History Department at SUNY-Oneonta, 1971

Your mother changed my life. I am happy to say that I was able to send her a thank you letter before her death. I would like to share my story.

I was your mom’s student for several semesters. She was a Smyth when I began and then became an Iversen. I chose her each semester because of her great mind and authenticity. This was during the early ’70s with demonstrations for women civil rights and rallies against the Vietnam war. I remember one time in class, your mom had learned a new term, “roach” and asked the class if we were smoking insects. We laughed and told her the meaning. She smiled.

I was amazed with her photogenic mind. I was a quiet student who listened but did not contribute to the discussions (mostly because I didn’t do the readings). I did ask questions that your mom appreciated. My time at Oneonta was coming to an end, and I needed a reference from a teacher for my reference file. Since the only classes I attended consistently were your mom’s, I knew she would be the one I should ask. However, I could not imagine such a great mind would have anything positive to say about me. I even went to the school counselor to ask for advice. Unknown to me, he approached your mother and told her about this student “Gus” who was afraid to seek a reference. (I was known to most on campus as Gus except for my professors who knew me as Diane Gusa). Later, I found out that it greatly upset her that any of her students would feel the way I did.

In my last month, we were having a discussion about how society limited the opportunities for women. One male spoke up and insisted that women should stop complaining because that was the past and not now. Well, I forgot my shyness and proceeded to “school” this male student of all the problems I had personally experienced as a woman on the campus.  I must have spoken for almost 5 minutes, and during that time, someone said: “you tell them, Gus!”

After class, your mom asked me to accompany her to the local snack bar.   I thought I was in trouble.   She bought me cookies and milk, and we sat down. That is when my life transformed.

She told me that I indeed was not the most studious students, but in her opinion, I was one of the most intelligent, critical thinkers she knew.    That conversation lifted me up so much. I remember walking back to my apartment and felt like I floated. I saw myself in her eyes and believed what she told me.  I was intelligent!

When I found your mom, so many years later, I told her how her words changed my life. Since those years at Oneonta, I had many professions, never doubting that I could accomplish what needed to be done. Academically I earned a masters and later my PhD and published several pieces. I taught in higher education, using your mom as my inspiration and model. Your mom has been on my mind a lot recently, and I had hoped to reconnect and thank her again. Instead, I am sharing her gift to me with you. I hope this will give you a warm smile. Your mom’s legacy lives in many lives. I only hope that someday I can make the same difference for someone else.

Finally, I do have a request. Your mom wrote a book about Mormon women, and I have searched for it. If you know how I might purchase or find this book, it would be a treasure I have been searching for. (Actually, that is how I found this page.) [Editor’s note: you can purchase a copy of her book The Antipolygamy Controversy in U.S. Women’s Movements, 1880-1925: A Debate on the American Home (Development of American Feminism) (1st Ed) through Amazon –simply click through the book title to find it there.]

— Diane Gusa

Joan Iversen giving one of her lectures

In 1969, after a first semester of uninspiring courses, I registered for my first course with Dr. Iversen.  This was the way college was supposed to be.  Dr. Iversen’s passion for U.S. History reaffirmed my love of it.  I continued through my college career taking every Dr. Iversen course I could get into. I declared a Social Science major and asked Dr. Iversen to be my advisor.

Dr. Iversen was amazing, while she was lecturing on an event or person, she would cite books and authors for further information.  When I stated my teaching career I would refer to these notes for info.  When I retired a few years ago I was cleaning out my books and found my notebooks from Dr. Iversen’s courses.  What great memories.

Probably her greatest influence was her women studies program.  This was in its early stage during my college career. Dr. Iversen challenged women to look at the world differently and not to accept the status quo.

Thank you Dr. Iversen for being my inspiration. Though during my 30-year teaching career not all my male high school students appreciated it!

~ cassandra finnis-palen

Gavin Masterson shares how he first learned of Elizabeth Cady Stanton from his courses with Dr. Iversen. Stanton (seated) is pictured here with Susan B. Anthony.

I graduated from Oneonta in 1975, admittedly, quite a while ago. Many memories have become hazy, or simply forgotten. One set of memories that remains vivid is my time spent in Dr. Iversen’s classes. These classes weren’t mere lectures, dictating the facts of the United States post WWII or whatever course you happened to be in, but amazing stories told with tremendous passion, and even more so, great insight. No one missed her classes, they were like a one-woman show! She could work a room like no teacher I ever had, smoking her cigarette with more flair than Bette Davis only wished she could. The best part was that she made each class and era of history fascinating— the day she told us the events of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, I remember calling my parents that night grilling them on their opinions and recall of that time. I was a French major, but remember less French than I do of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who I never heard of till then! Plus, Dr. Iversen had a great sense of humor, and was accessible and didn’t diminish our opinions, though she made us back them up, often expanding our visions and showing us things we hadn’t thought about.

Hands down, the best teacher I ever had. In the years since, I often wished I could have heard her opinions on all the news events that occurred since I knew her; a luxury her family and friends had! We all owe her a great debt.

~ Gavin Masterson (1975)

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

remember by jenny downing

It’s been over 30 years since I graduated from Oneonta, but the one teacher I will always remember fondly is Ms. Iversen. I was so fortunate to have an educator who was incredibly passionate about the subjects she taught and her enthusiasm permeated throughout each student. I become a history devotee after my “Iversen Classes.” In all of my years of schooling, it was one of the few courses I really looked forward to, was excited about and remember to this day. I honor and thank you Joan as my all time favorite teacher. You will be remembered forever in my heart.

~ Allan Infeld (1981)

Photo (remember) courtesy of jenny downing on Flickr

My memory is not always clear. Specific facts or events seem to be more like quiet influences. I had always been turned on to learning before entering Oneonta in the Fall of 1976, but I could hardly imagine the desire to not want a lesson to end, like that longing when finishing a book, just wanting more. That is how I recall I felt in the classes I took with Dr. Iversen. She would stand at the podium, (do I recall correctly?), or elbows on her desk and provide the most thorough, rich, intriguing lessons in history. I didn’t want to leave the room. I believe I took every course I could – 20th century American History, women’s history, history through film, history of the 60s. Extraordinary. I am so pleased to offer my recollections, for me just writing this makes me want to return to her classroom but mostly it reminds me that inspiration comes from an authentic love of knowledge. With deep appreciation, I am grateful to have known Dr. Iversen.

~Denise Kronstadt (1980)

Denise Kronstadt, in Albany, N.Y., lobbying — with Senator Jon Bonacic. NYLJ 3/11/14 photo by Tim Roske

Top image adapted from photo, Tapestry of Freedom, from Gail Borden Public Library on Flickr

I must say that Dr. Iversen was by far the best teacher I had at Oneonta (my second favorite was also a history teacher…what does that say about the English department?). That is high praise indeed coming from a secondary English ed major! I had her for The History of the US since WWII, and it is stating the obvious that she was magnetic and charismatic. We were in a pretty large lecture hall in IRC (I think that was the building), and as diminutive as she was, her spitfire persona filled the large room. But I have a personal anecdote I hope you find amusing and comforting.

Born in 1965, I was a long suffering Met fan when I took her class. It was the fall of 1986, and the Mets were finally a force with which to be reckoned. Unfortunately, they were playing an essential, must win game at the same time as the class’s midterm, The game started at 3:00, and the class was from 5:00-7:30. I went to campus at 3:00 and watched the game in a dorm across from the lecture hall. The game moved fast, and at 5:00, I had to leave to go to class with the Mets hopelessly behind, 3-0, going into the 9th inning. Dr. Iversen decided to run class for the first half, then administer the midterm during the second half of class. Very early into her lecture, there was cheering coming from outside the lecture hall; the Mets made a comeback to take the game into extra innings.

When we had our break before the exam, I realized that the other class going on at the time in the lecture hall was watching the game instead of having class (I see the professor who taught that class in my mind’s eye, but cannot remember his name for the life of me. He was a chain smoking, popular government teacher I believe). I said something before the test to Dr. Iversen, tongue in cheek, that I came close to blowing off her test to watch the game across the hall. I got nervous about whether she may have been insulted, but she got it! When the Mets went ahead in the 13th with a run, we heard the cheering from outside, and she dispatched me to find out what was happening. When the Astros tied the game in the bottom of the inning, she again sent me outside to find out what had happened. Believe it or not, when the exam was finished at 7:30, the game was still going on, and I got to watch the end of the amazing victory in the back of the IRC.

I don’t know why that story memory has always stayed with me…probably because she was such an inspiration to me. The story is emblematic of my memory of her: she was fiercely bright, but also extraordinarily accessible and human. As a teacher for 26 years, every once in a while, when I get really passionate about something in my classroom, like teaching Huck Finn, I always feel as if I am channeling Dr. Iversen.

~ Andy Fried (1987)

There are teachers who come into your life who leave a lasting mark. For me, Joan Iversen was one of them. I was not a history major, but took two of her classes (US after 1945, I think, and History of the 60’s) and those classes were highlights of my education. I was at Oneonta from 79-83. After class, I sometimes stopped for a cigarette. Joan, an ex-smoker, would come up to me and demand, “Blow smoke in my face, blow smoke in my face!”

I feel very, very fortunate that I lucked into her classroom, and it left me with a firm belief in the value of a rounded, liberal arts education. I tell my son at Geneseo, “Just find the best teachers around and take their classes, doesn’t matter what they teach.” And when I say that, I think of Jim Mullen, Pat Meanor, Joan Iversen.

~James Preller (1983)

Photo, Clivia Mandala, courtesy of Laureen LaBar on Flickr

Textbook used in a course that Susan Healy took with Dr. Iversen

She was the most influential educator in my life. There isn’t a day in my US History classroom that I do not invoke her presence.

She came into my life my freshman year (1976). I never let go. I took everything she offered but somehow I could never fit History of the 60s into my schedule. In 1990 when I started my masters in secondary ed, it was the first course I registered for. It was worth the wait. I will be forever grateful.

~Susan Healy

Want to share your own reflection or memory of Joan Iversen? You can do so on this page.

Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy together

I took her History of the 60’s course in 1982. Truly one of my favorite classes at SUCO. She made it seem like she was right there with Kennedy and King and Malcolm X while they were making history. She was mesmerizing as a professor. Every time I go visit the campus and I’m in IRC, I think of her and that course. We were all lucky to have experienced her teaching. Sorry to hear of her passing. May she rest in peace knowing that she had such an amazing effect on so many young people.

~ Gail Wasserman Davis

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Image courtesy of the National Park Service via Wikimedia Commons

Want to share your own reflection or memory of Joan Iversen? You can do so on this page.

It was 1972, and the world was still in turmoil; “strike semester” and Kent State in the spring of ’70…Vietnam, politics…the women’s movement building…and Joan called a session in the IRC building for we young women trying to understand it all…Walking into the IRC, what song was Blasting!! throughout the building but Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman”….I can’t hear that song without thinking of her and that day. When you consider the number of lives she touched, both men and women, and I know with passion and grace, it is a legacy for you all as her family to be most proud of in your mom’s honor. She was so perfect for her time and its funny how some days are a photograph, or video even, in your mind and stay with you. That day with the song blasting just makes me smile whenever I think of it. I actually have always remembered, and can still see myself, walking down the stairs in that IRC room…it was one on the Sherman Hall side, over by Fitzelle…(I go back to campus from time to time with roommates, else believe me, I wouldn’t know the name of that building, ha ha). The energy in that room was amazing…and we all came away with high spirits and commitments to our beliefs. Those times demanded nothing less and it was a defining moment for me personally. Joan’s leadership, compassion, great humor and ability to challenge us both in the classroom and in our lives have stayed with me my whole life. I was a history major and thrilled with each class I took with her. She will always be a favorite with a special place in my heart. Blessings to her family and each of you she touched.

~Holly DeVan (1973)

Want to share your own reflection or memory of Joan Iversen? You can do so on this page.

I was a non-traditional student at Oneonta in the early 90s and Dr. Iversen generously allowed me into her History of the 1960s as an overload. It was one of my favorite courses. Even though I had lived through the period, I had been too young to understand the significance of the powerful forces shaping the nation during that era. The love I found for the discipline at Oneonta led me to pursue a PhD at Binghamton University. As an advanced graduate student, the first course I taught on my own was The History of the Sixties! Several years later, as an adjunct instructor at SUNY Oneonta, I had the honor and privilege of teaching Dr. Iversen’s Sixties course there. She was a wonderful teacher and I was thrilled to be carrying on her legacy. She will be missed.

~ Dave Richards

Photo courtesy of Garrett on Flickr

Want to share your own reflection or memory of Joan Iversen? You can do so on this page.