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Civil War
The years of the Civil War marked a drop in attendance
at both the Normal and Model Schools. Thirty-two males were
enrolled in the spring semester of 1860, while 26 were enrolled
in the fall semester of that year. With the breakout of the
war in 1861, those numbers dropped to 18 in the spring and
13 in the fall. Female attendance also dropped at this time.
By 1862, enrollment began to rise again. However, during
the years the war was being fought enrollment never reached
140 students, which was the number of students who attended
the school in 1859.
In response to the times, military instruction was begun
at both the Normal and Model Schools. Still, those people
who were initially opposed to the establishment of a Normal
School saw the war as an opportunity to close the school.
Throughout the first half of the 1860s, these people constantly
petitioned the legislature to repeal the Normal School
Act, saying, "at times like the present no unnecessary
burdens should be laid upon the people."
 World War I
When World War I broke upon the U.S., ninety-seven men and women, graduates
and former students of the Normal and Model Schools reported for National
Service. Male students disappeared almost entirely, and at one time during
the war a low of two was reached. The men's dormitory was remodeled to house
fifty women in 1921. When the war ended, the men began to return, and by
June 1923 male enrollment had grown to forty-one.
During this time, victory gardens were planted and cultivated by faculty, staff,
and sixty students, helping to increase the amount of food exported. Students
in the Domestic Arts Department knitted 240 sweaters to be sent to Camp Dix,
and made helmets and socks for Camp Meade.
Perhaps the most exciting event during that time, however, was November 11-15,
1918, officially hailed as Peace Day Celebration. The four-day event consisted
of parades, bonfires, buffets, and best of all-no classes.
World War II
When
America entered World War II in 1941, male students were
again called to perform their duty. The Class of 1943,
under the Roscoe West administration, planted a tree
to "all
the boys in the class who have left for the various branches of the service."
At one time during World War II, as few as eighteen men remained on the campus.
Six hundred and three students and alumni went into the service and thirteen
did not return.
To enable male students to finish as much work as possible before being called
up, and to meet the shortage of teachers resulting from the war, an accelerated
program was begun in the summer of 1942. This was continued throughout the
summer of 1945, but ended as veterans began to return to The College.
Social Life
Social life on the campus also changed during World War II and activities related
to the war were introduced. The War Service Committee of The College handled
nearly $1,100 allotted to it by the Student Executive Committee and earned
through programs and sales. Major disbursements were for equipment of a day
room at Fort Dix, the World Student Service Fund, expenses of a party for
soldiers, and transportation for women students to dances at Fort Dix.
Other groups went to entertain in Trenton Service Areas. Hundreds of Christmas
presents were assembled and wrapped for the Army. A college unit of the Trenton
Chapter of the American Red Cross was set up, under which a nurse's aide course
and a standard nutrition course for work in the canteen corps were sponsored.
During the summer of 1943 The College contributed to the food supply by making
land available for twenty-five victory gardens cultivated by members of The
College faculty and staff. Cooperative planting, cultivating, and harvesting
of an area of beans and tomatoes were carried on by students and faculty.
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