John C. Porto

John C. Porto

“Caring and Passionate”: John C. Porto (’86) Remembers His Time as a History Major -- Memory #38 of 100  

 

Today’s Project 100 memory comes from John C. Porto who graduated in 1986.  John Porto grew up in Wildwood Crest and graduated from Wildwood High School in 1981.  After Glassboro State, he worked as a branch manager for a local bank.  By 1988, however, he decided to apply to law school and then attended The University of Akron School of Law thanks to letters of recommendations from Drs. Kress and Kessler.  After graduating from law school in 1991, he served, first, as a law clerk for a Superior Judge for one year, and later in a law firm.  In 1994, he was hired as an Assistant County Counsel for Atlantic County and then, three years later, for the same position the County of Cape May.  In 2003, he became County Counsel for Cape May.  Seven years later, Governor Jon Corzine appointed him to the New Jersey Superior Court (Vicinage 1), a position to which he was reappointed in 2017. In August, 2022, he was appointed Presiding Judge of the Civil Division for Atlantic and Cape May Counties.  As the memory below demonstrates, he remembers the way that the Department’s faculty went above and beyond with their students. 

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I was a music major studying guitar when I first came to Glassboro State.  Although the College’s music program was excellent, I changed majors and began studying history.  Most of the classes that I took were in United States History and Latin American History.  One of the things that I appreciated about the faculty was that they all took pains to connect the past to the modern world. They showed me, in a way that was less clear in high school, why history was relevant to the present.   

Three faculty in particular stand out to me in my memory.  They were Lee Kress, who taught United States and Latin American history, Marie Wanek who taught Asian history, and Sid Kessler, who taught United States history.  The single most influential class that I took was a team-taught course on World War II by Dr. Kress and Dr. Kessler.  I remember all these years later one of the books they assigned, Total War: The Story of World War II, by Peter Calvocoressi.  Drs. Kress and Kessler were both caring instructors who were passionate about the subject matter.  The deep regard that they had for the students and their learning was constantly evident.

In addition to my classes, I also had memorable experiences outside the classroom with faculty, staff, and students.  The secretary was Mona Williams, and she was a great and welcoming presence.  Students congregated in the Department suite between classes.  Dr. Applebaum was the advisor for Phi Alpha Theta when I became President.  I remember that he gave me a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order my first experience with them, and that I ran the meetings using those rules.  We had monthly meetings on Monday afternoons, and they usually involved a faculty guest speaker who talked about their research or some other topic of interest.  I remember that our induction dinner was in November, and we had a guest speaker there as well.  In December of 1985, I attended the national Phi Alpha Theta conference in New York City to present one of my research papers.

Speaking of that research paper, I have some great memories of working on it.  I can remember it all these years later.  It was called “A Bargain for Peace,” and it was about naval history after World War I and the role that the post-war naval treaties played in the coming of World War II.  Dr. Kress and Dr. Wanek went above and beyond in helping me with that paper.  In the summer after I had completed it for Seminar, I continued to work on it in preparation for the Phi Alpha Theta conference.  Dr. Wanek deserves special mention for her help with the Japanese side of that paper.  Even though she lived in Washington, D.C., she commuted to Glassboro during the summer just to help me with this paper.  She was expert in Asian history, and I still have the books she gave me to help write that paper!  I cannot emphasize how very kind it was of her to work with me in this way.  I should note that her place in department was very important.  The United States had been heavily involved in Asia since the end of World War II and having someone who understood that region of the world so well was invaluable to students trying to understand our past and present relationships with Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam. I was very proud of that final paper, and, upon the recommendation of Drs. Kress and Wanek, I submitted it to the national office of Phi Alpha Theta for a possible award, but I never heard anything from them one way or the other.

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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 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.