Dr. Jane Lyman (interview); Creator: Lyman, Dr. Jane ; Interviewer(s): Abby Boyle and Janice Jacobs; Interview location: White Hall; Running time: 50 min., Apr 24, 1998

Coverage: 1963-1995
Topics discussed : (side A): Background; Smith College (Northampton, Mass); majored in music initially playing the violin; liked reading and thought about being a librarian; decided to teach; Baldwin School at Yale; taught English there and directed plays there; it was an all; women's school; enjoyed teaching; Yale Drama School; went into directing there around 1951; Yale didn't have majors, went by areas; women had been there at graduate level; she always thought of Smith as her school, not Yale; loved time there though; Swimming; did synchronized swimming at Smith; at Yale, women weren't allowed to use the gym facilities; Lord Scholar; received this honor because of her work at Yale; at one point, she was in 3 plays and directed another at same time; Happy as Larry; an Irish poetic drama she produced in her 3rd year; was awarded the money by Yale to produce it; gave it once for the faculty; Marriage; at Dwight Chapel at Yale; got married in April, graduated in June; Early years at WestConn; had taught in New Fairfield before WestConn; Dr. Haas wrote her a letter expressing interest in her; wasn't familiar w/ it at that time; began in 1963; Dr. Lovett was in charge of secondary education; she was asked to oversee the English students; English department; the communication and theater arts were are part of it then; Changes to WestConn; White Hall had been Danbury high school; college was called Danbury State College at time; library wasn't here at time, it was in Old Main; Higgins, Berkshire, and Fairfield Hall were all here; Old Main library; 3rd floor when she arrived; Close; knit community; knew each other; Picnics; Dr. Haas had picnics in Putnam Park; she always wanted the faculty w/ their families there for it; Course load; she taught five classes in beginning; since gone down to four and some think it should be three; Little control of teaching schedule; they were assigned their schedule; felt they shouldn't have 8 AM classes because it caused problems; Evening classes; Dorms; only women were allowed to stay in dorm in beginning; Spring Weekend; contests between classes; Skit Night (done by all classes and faculty) that were judged; skits were done to various things about Western life; some skits were original and others weren't; Sing Night, also done by each class; Closeness of university; these activities brought more people together; Size of school; smaller school brought more cohesiveness; Berkshire auditorium; the usual sight for the skits during Spring Weekend; Registration; was originally done in the gym; now its done by computers; the old registration process was made into a skit (side B): End of Spring Weekend; it went on for years, but it eventually just stopped; now Spring Weekend activities is different; Vietnam Era; little if anything done; all students were because they wanted to be here; because of protests, faculty told not to penalize students; Student body change; working student w/ different agendas; classes usually remained same size; Courses taught; English Composition I and II (all faculty had to teach one of them); Literature of the Stage I and II; Shakespeare (grad level); American Literature; Writing skills; all faculty in all departments should consider it important; Direction of plays at WestConn; when she arrived, she opted to teach English and not theater or direct; Fiddle on the Roof; directed by Richard Reimold; she did have a part in it, which she had to try out for; Leaning history; as a child, she was stressed memorization; Sabbatical Semester; in 1986, went to England; saw as many plays there as she could; guest speaker at Stowe School in Buckingham; Harold School; saw a play there as a guest of theirs while in England; they performed Shakespeare in way it was written; Taught English for Adolescents; those who had difficultly reading; course for teachers; Teacher's councils; Martha's Vineyard; for Princeton University Alumni College "American Writers in the Sea"; Yale Alumni Seminar; "Four American Poets"; New England Association Teacher's membership committee and liaison; CT Council Teacher's of English; conference held on WestConn campus; Children; her son is an Episcopal minister and married; her daughter is a lawyer