Jane Catherine Dale was an English instructor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1947. She was paid an annual salary of $2,000. She had previously worked as a supervisor of teaching at Oregon College of Education in Monmouth from 1939 to 1946. She came to OSC because she wanted to teach English. She received her undergraduate education from James Milikin University and the University of Delaware and George Washington University from 1927 to 1932. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1938 and her Master of Arts in English in 1939 from the University of Wisconsin. She was unmarried when she came to work at OSC, and listed her friend, Miss Ruth Elizabeth Lautenbach, as her beneficiary. She resigned in 1947 to take another position elsewhere with a higher rank and salary. She was born in 1907, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Ruth McCorkle was an instructor in English for a year in 1946-47 and then again from 1956 to 1961. She was born in 1898 in Tygh Valley, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Science from OSC in 1931 in the field of home economics and English, received a diploma from Oregon Normal School in 1923 (now known as Western Oregon University), and received an Master of Arts in Education and Anthropology from University of Washington in 1950. Her thesis was titled “Plan for Teaching Speed Reading to Young Adults.” She previously worked as home demonstration agent at Chewama High School, and was discharged from the army in 1946. In between her first and second appointments at OSC, she worked in high schools, some of which were in Alaska. She was a published writer, having published one short professional article in the Normal Instructor in 1925, one short story in Oregon Farmer in 1933, and a poem in Mothers Activities. One of her poems was set to music and published by Westmore Music Company in Portland. She was an active member the American Legion Veterans Association, the American Association of University Women, the Cosmopolitan Club, and a group called the Phratares. She was a class advisor, a school librarian for six years, the assistant director for several school plays, and assistant dean of girls at Nestucca High School. She returned to OSC as a temporary part-time replacement in 1956. However, enrollment at OSC significantly increased in 1957, bringing composition classes up to about 30 students per section, and literature classes up to 60. The head of the English department, Herbert B Nelson, asserted that composition classes should never be more than 25, and literature classes never more than 40. He campaigned for two new part-time positions to take up the increased enrollment, one of which was Professor McCorkle. It was quickly decided to shift her to full-time. Professor McCorkle was said to be very kind and courteous. A visiting professor of a local high school wrote to President Strand to express his appreciation for Professor McCorkle having gone out of her way to help him get his bearings on campus. In 1961, she was granted the rank of senior instructor, after eight years. However, for unknown reasons, her record was flagged with a “failure to receive increase in rank.” She began at a salary of $2,300 in 1946 and resigned in 1961 at a salary of $5,400.
Alice Maxine Headland was an instructor in English from 1946 to 1950. She was hired to replace Kenneth Mumford, and was reportedly offered three additional positions as instructor of English, one which was higher-paying than OSC’s offer. She married Alan George Mitchell in December of 1929, and changed her name to Alice Maxine Mitchell. She was hired at a salary of $2,400, and resigned in 1950 at a salary of $3,300.
Minta Estella Duncan was an English instructor at Oregon State College in 1946. She was married to Fred W. H. Duncan with two children when she came to OSC. She was born in 1892, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She had previously been a housewife. When asked why she wanted to work at Oregon State, she said, “I feel that I have a contribution to make.” She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Cotuer College in 1917. She received her graduate education at the University of Nebraska from 1924 to 1925, and from Stanford University in 1929. She had previously worked as the head of the English department at York College from 1926 to 1928. She spent five and a half years in India from 1918 to 1924, where she learned the Hindi language and studied Urdu. She was hired for a ten month period with a $2,000 salary.
Margaret Bruce Napier was an instructor in English from 1946 to 1948. She was born in 1915, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English, with additional study in education and music, from the University of Oregon in 1937. She worked as a high school instructor and private tutor in various schools around Oregon for about 8 years. She had experience handling numerous clubs and organizations and taught a variety of subjects, including English, history, gym, and home economics. She was hired at $2,200 for ten months of service. She submitted her resignation in January of 1948, as her physical condition made it impossible for her to complete her duties as an instructor for the rest of the year. Because of decreased enrollment at OSC, it was not necessarily to immediately replace her.