Women of Fenn College Oral History Project
Alberta Prasse Barnes (BS, 1943)
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Interview conducted through Cleveland State University's Mary Joyce Green Women's Center.
Transcript:
SPEAKER We're recording now. We're recording. Today I am talking with Alberta Prasse Barnes, Fenn College graduate 1943 and member of the faculty until 1953. And Mrs. Barnes will be telling us a little bit about her time at Fenn both as a student and an instructor. But tell us a little bit about you. Are you a native Clevelander?
ALBERTA BARNES: I was born in South Euclid and never lived anyplace other than South Euclid until I was married. And now I live in Cleveland Heights. I attended Brush High School and got a scholarship for Fenn College. And so I attended Fenn College. And immediately after graduating, they hired me as an instructor. Is there anything else you'd like to know?
SPEAKER Yeah. What did you study at Fenn, your activities?
ALBERTA BARNES: I studied mathematics at Fenn. Mathematics was my major. And as a result of that, I was in the classes with mostly men, not too many girls because women didn't take mathematics at that time. So many of my classes were with fellows. In fact, I was the only girl in many of my classes.
And so I majored in mathematics. And I wanted to get a minor, believe it or not, in shorthand and typing. But I had taken so much of it in high school, that at that time, I couldn't get enough at the college to go on with it. So then I thought I would like physics along with mathematics. So I did take physics.
But I actually graduated with a major in mathematics and I could say English. But my teaching certificate, which I got, state of Ohio teaching certificate, certified me in mathematics, English, and social sciences. I was enrolled in a liberal arts college. But as you heard, I did many of my subjects with engineering students.
SPEAKER Yes. Did you have the co-op program when you were there?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, I did. I co-opped, and I co-opped-- the first time I went out and co-opped, I worked at a wallpaper factory, putting borders in wallpaper books. That was down at Lakeside Avenue. But then shortly thereafter, I got a permanent job, which I went back and forth when it was my time to go out. And that was with the Cleveland Railway. Company. I worked in the accounting department. And for that, I also received one of the honor awards on Honor Day for having one of the finest work records in the school at that time.
I was a pre-junior at that time. And I actually held that job off and on until I graduated. And you might be interested in knowing that shortly after I graduated, the man who had been comptroller of the Cleveland Transit Company, who was then comptroller for Reliance Electric, and he also called and asked me to come and work for him.
I did go and work for him two weeks. But that was not my thing. And so then I came to Fenn College as an instructor.
SPEAKER And you instructed math there, I understand.
ALBERTA BARNES: Mathematics, yes.
SPEAKER Mathematics. Do you remember some of your students that you had or classes?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, I do. I felt many of my students were, shall I say, older than I was because I was rather young. And I remember I also taught the students of the 53rd college training detachment of the Army Air Corps, which was stationed at Finn at that time. And so consequently, they were all civilian students. And of course, again, they stood at attention when I entered the classroom, which was kind of different.
And in fact, the first time I walked in one of the classrooms, one of the fellows said, sister, you're in the wrong room. And so those were the interesting times, as were the interesting times of the civilian students too. Many of those were fellows who had come back from the war when I was teaching, and I had them, too, as students.
SPEAKER Oh. They were on the GI scholarships then?
ALBERTA BARNES: Mm-hmm, or the PL16, I guess. They were students who had been injured or some disability in the war.
SPEAKER Oh, OK. When you were teaching there, were many other women on the faculty, at all?
ALBERTA BARNES: Not that I recall. Of course, Jane Pease was there as on education. And there were English teachers. And there was another mathematics woman-- well, should I say, two-- Mrs. Toler, who was wife of the head of the department, and Dorothy Horning, who was also a young woman teaching mathematics. But other than that, Miss Bloomquist, I guess, taught typing and in the Eng-- those are about the ones that I remember mostly.
SPEAKER Who were there at that time, right? Those were your colleagues at that time. In your undergraduate years, were you in any activities that you remember?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, I was very active. I was, I guess, probably-- I was in Gamma Mu Sigma sorority, a member of Fenn Shield. And of course, I was in the Wing and Torch, which was the activities fraternity or sorority. I was on the student council, served as secretary of the student council. You name it.
I guess I was on the Women's Council. I was very active. And also I received recognition for my high academic work too. I was listed who's who, as one of the seniors in Who's Who. And I also was chosen as the outstanding woman graduate by the president of the college.
SPEAKER Oh, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: Those were things that I was involved in.
SPEAKER Oh. And you were saying, when showing some of the pictures from your scrapbook, some of the activities, the bus-- the [INAUDIBLE].
ALBERTA BARNES: Oh, our sorority, Gamma Mu Sigma sorority, had a rush party for new girls on a streetcar, which ran on Euclid Avenue. And the streetcar came up to Fenn College and picked the girls up, and we rode in the streetcar. And of course, this all had to be planned ahead of time. And we went down to the square in the streetcar. And we had the streetcar decorated inside and everything like that. And a regular motorman from the transit company-- I think it was Cleveland Railway at that time, and of course, later became Cleveland Transit. But the party was right on the trolley car that rode up and down Euclid.
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER When you were going to school there, were you taking buses and streetcars to school?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes. I took the streetcar from Warrensville Center Road. I took the streetcar, and it dropped me right off at 24th. And I rode back and forth to the streetcar. I lived at home in South Euclid.
It might be interesting to note that when I went to college there, people hardly ever heard of South Euclid. You were way out in the country then. Of course, that's an entirely different situation now.
SPEAKER Yeah.
ALBERTA BARNES: And so that was the way I got to college was by a trolley car, all the way. I walked from my home to the streetcar. I didn't take a bus or anything.
SPEAKER It was streetcars then-- the streetcars then. yes. And they came, and they went right through, didn't they?
ALBERTA BARNES: Exactly.
SPEAKER Traveled right through, no problems traveling.
ALBERTA BARNES: Right.
SPEAKER Other activities that you recall? You were talking about-- telling me a little bit about the convention that all of you had?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, we had a mock Democratic Convention one of the years, I think around 1940. And each group, of course, picked a candidate who they would vote for, promote. And I remember the Gamma Nu Sigma sorority picked John Garner, who was then, I think, a vice president for President Roosevelt.
And so consequently, we had a big parade from the college down Euclid Avenue. And consequently, we-- he was from Texas. So we made our float look like a Texas thing, with hats and cowboy girls. And we rode-- two horses led our wagon down Euclid Avenue for the parade.
SPEAKER Oh. And who won the election that year? Who--
ALBERTA BARNES: Oh, I imagine. President Roosevelt.
SPEAKER Yeah, it was his time in office then [INAUDIBLE].
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, then afterwards, we had, of course, a big to do in one of-- I suppose it was in the YMCA, what we used for the auditorium at that time. We had like a big convention, where we had speakers and so forth. And of course, we all would holler for our candidate.
SPEAKER So a lot of fun, remembering the years there, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: Uh-huh, yes.
SPEAKER And your teaching years, you were there through 1953 then.
ALBERTA BARNES: Correct.
SPEAKER And teaching math.
ALBERTA BARNES: Teaching math, yes, uh-huh. Yes. And mostly to engineering students.
SPEAKER Engineering students, yeah.
ALBERTA BARNES: I did have some business administration classes. But most where I taught business math.
SPEAKER Oh.
ALBERTA BARNES: But maybe one or two-- and then as I mentioned before, I taught the Army Air Corps cadets.
SPEAKER Yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: But later on, when that was gone, I pretty much taught just engineering math.
SPEAKER Engineering math.
ALBERTA BARNES: In fact, I was over in the Foster Building, which is no more. And I was the only female in that building. And there was no-- they needed a dark room for some project they were using. And the only thing they could find was the women's lavatory. And so they came and asked me if I minded making that into a darkroom since I was the only woman in that building.
And I said, no, I didn't care. I could always run. And of course, the fellows kidded me and said that they would look out for me. I don't recall whether they ever did make it a dark room or not. But that was in the [INAUDIBLE] talking, at that time. I never felt, all the while I was there, that they ever discriminated against me, even though here today that women-- oh, they would kid me. Don't misunderstand me. But I think a lot of it is your own attitude as to how you take being discriminated against.
SPEAKER Ah, yes. Sure, you were one of the few women students and faculty there--
ALBERTA BARNES: Correct.
SPEAKER --when you were there, yes. And then you were at Fenn. Did you marry while you were still at Fenn or teaching there?
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, I did. I married in 1948. And I did not marry a Fenn student at all. I married someone not connected with Fenn. And then I taught five years after I was married. And I did teach a few evening courses after that time, but never--
SPEAKER So you're part time, then, after you married and--
ALBERTA BARNES: Well, no, from 1948 to '53, I taught regular time.
SPEAKER Regular, you were there.
ALBERTA BARNES: And then after I left in 1953, maybe-- well, my youngster was born in '55. And I taught a couple of evening classes, I remember, when he was maybe five years old. So about 1960 I may have taught a few evening classes.
SPEAKER So you was still there into the early '60s, yeah--
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah.
SPEAKER --part-- and evening classes.
ALBERTA BARNES: I guess maybe they couldn't find anybody or something. All I remember, then, is my husband and youngster would come down and pick me up. And my youngster always remembered going to the pop machine. His dad would take him to the pop machine while they waited for me.
SPEAKER They waited for you to-- where were you? You were in Claude Foster then or--
ALBERTA BARNES: Claude Foster Building, yes.
SPEAKER All your classes were there at that time, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER Yes. And you married. You had a son? And--
ALBERTA BARNES: Well, yes, I have one son, who is an engineer, a petroleum engineer in the oil business out in California.
SPEAKER Oh.
ALBERTA BARNES: And he's doing very well.
SPEAKER Ah, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: But he's the only one-- only child I have.
SPEAKER Your son, yes. Any grandchildren?
ALBERTA BARNES: I have two grandchildren, a granddaughter, who is a school teacher in San Diego. And I have a grandson, who is a civil engineer in California.
SPEAKER Oh, the engineering and a teacher, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, right.
SPEAKER Do you see any of your colleagues from Fenn or people that you went to school with?
ALBERTA BARNES: No too much. I never kept up to much with them. Probably after I got married, we would have maybe an alumni meeting or-- of the sorority. And then I would go. But my life took a different direction. I just told someone that the other day, that when I was working, employed, so to speak, all my dealings were mostly with males.
And after I got out, I became probably what you would call a professional volunteer. I became president of the Federation of Women's Clubs of Greater Cleveland and served as president of that federation. And that, of course, put me into a lot of activity with women in Cleveland.
SPEAKER Ah, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: And from that I served as president of the Women's Council on Cancer Education. And I was on the Board of Trustees of the Cuyahoga Community of the American Cancer Society. And I guess I was a vice chairman of the United Way women's committee. And then that later on led to church activity. And I became international president of the Lutheran Women's Missionary Aid, which took me over the world.
SPEAKER [GASPS] Oh.
ALBERTA BARNES: And that was an organization of 250,000 women.
SPEAKER And you traveled over the world with that.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yes, I did. I touched every place in the United States because I was always called to speak and so forth. And it was an organization of, well, as I said, 250,000 women. And it was a wonderful-- totally volunteer. It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity. And I served in that capacity for years. And I guess I'm still at it now because I'm serving parliamentarian yet, and have been for quite a while, of the Ohio District of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League.
So in fact, I was just in Marysville, Ohio a couple of weeks ago. I'm not too hot on my walking, as you can see. But I always have women pick me up and take me where I have to go. So I'm thankful for that.
SPEAKER Yeah. Oh, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: I don't know. Is that what you wanted?
SPEAKER Yes. Let me-- I'll just--
ALBERTA BARNES: When Lorin Maazel came as director of the Cleveland Orchestra, we had a party for him. And I was in invited to that. When Dorothy Fuldhiem celebrated her 85th birthday, I was invited to those things because at that time, I was president of the Federation of Women's Clubs. And so as I said, that way, you got to meet-- I'm thinking of those two in particular.
SPEAKER Yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: You get to meet things and--
SPEAKER Prominent Clevelanders, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah. And in 1972, I guess, I was chosen one of Cleveland's top volunteers. And my picture was in Higbee's auditorium-- I mean, window, the one in Ontario and whatever that is.
SPEAKER Over-- yeah, Ontario and Euclid?]
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah.
SPEAKER Ontario, Euclid, yeah.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah. And they gave me a little silver tray that says that, "outstanding volunteer." But as I said, I was involved in so many volunteer activities without money.
SPEAKER {LAUGHS] Ain't that the truth?
ALBERTA BARNES: But if I had my life to do over again, I'd do it the same way.
SPEAKER Oh, yes. You can tell you've enjoyed so much doing that.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah.
SPEAKER So it was enjoyable, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: I saw so many people that needed help.
SPEAKER Yeah.
ALBERTA BARNES: And in a real simple way, maybe I did some help.
SPEAKER Yes, you did.
ALBERTA BARNES: And so, well, I-- let's see. I was chairman of the Civic Fellowship Tour Days that took the United Way people, like 500 women, to the different activities that United Way might sponsor. They got to see them. And I was chairman of that. And I had to handle four or five buses that picked up at different places to take these women. So--
SPEAKER A lot of work.
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah, a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. And I got-- I mean, that's one scrapbook. I have about three or four more scrapbooks that's filled with--
SPEAKER --pictures from--
ALBERTA BARNES: Yeah, stuff, what I've done.
SPEAKER Oh, yes.
ALBERTA BARNES: I didn't mean to tell you all that. But I don't know if that's what you wanted.
SPEAKER That's what I want to hear, yes! That's what we wanted to Oh, yes. My voice came through loud. The red one went on. Let me just--
