Vera L. Wells completed a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at Oregon State in 1948 and 1953, respectively. She was an Assistant Professor of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts from 1948-1973. Clara Storvick (right) was Professor of Home Economics at Oregon State University from 1945-1973. James W. Sherburne was a Professor and Vice Chancellor Community Education at Oregon State from 1938-1973.
Jean Alice Huffsmith Caldwell was an instructor in the Department of Clothing and Textiles at Oregon State College in 1947. Her annual salary was $2400. When she began working, she was Jean Alice Huffsmith, and she listed her father, Joseph Huffsmith, as her beneficiary. She was also still a student when she was employed. She was a 4-H club member and she lived in Sigma Kappa in Corvallis. She received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from Oregon State College in 1947. She had previously worked as a store clerk and a secretary in Portland. She was born in 1926, in Portland, Oregon. Her name changed to Jean Huffsmith Caldwell in 1948, when she married Allan L. Caldwell. She appears to have resigned in 1948. Her final salary was $3,045 for ten months in 1948.
Nellie Marie Ledbetter, who preferred to be addressed by her middle name, was an Associate Professor in the Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts. She was born in 1909, in Alicel, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Home Economics and Social Science from Willamette University in 1934. Before coming to OSC, she was a home economics teacher in La Grande, Oregon. She began as a part-time instructor in both the Department of CTRA and Household Administration, but ultimately continued in only the first. While an Associate Professor at OSC, she completed her Master of Science in Home Economics, but due to university policy, professors of associate rank or higher could not receive a degree from the university. To circumvent this, she was temporarily reduced in rank to instructor and received her Master of Science in 1950. For the school year of 1961-62, Professor Ledbetter went on sabbatical leave, primarily for the purpose of writing a manual which would be used in the introductory clothing construction classes, which she hoped to have published with the Burgess Publishing Company. She worked closely during this time with the former head of the OSU CTRA department, Dr. Florence Petzel, who was now employed at the University of Texas. She retired in 1975, after working at OSU for 29 years, and was awarded Emeritus status upon her retirement. She continued teaching part-time in 1977. She was an advisor to the Mortar Board and served on many of the school’s committees, including the Scholarship, Honors, and Awards Committees. She was also active in the Fashion Group of Portland and the Oregon Consumer League.
Marian Murray was an instructor in the Department of Home Economics Education in 1946. She was born in 1924, in College Place, Washington. She received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics and Education from OSC in 1946. She was the Secretary of the OSC’s Mortar Board chapter, and was the editor of OSC Omicron Nu, and was also a member of both the American Home Economics Association and the American Association of University Women. She was hired to cover for Miss May Du Bois’s sabbatical leave, and was hired at $2,400 for ten months of service. She was also to do the secretarial work for the department. Dean Milam (who Murray listed as a reference on her application) later requested some of Murray’s labor be used in the School of Home Economics for winter term. The Department of Home Economics Education instead employed an assistant for part of Murray’s duties, allowing her to spend 28% of her time helping Dean Milam.
Laura Belle Smith was an Assistant Professor in Art and in Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts intermittently from 1946 to 1967. She was born in 1904 in Toronto, Canada. She studied at the School of Architecture of the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University, graduating from the latter in 1933 with a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design and Watercolor Painting. She earned her Master of Arts from Ohio State University in the same field in 1934. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “New Materials in Interior Design.” She went on to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chouinard Art Institute, and University of California in Los Angeles for further study. Before coming to OSC, she taught art at various universities in Texas, Kansas, and California. While an employee at Texas State College for Women, she was on the advisory committee for the completion of the new Student Union building. She selected furniture and completed the decorations. She was also in charge of a new demonstration house, where she “directed the interior section.” While interior design and watercolor painting were her two major fields of interest, she occasionally taught classes in fundamental and advanced design, house planning, and mechanical drawing. She was married when she came to OSC. In 1946, he was hired at $2400 for a ten month term in 1946 as an Assistant Professor of Art and Architecture. She resigned from this post the next year, and then temporarily took work in the Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts as a substitute for teachers on sabbatical leave. For roughly the next two decades, she was appointed to temporary positions in the CTRA department as permanent staff members resigned, while OSC worked to fill their positions. They considered this a great help, and thought of her as an “able person and good teacher.” As her husband was already on staff at OSC, Smith could not be put on permanent staff herself. Furthermore, as she only taught one area, this made scheduling difficult, and they wished to have more versatile employees on permanent staff.