Type: Exhibition case

Name: New Jersey College for Women

Detail: New Jersey College for Women (NJC, later Douglass College) opened in September 1918 and provided New Jersey women with an in-state establishment to obtain a higher education. Curricula in home economics and liberal arts were offered to the 54 students of NJC’s first graduating class. Mabel Smith Douglass was the dean of NJC from 1918 to 1933. During the school’s first month, Douglass decided that music should be included in the college curriculum and purchased a grand piano. One year later, music theory and harmony courses were offered as well as an Appreciation of Music course that met the fine arts requirement necessary for graduation. As time went on, NJC acquired a music faculty (including pianist Mary Schenck and bassist Homer Mowe) and offered accredited instrumental and vocal classes. An official music department formed in 1922 and was chaired by John Earle Newton―NJC’s first full-time music professor. Music also played a pivotal role in NJC’s campus life. Students sang during chapel services and at traditional ceremonies including Sacred Path, Yule Log, and Campus Night. Additionally, they joined ensembles including the Drum and Bugle Corps, Weeping Willows, NJC Glee Club, NJC Choir, and the Voorhees Chapel Choir. It is no surprise that NJC was commonly referred to as the “singing college.”

Type: Exhibition caption

Detail: In September 1926, the Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees Memorial Chapel at NJC was completed. It was made possible by New Brunswick-area philanthropist Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees who shared Mabel Smith Douglass’s dream of a college chapel. Mrs. Voorhees stipulated that the chapel must have an organ and selected the Aeolian Company of New York to build one. The company provided a Duo-Art Reproducing Pipe Organ suitable for concert and chapel purposes.

From the beginning, daily services were held with a vested choir and in 1927, the College Chapel Choir, also known as the Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees Chapel Choir, was founded. It was directed by John Earle Newton who was also the chapel’s organist. The College Choir performed at daily assemblies, Sunday services, Tuesday Chapel, college events such as the Christmas and Sacred Path Ceremonies, as well as evening concert recitals. It is the only music group from the early years of NJC that exists today.