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Treasure Chest Thursday -- Beginning an inventory, Part 2


A couple weeks ago I started inventorying the treasures I received following my Dad's death in 2004.
  1. As I unfolded the flaps, a green binder labeled Photographs . . . dated between September 1955 and about 1962. 
    2. Courtesy of Hobbizine.com
  2. The next item came in a heavy cardboard tube, yellowed with age, with white,  metal caps on each end. Affixed to the tube was a Parcel Post label: From Registrar's Office, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. To: Mr. Richard A. Newton, 1960 North Road, Vestal, New York. FIRST CLASS. Affixed to the upper right hand corner was a forty-cent John Marshall stamp, postmarked: LEHIGH VALLEY, OCT 19 PM [unreadable] PA. Inside was my Dad's rolled-up Master's Degree and tassels, which he had never displayed.

Wondering why Dad had received his Master's on October 9, 1966 while living in Vestal, NY, I called Mom for some insight. 

Dad had taught at Pleasant Valley High School from 1961-1966, when we relocated to New York State . . . close to where my Dad grew up. While teaching in Pennsylvania, he attended graduate school nights and summers. He graduated just before we relocated to Vestal, NY; and since he did not attend commencement, his degree was mailed to him.

Upon relocating, he had to apply for New York State  teacher certification, which meant he needed additional coursework to be completed at the State University of New York at Binghamton. There he took Photographic Design and 3-Dimensional Design. Mom said they liked his work so much they were going to offer him an Associate Professorship, but his Master's Degree was in Education, rather than Art.

Dad was very talented in many areas, receiving degrees and certifications in various fields, but never really found his niche in life. His passion was in Art Psychology and Guidance, but never found an opportunity to work in that field. Instead, he taught Drafting and Art in the public schools for twenty years.
Richard Allen Newton
(1933-2004)
1st year teaching, circa 1960
Pleasant Valley High School
Broadheadsville, PA





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  1. Andrea KelleherJuly 23, 2011 at 6:25 AM

    What a great picture and tribute to your dad. I can definitely see the family resemblance.

    ReplyDelete

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