appreciation Methods, Supervision of Music, Child Voice, High School Appreciation Methods, and Student Teaching. Also included are handwritten evaluations for the following students, mostly of the class of 1951: Albert Bazzel, Glenn Welshon, Vilma Kosco, and Doris Allen. Bray retired in 1948, which indicates that these students may have been among her last at Trenton State College.

The correspondence contains a variety of material. She received compliments for school performances she directed, as well as congratulations on her retirement. Many letters are from former students who also included updates on their lives or anecdotes about their time in Bray’s classes. There are several letters from Helen Layton Lowrey who worked in the college’s business office and who did Bray’s taxes during several years of her retirement. These letters include news about other former faculty members including Doris Perry and Lulu Haskell. There also are a few letters that Bray wrote to Trenton State College Presidents Edwin Martin and Clayton Brower that include biographical information and details about the development of the Music Department. Finally, there are letters from Effie G. Kuhn, the Head of the Speech Department from 1919-1952, and K. Elizabeth “Betty” Ingalls, an instructor of Music from 1940-1948.

There are two items of ephemera: a pamphlet from the Supervisors School of Music in Westfield, New Jersey, from 1918, and a program for the dedication of Bray Hall in 1964. Publications include a set (with multiple copies) of Bray’s Phono-Song Course, Books 1 - 4, from 1920, and a small number of issues of “Oak Leaves” newsletter from Bray’s retirement home.

The bulk of the collection pertains to Mildred’s time at the New Jersey State Normal School at Trenton from 1913-1915. Of special note is her diary, which begins with a daily account of camping in Shawmont, Pennsylvania (now Roxborough, Northwest Philadelphia) before going off to Normal where she writes of her classroom and social activities. Her copy of the Seal yearbook is heavily signed and annotated with alumni information up to 1980. Her photograph collection documents students in their everyday lives on campus including in their dorm rooms, wearing gym uniforms, performing a Japanese Tea ceremony, and a possible inside joke of her and her friends enacting characters based on their teacher William N. Mumper (the yearbook is inscribed to indicate “Mumpers” characters). There also are several photographs of faculty members (before they were pictured in the yearbooks).

There are some additional materials from the late 1970s including Normal School alumni lists and photographs of her paintings from her post-retirement career as an artist.

Content warning: The materials in this collection include inaccurate, derogatory, and/or offensive depictions of people indigenous to the area, Black people (including Blackface minstrel shows), and Asian people. Please see TCNJ Gitenstein Library Archives and Special Collections Statement on Potentially Harmful Content (https://library.tcnj.edu/about-the-library/archives-and-special-collections/tcnj-gitenstein-library-archives-and-special-collections-statement-on-potentially-harmful-content/).

Series 1 - Academics, 1900-1988 (bulk 1900-1934)
This series contains student materials and items from the Education, English, Music, Physical Education, and Psychology Departments. From the Education Department are the following items: Lillian Brandriff Silvius’ scrapbook of sample paper weaving, stitching, folding, and piecing from 1900 that was used to represent activities for teaching children (and correspondence describing it); “The Quest for Brotherhood: A Peace Morality Play,” written by Avis Black in 1914; a Handbook for Student Teaching from the late 1920s to mid 1930s; and Edna E. Wood’s position paper in support of a four-year [education] program from the early 1930s when the New Jersey State Normal School was transitioning to a bachelor’s program. The English Department is represented by “Fresh Viewpoints 1933-1934,” compositions from the second semester freshman English class of Josephine Peretz. From the Music Department is the paper “Myths-Dramas - A Series of Original Plays based on Greek and Norse Legends: by the Freshman and Sophomore Music Students of State Teachers College, 1930-1931.” From the Physical Education Department is the paper “Essaying the Essay” by the Physical Education Class of 1929 with a bookplate stating it was a gift of Marianna G. Packer (head of the Physical Education Department 1923-1945). From the Psychology Department are Gertrude Kern Herriot Coyle's extensive notes from Lillie A. Williams Psychology Class from 1910-1911, and notes and essays from Elsie Storms Parsloe from 1914-1915.

Series 2 - Administration, 1855-1999 (bulk 1856-1931)
This series is divided into seven subseries: Admissions, Policies, and Procedures; Financials; Trustees; Principals; Publicity; Reports; and School Songs.

Admissions, Policies, and Procedures (1856-1930) contains the following: a prospectus and admissions requirements from 1856, rules of conduct from 1876-1889, list of courses and fees for both the Model and New Jersey State Normal Schools from 1879, table etiquette policy from c.1900, manual of rules for both Model and New Jersey State Normal Schools from 1916, information on the four-year course from 1925, and curricula and entrance requirements for New Jersey State Teachers College in 1929-1930.

Financials (1858-1888) contains treasurer’s bonds for the New Jersey State Normal School in the 1880s, Model School tuition receipts for Elizabeth Hillman in 1858 and Ella Green in 1870, and New Jersey State Normal School boarding fee receipts for Frances R. Meyers from 1870-1871.

Trustees (1868-1884) contains four New Jersey State Normal School Trustee certificates for Benjamin Williamson from 1868 to 1884.

Principals (1858-1999) contains items from or about each principal who served during the New Jersey State Normal School years including the following: correspondence between William Phelps and G.L. Wilson, George H. Cook, Charles T. Wight, and W. H. Payne from 1858 to 1878; a biographical article about Phelps from 1999; programs for the induction of John Seeley Hart in 1862 and his memorial in 1878; research request correspondence regarding biographical information about Lewis Johnson from 1945; a transcript of Washington Hasbrouck’s obituary that was published in The Signal from March 1895; a handmade keepsake banquet program bound in white vellum and green silk end sheets by Mary C. Field with hand lettering by Dickerson H. Farley given in honor of James Green’s 20th anniversary as principal in 1909 and his memorial service announcement from 1920; correspondence between Jerohn Savitz and Governor Edward Stokes, Stephen Congar, Elmer D. Wagner, J. M. Arnold, and H. Brewster Willis from 1919 to 1923; and “publicity notices” that Savitz or his office penned from 1921 to 1923. Additionally, there are materials from Don C. Bliss, including his introduction in 1923; correspondence with Sophie M. Braun and Caroline Woodruff 1927 to 1930; his publication State Teachers College - Past, Present, and Future from 1930; speech transcripts and programs from honorary events in 1930; and articles about Bliss from 1930 and 1937.
Note: Roscoe West became principal (later president) in 1930, and his papers are housed in a separate collection.

Publicity (1855-1931) contains newspapers, loose clippings, and clipping scrapbooks about a variety of subjects pertaining to the founding of the New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools, faculty, students, and school events. Of note is a scrapbook of clippings from the time of Principal James Green and his daughter, Registrar Lucile Green, that dates from 1909 to 1912.

Reports (1917) only contains one report, “Report of Survey of New Jersey State Normal Schools, June 11, 1917.”

School Songs (1905-1933) contains lyrics and sheet music for official school songs including variations of the Alma Mater and “The Blue and the Gold.”

Series 3 - Buildings, Campus, and Locations, 1855-1990 (bulk 1855-1932)
This series contains correspondence about the Trenton location of the new New Jersey State Normal School between Lyman A. Chandler, H. B. Hope, and Henry Woodhull Green from 1855, and a document with building specifications for the New Jersey State Normal School. There is a print of the New Jersey State Normal School from c.1860 that belonged to student Anna M. Cook, as well as several postcards from the 1900s-1910s. Also in this series are materials about Camp Macressav, including several documents about its initial fundraising in 1919, and instructions and rules for use through the early 1930s.

The move to the Hillwood Lakes is not covered in this collection except for the manuscript “Interesting Fact of Historic Hillwood” by Anna Louisa Collins Leaming, who recorded anecdotes about the area from long-time resident Susan Titus in the early 1930s. Note: This document contains racist and derogatory language about Indigenous and Black residents and their burial sites on the land that is now the site of TCNJ’s campus.

Series 4 - Faculty, 1907-1973
The majority of this series comprises banquet programs honoring New Jersey State Normal and Model School teachers including Sarah Ely, Austin Apgar, Lillie A. Williams, Elias F. Carr, Dickerson H. Farley, Mary C. Field, Levi Seeley, and Sarah A. Dynes. This series also includes a list of faculty from 1855-1939 that has been annotated up to 1973, and a handwritten biography (and accompanying typewritten transcript) of Levi Seeley that was written near the time of Seeley’s retirement in December 1917 or celebration in late January 1918.

Series 5 - Students, Student Life, and Student Organizations, 1878-1993 (bulk 1878-1936)
This is the largest series and is divided into eight subseries: Self-governance and Student Government, Literary Societies, Performing Arts Clubs, Performances and Events Programs, Class Year Collections from the New Jersey State Normal School, Personal Collections from the New Jersey State Normal School Students, Class Year Collections from the Model School, and Personal Collections from the Model School Students.

Self-governance and Student Government (1894-1921) contains the constitution and by-laws of the Self-Government Society of the State Schools from c.1894 and the constitution of the New Jersey State Normal School Student Government Association from 1921.

Literary Societies (1896-1936) begins with the scrapbook: “Society Plays, 1910-1918” which includes performance programs, lists of literary society officers and members, and expenses for performances. The first page is numbered 31. There were many loose programs found in the back of the scrapbook; one of them was from 1896, but the rest date from 1913 to 1916, and these are now in a separate folder in chronological order following the scrapbook. The next folders contain performance and event programs that involved multiple societies, usually for debates, and the “Contest Association” dating from 1900 to 1921. There also are folders of event programs for each club including: Adolphian Society (a Black student organization) from 1921, Arguromuthos Society from 1897 to 1923, Clionian Society from 1896, and Gamma Sigma Society from 1897 to 1916 (an historically white student organization that staged annual minstrel shows), Ionian Society from 1910 to 1916, Normal Dramatic Club from 1902 to 1921, Normal Pedagogical Club from 1910 to 1918, Philomathean Society from 1902 to 1936, Sapphonian Society from 1902, Shakespeare Society from 1906 to 1924, Thencanic Society from 1896 to 1915, and Theta Phi Society from 1911 to 1915. Note: This series contains materials that contain and/or refer to inaccurate, derogatory, and/or offensive depictions of Black people.

Performing Arts Clubs (1896-1920) includes the Orpheus Glee Club record book from 1906 to 1908 and performance programs from 1908 to 1917, performance programs from Philomela Glee Club from 1908 to 1917, and State School Glee Club from 1896 to 1920.

Performances and Events Programs (1888-1936) include all of the other events and performances that took place at the New Jersey State Normal School, including concerts given by the school music faculty to the students, holiday celebrations, school-wide musicals and plays, lecture series, presentations by language classes, presentations from gymnastics classes, entertainment from one graduating class to another, and special presentations. This subseries begins with a Memorial Day program from 1888 and ends with a scrapbook of programs from the 1920s to 1933. Other items of note are: the school’s 50th anniversary celebration program from 1905, an invitation to the unveiling of the Farley mural in 1910, and programs from several patriotic festivals following WWI from 1918 to 1920.

Class Year Collections from the New Jersey State Normal School (1896-1993) include a poem and class cheer from class of 1896, manuscript with reminiscences from the class of 1899, class of 1904 wall calendar (with photographs from class of 1903), treasurer’s book from class of June 1912, 1920 class directory, church program dedicated to the class of 1930, class roll and minutes for the junior and senior class of 1931, “Memories of Campus Life by the class of 1933” by Charlotte Wenman Snyder written c.1993, and certificates for George Washington bicentennial tree planting for the classes of 1932 to 1935.

Personal Collections from New Jersey State Normal School Students (c.1878-1961) includes items created or kept by students while at the New Jersey State Normal School such as the following: Sara E. “Sallie” Nivison’s autograph book from the late 1870s to 1890, Anna Watson’s library card from c. 1893-1896, a teaching job offer letter for Adele Cazin from 1896, correspondence between alumni Florence Byrd Dixon and Rachel Jarrold discussing the class of 1899 written in 1954 and 1961, Raphael Petito’s varsity football certificate from 1930, a class schedule for Carol Matthews with notes on musicians from c. 1902 on the back that may date to the early 1930s, and John W. Nuttal’s library card from 1934.

Class Year Collections from the Model School (1901-1940) include W. Brokaw Bamford's copy of “Quinquennial Record of the Boys of the Class of Model ‘96” and clipping of F.W. Roebling, Jr.’s obituary; “A History of the Class of 1904 State Model School” from May 1930; and the “First Supplement” to the history of the Class of 1904 published in October 1940.

Personal Collections from Model School Students (1883-1963) includes items created or kept by students while at the Model School such as “In Memoriam George White Worman, by The Philadelphia Alumni Association of the Trenton Model School, 1890;” and Mary Blackwell's Model School grade card signed by her father John Blackwell in 1902. But the highlights of this subseries are two scrapbooks from Edith Swan Cooper Horner Johnson, class of 1910, and Mary Lawrence, class of 1911.

Edith Swan Cooper Horner Johnson's Model School scrapbook dates mostly from 1910, but was updated to 1971. It contained many loose items tucked inside the back cover dating from 1883 to 1957 that have been rehoused in separate folders for preservation purposes. The scrapbook is commercially printed with a full color image of a bouquet of roses on front inscribed “My Commencement.” The interior pages are printed with a floral border and prompts for adding content. Included in the book are poems, a photograph of Edith, images of the school removed from an Annual Report, a handwritten history of the school, candid photographs of classmates, clippings from local newspapers and The Signal, photographs of faculty with their inscriptions and signatures, 1910 class day and Commencement programs and invitation, essays, programs for literary society plays and concerts (including minstrel shows), photographs of the 1910 champion basketball and relay teams, tickets for basketball games, small souvenir scissors, a receipt for class dues, school songs and yells, and several items from her post-Model (and New Jersey State Normal School) years. Post-school items include programs for Philomathean Club reunions, notes and attendance on Model and or New Jersey State Normal reunions from 1917-1965 (with gaps), and a list for “round robin” letters for 1970-1971. The loose items removed from the back of her scrapbook include: memories of her brother Isaac Cooper Jr. by her mother Laura Cooper from 1883 to 1887, clippings, unidentified photographs, various ephemera from the Model School c.1910-1912, and clippings about reunions.

Mary Lawrence's Model School scrapbook itself dates from 1909 to 1913, although there were two portrait photographs (possibly her parents) by Bell Studio in Philadelphia that were loose inside the front cover that date to c.1901-1907 based on the photographer’s address. The bulk of the material dates to the Model School class of 1911. The scrapbook appears to be homemade from two boards covered in linen or silk, hand stamped with a floral pattern that is also embroidered in yellow and green thread. It was bound with cord through three punch holes. The contents include handlettering; pressed flowers; snips of ribbons and fabric; loose commencement invitations; photographs of the school buildings, faculty (with their signatures), and fellow students; printed images of school interiors (removed from the 1911 Annual Report) with humorous commentary; small watercolor designs; inscriptions and signatures from classmates; and a clipping. There also is a 1913 New Jersey State Normal School Commencement program in the back.

Series 6 - Magazines and Newspapers, 1923-1925
This series contains two publications: The Keyhole, a school news magazine by the Commercial Department of the New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton from March 1923, June 1923, and January 1924. It was later taken over by the Chi Phi Club and revamped to a professionally printed magazine with advertisements for June 1924, November 1924, and February 1925. The other publication, The Weekly Bulletin was issued by the New Jersey State Normal School to function as a calendar of events and updates from January 20, 1925, to June 11, 1925 (the first two issues are missing from the collection). Both publications existed during the years that The Signal newspaper was not published.

Content warning: Gasn’s diary refers to students in special education classes in derogatory terms.

These four diaries describe the lives and activities of women at the New Jersey State Normal School. They also document their first teaching experiences from the school’s earliest days in 1855 to 1920, when the enrollment and curriculum had significantly expanded and the school would soon become a college.

It is not known whether or not, or where, Ida Totten might have attended a Normal School or received teacher training, but in the fall term of 1883, she began a diary to record her first experience of teaching in Greenville (now called Greendell) School, in Sussex County. She described her frustrations with named children in her class and the challenges of disciplining them, as well as her activities at home on the weekends including attending temperance meetings and church. The final pages of the diary are from May 1884 and contain notes from Page’s Theory and Practice of Teaching, so perhaps she was continuing her teaching education, or had not yet graduated (if she did).

The format of Reba Gasn’s diary has two years on a single page: entries for 1919 are written on the top of the page, and 1920 is on the bottom; the two years are often also delineated by black and blue ink. She documented her day-to-day life in school, her hobbies, social life, meals enjoyed (and not), and activities with family and friends on breaks at home near the shore. She also writes of anti-semitism she experienced in Trenton, as well as her many illnesses.

The diary of Mary Jane Sergeant Larison has a typewritten transcription from 1955 (at the time of the school’s Centennial) and is currently being re-transcribed in digital format. The transcript of the diary of Rosena Craig Foster Whitlock was written and annotated by her granddaughter Susan Whitlock in 2008. Transcripts of the Totten and Gasn diaries will be available in the coming years.