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RUTH ALFORD on changes in the 1950s and 60s
Ruth Alford came to Newark from Minot, North Dakota in 1945, just after World War Two ended, to work as a staff librarian at the University of Delaware. The university and the City of Newark grew rapidly in the decades after the war as the baby-boomer generation entered college. She retired in 1973.
Segments from an oral interview conducted in 1973
One of the first major changes you saw (at UD) was the influx of people after the G.I. Bill (was instituted)...
Yes it was. One thing I noticed about the G.I.s . . . they were mature.... Much more so than the younger ones who were just entering (the university). The enrollment practically doubled within a year.
What would you think about as changes, if you were going to be changing the university - or the community?
As far as the university is concerned, I believe we are getting too large.... As far as the town is concerned, I like small towns. I don't like the sprawl, this urban sprawl that we have . . are beginning to have here in Newark. The traffic is awful.
Source of information:
Alford, Ruth. Interview by Rebecca Button, June 21, 1973. Delaware Oral History Collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library. Information compiled by students in Veness' Geography 315 class (Spring 2009).
Additional information:
Roser, Maureen Feeney and Fortner, Michael, 2008. "Newark's Population Growth, 1870-2008", in Comprehensive Approach to Housing in a College Town: City of Newark, Delaware. Presentation for the Maryland/Delaware American Planning Association Conference, November 20, 2008. www.delawareapa.org/Images/Conf%20Presentations/College%20Town%20Housing%20Presentation.pdf
City of Newark website: http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/index.asp
Special Collections postcards, University of Delaware. website: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
