Today’s Project 100 memory comes from Betty Bowe Castor.  Born and raised in Glassboro, New Jersey, she attended public schools and graduated from Glassboro High School in 1959.  Her father, Joseph L. Bowe, owned and operated a news agency in Glassboro.  As a result, Betty was able to read widely in newspapers as a young person.  Her mother was Gladys Wright Bowe.  She was a homemaker for many years, but she took over the news agency when Betty’s father tragically passed away in 1967, just a few days before the summit at Glassboro between United States President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin.  At the time he died, Betty’s father had been mayor of Glassboro for about a decade.  She has one sister and three brothers, one of whom was her twin brother.  Her twin was named after their uncle Thomas Bowe, who served on the Glassboro Board of Education.  After graduating in 1963, she joined a program called Teachers for East Africa.  That summer, she studied African history, African geography, and Swahili at Columbia University Teacher’s College.  When she arrived in Uganda, the Swahili was of limited use, as most of the Africans she met during her two-year stay spoke Lugandan.  She taught East African history, English literature, and various other subjects at the Kibuli Secondary School, which was the only co-educational school for Muslim students in East Africa.  On her way home to the United States, she met Donald F. Castor.  They were married in Glassboro in 1966, and they then moved to Florida, where he had family.  In 1966, she became one of the first white teachers in Holmes Elementary School, a formerly all African-American school located in the heart of Liberty City in Dade County.  This was during a time of rapid change as a result of the civil rights movement.  She then moved with her husband to Tampa Bay, where she became active in the League of Women Voters.  In 1972, she ran for and won a spot on the Hillsborough County Commission, the first woman to do so.  In 1976, she won election to the Florida legislature, winning three terms total.  In 1986, she won statewide office as the Florida Commissioner of Education.  She was reelected in 1990.  In 1993, she was appointed President of the University of South Florida, where she served for six years.  In 2004, she became the Democrat nominee for United States Senator from Florida, losing narrowly in the general election.  In 2011, she was appointed to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She became chair of the Board in 2015 and completed her service in 2018.  Today, she remains an active volunteer, especially in causes related to women and leadership and for the University of South Florida.

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I briefly thought about attending Montclair State College, but Glassboro State made much more financial sense for my family.  Moreover, I knew a lot about the campus and liked it.  I also knew that I wanted to be a teacher, and I enrolled in the High School education program from the beginning.

I remember taking classes with several social studies faculty members.  Who could forget Dr. Wilson's American History class?  Not me.  He lectured, always sitting down.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and stories to tell.  I took both of his survey classes.  I wish I could remember some of the specific stories that he shared because he made learning so enjoyable.  At graduation, I received the Harold F. Wilson Award for International Relations in 1962, and I still have the Medallion that came with that award.

One very influential faculty member was Marvin Creamer.  He made geography come alive and I loved his lectures as well as his assignments.  I called him a few years ago since I spent my summers in North Carolina and knew he had retired there.  We had a wonderful conversation.  I'm so pleased that the university has recognized his groundbreaking sailing adventures!

Marius Livingston had the greatest impact on me and my future.  I had him for European history in the Spring of 1961.  He was a challenging professor, and his class was a difficult one with a lot of information to digest.  He had a formal demeanor, as did many of the faculty.  He was one of the advisors for the International Relations Club.   

Professors Jesse Kennedy, Anne Edwards, Marius Livingston and other faculty members helped our International Relations group plan a trip to New York where we visited the Russian Mission, which I believe took place in the Spring of 1962.  During our visit, we met with a Soviet secretary whose rhetoric greatly impacted our group, as he suggested that the United States was not up to the challenge of the Soviet Union, especially in appealing to those in the developing world.  This made a deep impression on our group, and we decided to dedicate ourselves to proving him wrong.

We later visited the United Nations, where we attended a very nice reception with the Secretary General, Uh Thant.  For most of us, it was the very first time we had ever visited the United Nations.  Our other main event at the United Nations was meeting with Milton Obote who was the first President of the newly independent nation of Uganda. We were excited to meet him, as we knew his country would be a good potential place to support with our energy. 

Following the visit to New York, in April, we agreed to launch what we called “Operation Uganda” in support of the country’s coming independence.  As a college of teachers, we decided that we would support Uganda by helping to create a library, building a schoolhouse, and staff that school with trained teachers from Glassboro State. 

Operation Uganda became my life.  Marius asked me to serve as an intern during the summer between my junior and senior years.  He had me writing letters, which he would then edit with a red pen!  The result: I learned to write. 

With my father’s help I believe, we soon gained the support of Governor Richard Hughes for our work, and he issued a proclamation that the State of New Jersey would celebrate Ugandan independence on October 9, 1962.  In August, we met with several politicians and officials in Washington, D.C., including Sargent Shriver and New Jersey Congressman William Cahill, to gain their support for our project.

At the time that we were planning our work on behalf of Uganda, the State Department identified Glassboro State College as being one of the few places doing work on behalf of sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, I was selected to fly on Air Force One and travel to Uganda and to attend Ugandan independence in person.  On the plane, there were many impressive members of the delegation, including Massachusetts Senator Benjamin Smith and Ray Barrett of the State Department. That was quite an experience for a student who had never left this country to do so on Air Force One!

Marius and others continued preparations and Glassboro State College hosted a grand celebration on October 9.  Despite the rain, the Governor, both Senators, and other Members of Congress attended our event marking Ugandan independence.  I made a transatlantic telephone call from Uganda as part of the celebration.  We returned to the United States on October 13^th. The Cuban Missile Crisis began just a few days later on October 16^th. 

On November 29^th, Operation Uganda moved into a farmhouse on the campus, which had been given over to us.  We collected equipment for the planned schoolhouse, but most of what we received were books.  In January of 1963, we transported 20,000 books to the United States Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia.  Books, however, kept arriving in Glassboro. It was an amazing and exhausting year, but it was also clear that we had to find a way to bring the project to completion.  The United States Navy delivered the 20,000 books to Mombasa, and they were then sent by rail to the interior.  Although our grand goals for the schoolhouse and the library in Uganda did not materialize for reasons that I did not fully understand, as I had graduated, I was very proud of the work that we had one done during that year and that I was still able to do enough to graduate.  My education advisor, however, Dr. George Hayes evaluated my teaching preparation during my senior year and noted that Operation Uganda had taken its toll.  He was correct, of course, but I did not regret my time on the project.

I was teaching in Uganda when John F. Kennedy died.  My students were the ones who told me, and I couldn’t believe it.  I went to downtown Kampala and picked up a newspaper that confirmed the news.  Students came up to meet with me after they heard.  One after another in a great line, they expressed their condolences and grief.  They had great admiration for Kennedy, and it was a very emotional time for me.  Indeed, I still feel emotional recalling it all these years later.

My time at Glassboro State was transformative.  I had grown up in Glassboro and had spent relatively very little time beyond its borders.  Four years later, I had deep global experiences that shaped my life profoundly.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100,” the collection and sharing of one hundred memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff.  One memory will be released per day in the 100 days leading up to October 20, 2023, the date of a reunion celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  The reunion will take place at 7pm at the Summit City Farm and Winery in Glassboro, New Jersey.  Registration for the reunion will be open from July 11^th and will remain open until the venue reaches its 100-person capacity (or October 13^th if capacity never reached).  We do anticipate that the reunion will sell out, so please register as soon as possible by visiting the Alumni Office’s registration page here:  alumni.rowan.edu/historyreunion2023. 

You can also find the up-to-date set of Project 100 memories on the Department of History’s webpage.  William Carrigan arranged, interviewed, transcribed and/or edited these memories.  Laurie Lahey proofread and helped edit the final versions.  If you wish to share your own memories, please email Dr. Carrigan at carrigan@rowan.edu.  Alumni with Facebook accounts are encouraged to join the RU/GSC History Alumni group here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/251485937221524.