In the beginning, there was a woman of vision -- Mabel Smith Douglass. Through her efforts with the New Jersey Federation of Women's Clubs, the New Jersey College for Women (NJC, for short) opened its doors in September, 1918.

As the college grew, Dean Douglass began to dream of a College Chapel. She had been corresponding with Mrs. Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees, an area philanthropist, and, upon explaining the College's need, secured Mrs. Voorhees' support for the funding of the Chapel.

Upon her death, Mrs. Voorhees bequeathed the sum of $1.6 million for the construction and maintenance of a chapel "that should contain an organ". The resulting structure was the Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees Memorial Chapel, which was completed in September of 1926.

Music had always been a part of the traditions of NJC, beginning with the "Glee Club" and the " Weepies". Before the establishment of a seperate Department of Music, the NJC Choir would join with the Rutgers College Glee Club, then under the direction of Howard D. McKinney, for a joint Christmas Concert. This tradition continued until 1924 when John Earle Newton became a full-time professor of Music at N.J.C. The NJC Choir was also priveleged enough to combine with the Rutgers College Glee Club as the University Choir, under the direction of F. Austin "Soup" Walter.

In 1927, the College Chapel Choir, was founded under the direction of John Earle Newton, professor of music and the Chapel's organist. The College Choir performed at daily assemblies, Sunday services, College events such as the Christmas Festival and Sacred Path Ceremony, as well as evening concert recitals.

Direction of the Choir changed hands from Dr. Newton to Arnold Kunrad Kvam (1960's-70's), the chairman of the now-established, nationally-recognized Department of Music at the University. In the 1970's, Barbara Linglebach assumed directorship of the Voorhees Choir, taking them "on tour" to Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

By 1986, when the directorial baton was passed to Frances Fowler Slade, the Voorhees Choir was serving in its official capacity as the College Choir as well as giving two annual concerts. Mrs. Slade's 12 year stint as director saw international tours to such locales as Paris,France (May, 1995) and Ireland (June, 1996), an invitational "Festival of Female Voices" for high school women's choruses around New Jersey, and active membership in CIWGCA (Intercollegiate Women's Glee Club Association) which has earned the choir a total of seven gold medal ratings to date. In 1995, Voorhees Choir became the first choir at Rutgers University to produce a CD!

Currently under the direction of Barbara Retzko, Voorhees Choir maintains a membership of 70 voices, representing all women of the University. Our aims and goals have not changed since our inception, and we still proudly pursue musical excellence in concert and competition, represent Douglass College to the University (and, beyond the Banks, the University as a whole) and serve as the official College Choir at Douglass College events, such as the First-Year Convocation, Yule Log, Sacred Path and Commencement Ceremonies.

History compiled by Elizabeth T. Reiner, Historian/Alumnae Chair, 1998-'99 Academic Year

Special Thanks to:

• The very knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, patient staff at Special Collections and University Archives
  Archibald Stevens Alexander Library, College Avenue
  New Brunswick, NJ
• The very knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, patient people at Campus Information Services
  542 George Street
  New Brunswick, NJ
• The Rutgers University Glee Club
• The Daily Targum
• Terri Laird, DC '83, Choir Alumna
• Jeanne M. Zanca, DC '99 -