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.