Margaret Lucille Lawrence was an Assistant Professor in English. She was born in 1912 in Oelwein, Iowa. She was married to Gilbert N. Lawrence, and they had at least one son, named Richard, born in May, 1950. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Latin, with additional study in Library Science, from Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1933, which she attended on scholarship and graduated maxima cum laude. She went on to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, the University of California at Berkeley, and Florida State College for Women, from 1937-1943, working towards a Master of Arts in English and Latin. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “Limited Extent of the Influence of Plautus on the Comedy of Ben Jonson: A Study in J’s Independence.” She was hired as an Instructor in English in 1945, at a salary of $2,270. In the next year, she was promoted to Assistant Professor, and her salary was raised to $7,225. Before coming to OSC, she was an Instructor in English at Florida State College for Women, in Tallahassee, for two years, until her husband was stationed in Corvallis. She was also an high school instructor of Latin and English in Iowa for about seven years, teaching at Toledo Public High School and Dallas Public High School. She was part of the American Association of University Women, where she was the secretary elect from 1945-46. In 1970, she was named the first director of OSC’s new Writing Clinic, at the time housed in the English department, where she was tasked with teaching students grammatical proficiency. She created an “English Diagnostic Test” which was administered to Writing 121 students, which she used to identify struggling students and encourage them to visit the Writing Clinic. She was on numerous university and departmental committees, including the Writing Clinic Committee, of which she was chairman. She was a performer and director in Little Theater productions in both Corvallis and Albany, and was an active member of the Corvallis Women’s Civic Chorus. After working at OSC for 29 years, she retired in 1974, at a salary of $14,278, and was awarded the title of “Emeritus” upon retirement.
Dorothy L. Anderson was a temporary English instructor at Oregon State College in 1943. She was paid at a rate of $230 a month for ten months. She received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Oregon State College in 1932. She was born in 1911, in Portland, Oregon. She worked as an editor for Lockheed Engineering and for WAAC, or the Women’s Army Corps Training Center, but was discharged from WAAC due to an army medical disqualification. She also worked for Warner Bros. for a time before coming to OSC.
Lauretta Crooker Smith was an instructor of English composition in 1945. She was born in 1919 in Spirit Lake, Idaho. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon in 1942 in English with additional study in French and education. Her honors thesis was titled “Elizabethan Translations of Italian Novellas.” She also attended graduate school at the University of Oregon, studying English and education. While working to earn her Master of Arts, her husband suffered a serious illness that required her to resign her assistantship. She spent the next summer pursuing a secondary teaching certificate. She wished to financially assist her husband as he pursued higher education, as he also wished to become an English professor. He was a first lieutenant serving with the 7th Army in Germany, and his salary supported them but did not help them save much for the future. She wished to settle in Corvallis to help support her husband’s widowed mother, who would help take care of their fourteen-month-old baby. Her husband’s division placed him in the Information and Education Section of 7th Army headquarters. Faced with “the prospect of several years’ enforced widowhood,” Smith wished for a job that would provide “an intellectual stimulus during those years of waiting.” Although she had no doubt she could “pound a typewriter or sort rivets… teaching is much more attractive.” She had worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon, and had four terms of experience teaching two sections of freshman composition. She was hired at $250 per month. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Lambda Theta, and Pi Delta Phi. She held office in her living organization for four years, and earned most of her way through college.
Helen Robinson Snipper was an instructor in English from 1947 to 1951. She was born in 1919 in Stamford, Connecticut. She earned her Associate of Arts from Los Angeles City College in 1941, and her Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1943 in the field of Spanish, with additional study in English and journalism. She went on to earn her Master of Education from the University of Oregon in 1947 in the field of education, with additional study in Spanish and English. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “Individualized Teaching of Spanish in the High School.” At Los Angeles City College, she held office in the German Club and the Girls’ German chorus. She also organized and maintained the Spanish club, German chorus, hiking club, newspaper in Spanish, school newspaper, and school annual. She had been a private secretary and weaver for an interior designer in Hollywood, California, as she owned a loom and weaving was her hobby. Before starting at OSC she was a teacher of Spanish and English at St. Helens Hall in Portland, but relocated as her husband was given a fellowship at OSC. She was hired at $2400 for a ten month term in 1947. She planned to resign in December of 1951, but circumstances forced her to leave in September instead, at which point she was earning $3300 for a ten month term. She was a member of the American Association of University Women.
Helen Robinson Snipper was an instructor in English from 1947 to 1951. She was born in 1919 in Stamford, Connecticut. She earned her Associate of Arts from Los Angeles City College in 1941, and her Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1943 in the field of Spanish, with additional study in English and journalism. She went on to earn her Master of Education from the University of Oregon in 1947 in the field of education, with additional study in Spanish and English. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “Individualized Teaching of Spanish in the High School.” At Los Angeles City College, she held office in the German Club and the Girls’ German chorus. She also organized and maintained the Spanish club, German chorus, hiking club, newspaper in Spanish, school newspaper, and school annual. She had been a private secretary and weaver for an interior designer in Hollywood, California, as she owned a loom and weaving was her hobby. Before starting at OSC she was a teacher of Spanish and English at St. Helens Hall in Portland, but relocated as her husband was given a fellowship at OSC. She was hired at $2400 for a ten month term in 1947. She planned to resign in December of 1951, but circumstances forced her to leave in September instead, at which point she was earning $3300 for a ten month term. She was a member of the American Association of University Women.