By Jennifer Martinez Wormser
written for the fall 2023 issue of Scripps magazine
The outbreak of World War II brought changes to Scripps College and a reckoning of what a women’s liberal arts college should be. During her convocation address at the start of the fall 1942 semester, faculty member Virginia Judy Esterly stated, “Crisis overaccelerates the tempo and sharpens the temper of life.” Esterly emphasized the value of a liberal arts education regardless of how the war would affect students as individuals and spoke of “a special obligation upon women now to keep alive the liberal arts during this dark period.”
Although seemingly removed from the conflict as a women’s college in then-quiet Claremont, Scripps experienced dramatic changes as faculty and staff joined the armed services and two German faculty members, Fritz Caspari and Arnold Bergstraesser, were detained and investigated as “enemy aliens” by the federal government. Curricular changes included new courses designed to prepare students for war-related work such as French Course for War and Reconstruction Service and Topographic Map Reading, while extracurricular offerings included nursing, mechanics, shorthand, and participation in the Civil Air Patrol.
Scripps students and members of the Armed Forces at an outdoor event
War stamps and bonds were sold during Scripps Tea, students raked lawns and maintained a victory garden, and dining hall menus included less meat and limited butter to one pat per student. Students navigated air raid drills while shifting their social engagements to include USO (United Services Organizations) dances, volunteering at the infirmary, and attending speeches about the war. Many then-recent alums had jobs related to the war effort in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, the Red Cross, the United States Naval Reserve’s WAVES branch, and at the Douglas Aircraft Company.
Esterly’s convocation address concluded with a parting wish for the students: that they “wear the Scripps spirit . . . freedom in the heart, beauty in the mind that lies behind the eyes, and a disciplined humanity that will ensure for you a creative part in the destiny that is coming.”
Left: The Scripture, a student newspaper, February 1942. Right: Caroline Mount ’42, wearing the uniform of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps