The Seal Yearbook Collection

15.5 linear feet (4 boxes and 163 loose volumes)

Content warning: Some of the yearbooks from 1911 through the 1930s contain racist illustrations of figures in blackface and minstrel characters, as well as inaccurate, derogatory, and/or offensive depictions of Asian and Indigenous people.

The first issue of The Seal was focused on the history and activities of the Class of 1911 and included sections on “class prophecies,” “statistics” of each student, a calendar of the year’s past events, poems, ditties and songs, vignettes of events in each department and hall (dorm) life, listings of the literary societies as well as social clubs (such as “the red mice” and “the clammy six”), a group portrait of the class and some of the societies and clubs, and advertising from Trenton businesses. The seniors were listed in a directory and did not have individual portraits. The next yearbook, 1912, had a similar format, but also included a list of faculty members, as well as photographs of the campus buildings. Starting in 1915, there were individual portraits of graduating seniors (1913 had individual portraits as well, but not 1914). The format remained fairly consistent afterward, however a few issues from the 1920s also have the Juniors, or class of February of the next year listed in the book with the previous May graduates. The Yearbook Club had several name variations, including: Year-Book Club, Year Book Club, or just “Yearbook” or “Seal.”

The collection is complete from 1911 until The Seal ceased publication in 2017. No issue was printed in 1944 due to World War II restrictions.

In addition, there are a few folders of ephemera, correspondence, photographs, obituaries, and other clippings taken from books formerly belonging to Vivian Rolandelli, Kenneth Weber, and Jessie Turk.

The yearbooks are arranged in chronological order, with the earliest ones housed in document boxes due to more fragile softcover bindings. The later years with hardback covers are shelved. Folders of ephemera removed from some of the books are in Boxes 2 and 4.

This collection is open for research.

The items in this collection may be used by patrons who abide by the Archives and Special Collections Use Policy of the R. Barbara Gitenstein Library at TCNJ.

Yearbooks for the years 1911 through 1930 have been digitized and are available for viewing in the library on a provided computer, or on this site.

Copyright restrictions apply. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the College Archivist and Special Collections Librarian,Archives and Special Collections, R. Barbara Gitenstein Library, The College of New Jersey, PO Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718, email: Ask a Librarian via the library’s website https://library.tcnj.edu

The bulk of the yearbooks came from interdepartmental transfers and intentional collection by librarians. Several copies have been donated by individuals including: 1912 yearbook, which was a gift of Margaret Boehly, Class of 1951, in November 2000; 1923 yearbook, which belonged to Levora “Lee” Rodda that was a gift of Butler Museum in 2003; 1938 yearbook, which was a gift of Rosemary Colleluori in 2005; 1977 yearbook, which was a gift of Debbie Gardner, Class of 1978, in 1977; and 1941, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 yearbooks were a gift of Trenton Free Public Library in 2024.

A few may have been donated by their original owners (based on inscriptions in the books), but specific donation details are unknown, including: Anna T. Burr’s 1920 yearbook; John S. Neary’s 1923, 1924, and 1926 yearbooks; Micheal A. Traver’s 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932 yearbooks; Vivian Rolandelli’s 1930 yearbook; Conrad Johnson’s 1933 and 1936 yearbooks; Kenneth Weber’s 1938 and 1940 yearbooks; Marilyn Grinwis’s 1945 yearbook; and Jessie R. Turk’s 1951, 1952, and 1969 yearbooks. Additional yearbooks have bookplates from former Trenton State College President Roscoe West.

Room 410, Archives and Special Collections, Gitenstein Library, TCNJ. Additional copies of yearbooks are made public on the third floor of the Library.

The digital facsimile of The Seal for 1911 was created from the TCNJ006 Mildred Duncan Warnecke Collection.

Yearbooks from 1929, 1930, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, and 1980 are scanned (and behind paywall) on ancestry.com collection: “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016.”

TCNJ library catalog: https://tcnj.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COLLNJ_INST/921vpg/alma994118623405191

Organizational history:
The College of New Jersey’s academic tradition reaches back to 1855 when it was established by the state legislature as the New Jersey State Normal School. It was the first state-established teacher training school in the state and the ninth in the nation. Governor Rodman Price promoted the idea of a training institute for New Jersey’s teachers and mobilized support among influential state leaders.
Located on Clinton Avenue in Trenton from 1855 until the early 1930s, the Normal School flourished in the latter 1800s, expanding both its academic offerings and physical facilities. In 1925, the first four-year baccalaureate degree program was established. This change marked the beginning of TCNJ’s transition from a normal school to a teachers’ college and was accompanied by a change in physical surroundings. In 1928, a beautiful 210-acre tract of land in Ewing Township, then known as Hillwood Lakes, was purchased as a new site for the College.
The Class of 1911 formed a yearbook club in January 1911, and their inaugural issue of The Seal was published in time to hand out to students at the June 1911 Commencement ceremony. The foreword stated the mission “This, the year of nineteen hundred and eleven, marks the debut of The Seal. Its originators hope for its perpetuation through the loyalty of their successors. May it prove, indeed, a seal by the memories which it preserves, binding not only the members of this class, but of each succeeding one into fonder relationships.”
The Seal continued annually, growing in content and size until the 2010s when the popularity of the yearbook declined due in part to the rise in social media, the cost of the book (nearly $100), and the increased student population. 2017 was its last year of publication. An article published in The Signal on February 7, 2018, annouced: “...due to low demand and lack of incoming leadership, the College’s Yearbook Club, The Seal, is no longer an active organization on campus.”
Information about graduating seniors since 2017 might be found in graduation programs in the TCNJ005 Commencement Collection, or The Signal newspaper.
Several of the yearbooks formerly belonged to, and might have been heavily inscribed to, the following:
John S. Neary (1863-1935) was appointed to the New Jersey State Normal School in 1898 as “steward,” later business manager, where he worked for over 32 years retiring in 1930. He also founded the Camera Club (also known as the Normal Photographic Arts Club) for students in 1919. Some of his photographs appear in The Signal.
Anna T. Burr (1900-2007) graduated from New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton in 1920, and went on to receive bachelor's and master’s degrees from Rutgers University. She was a teacher and principal at Bordentown Public Schools for over 40 years.
Levora “Lee” Rodda Easterbrook (1903-1995) graduated from New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton in 1923. She taught grammar school in her hometown of Butler for four years until she married Neil Easterbook, principal, and later superintendent of Butler Schools in 1927.
Michael A. Travers (1902-1970) received a law degree from New York University, then obtained Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate of Education degrees from Rutgers University. In 1928, he became the first Dean of Men at New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton. He also taught Business Education (as well as served as chairman of that department) for 40 years, retiring in 1968. In addition, he served as Hopewell Township Municipal Judge and taught courses at Rutgers and Temple Universities.
Vivian M. Rolandelli (1911-2003) graduated from New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School at Trenton in 1930, and was a teacher for 47 years at Elementary School No. 1 in West New York, New Jersey.
Conrad J. Johnson (1912-2009) entered New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School at Trenton in 1931 as a music major, but changed to industrial arts, graduating in 1936. His first teaching position was in Toms River where he taught until the early 1940s. In 1942, he joined the faculty at his alma mater where he was an instructor in the Industrial Arts Department for 40 years at Trenton State College until his retirement in 1982.
Victor Galassi (1917-2004) attended New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton from 1935-1938 where he was the Varsity Sports Manager and participated in other school activities. He attended Rutgers in 1939, then entered the military. After WWII, he joined the New Jersey State Police where he retired with the rank of major.
Kenneth H. Weber (1919-2009) graduated from New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton in 1941. His first teaching position was in Phillipsburg. He later served in the Army Air Force during WWII. He taught Industrial Arts at Bernards High School in Bernardsville for many years.
Jessie R. Turk (1920-2009) graduated from Montclair State Teachers College in 1942, then obtained a master's degree from Oberlin College and doctorate from Columbia. She was a Professor of Geography at Trenton State from 1947 to 1982. An oral history interview with her in 1991 is available to view at https://www.njvid.net/show.php?pid=njcore:17492

DACS, AAT, LCSH

Kerin Shellenbarger, Project Archivist, May 2024