Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine Glassboro, New Jersey, without Rowan University. Yet the New Jersey State Normal School at Glassboro almost wasn’t established in Glassboro. And when state legislators finally settled the long debate more than a century ago, the balance tipped in Glassboro’s favor thanks to the efforts of 107 local donors.
Government officials could have established the new teacher training school anywhere south of Trenton. Municipalities all over the region made their case for why they deserved to be the home of the new school. Throughout much of 1917, the question of where to establish the South Jersey school stumped the State Board of Education’s selection committee.
But in South Jersey, the stakes were clear. Convinced of the value and opportunity the school would bring the borough, a group of 107 residents and business owners raised $7,066 to purchase 25 acres of the old Whitney tract, which it offered to the state free of charge for the new school’s campus.
Most made modest gifts as private citizens, but the speculative donations proved their commitment to the future. Among the donors who contributed the most to the fund to purchase land for the new school were some of the area’s most prominent citizens and businesses.
Several of the donor families’ names are still part of the local community.
The Heritage family can trace its roots back to donor Dr. Charles S. Heritage, who was known for treating smallpox patients in a makeshift hospital in 1882, and his father, Dr. John D. Heritage, who served as an assistant surgeon to the 11th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
Stanger, too, is a name still present in the Glassboro community. Leading the family-run company S. H. Stanger & Sons that donated to the fund were Solomon H. Stanger Jr. and his sons, C. Fleming Stanger and Frank R. Stanger. In 1882, Stanger converted a boarding house located at State and New Streets to become the S.H. Stanger Store, where the family ran a successful business venture. The Stanger family included political leadership, too. Solomon Stranger served in both the state assembly and the state senate. Frank Stanger became Glassboro’s third mayor, serving from 1923 through 1930.
The Whitney family story most frequently still appears in the Rowan University history. This prominent Glassboro family owned not only the property purchased for the new normal school but also Whitney Glass Works, which brothers Thomas and Samuel Whitney operated as early as 1839. The Whitney Glass Works Department Store, which opened in 1896 at the intersection of Main and High Streets, operated for almost half a century. At least four Whitney generations grew up in Glassboro, building and benefiting from many Whitney enterprises and producing politicians and proponents of education and industry.
Among the 107 donors, the business list includes:
The full list of donors is below.
Together, the 107 presented a formidable argument for the state to finally select Glassboro and purchase 30 additional acres to build the new school. When the state issued invitations to the dedication ceremony at the new school on November 16, 1923, they included the donors.
More than the money or the land alone, what persuaded state officials to choose Glassboro was the support the actions of these local citizens demonstrated. Amid years of delays and debates at the state level and during an uncertain time, these 107 forward-thinking donors had faith in their hometown and in what the normal school could become. Because of their generosity and ambition more than a century ago, Rowan University got its start on the road to becoming the nation’s third fastest-growing public research university.
The 107 donors: