Women’s Education and Student Life at East Stroudsburg State Teachers College Through a Freshman Scrapbook, 1936–1937

Pennsylvania Teachers College Women's Education

Ephemera and pamphlets

Kistler, Alyson scrapbook album, 1936–1937, documents women’s higher education, teacher training, student sociability, and regional travel during the Depression era through the experiences of a first-year student at East Stroudsburg State Teachers College in Pennsylvania. Created by Alyson Kistler during the 1936–1937 academic year, the album preserves an unusually detailed record of academic life, extracurricular activities, employment, friendships, courtship, entertainment, and travel, illustrating the central role teaching colleges played in expanding professional opportunities for women in the early twentieth century. Kistler, Alyson. Scrapbook album. East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1936–1937. Manuscript and printed scrapbook containing 107 pieces of ephemera with extensive handwritten captions and commentary. Original red textured boards lettered “Scrap Book” in gilt, 12.5 x 10 inches. 60 pages. Hand-lettered on the first page: “E.S.S.T.C. 1936-7.” Contents include a certificate of admission, report cards, dance programs, athletic schedules, theater programs, restaurant menus, advertisements, newspaper clippings, pressed flower corsages, novelty party favors, local newspapers, and travel-related souvenirs from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and the Pocono region. Academic subjects documented include Introduction to Teaching, English I, Science II, Hygiene, History of Civilization, Physical Education, and Social Guidance. The album records Kistler’s participation in the Art Club, where contemporary newspaper coverage identifies her as “Head of Art Club,” and preserves evidence of her weekend employment at local clubs and restaurants. Handwritten annotations throughout transform routine ephemera into a personal narrative, including candid assessments such as “A big disappointment. The play was rotten,” alongside detailed accounts of train travel, social outings, holiday celebrations, movie-going, and visits with friends and admirers. Particularly revealing are mementos associated with courtship, including a necktie received from a young man who “gave me his tie because I liked it,” and a Japanese postage stamp accompanied by a multi-part explanation tracing its movement among friends and collectors. The scrapbook provides a rich record of female student life at a teachers college during a period when teaching remained one of the most important professional careers available to American women. Beyond documenting formal education, it captures the broader social world surrounding collegiate life through theater programs from Stroudsburg’s Sherman Theatre, menus from regional hotels including Buck Hill Falls and the Indian Queen Hotel, newspaper coverage of athletics, Washington’s Birthday celebrations, New Year’s festivities, and weekend excursions throughout the region. The result is a highly personal account of how a young woman balanced academic responsibilities, wage work, friendships, recreation, and aspirations for the future during the late Depression era. First seven pages detached; pages brittle with occasional small edge chips, good to very good. A substantial documentary record of women’s higher education, teacher training, student culture, and everyday life in the northeastern United States during the 1930s.

Item #16968

Price: $450.00