Lesley University

Carole Slattery, 1965-1967

Although her tenure was brief, Carole Slattery collected some fabulous memories of her time as the Librarian of the Lesley-Ellis School. Lesley College began its association with the Lesley-Ellis School in 1948 and it quickly became important in introducing to Lesley's curriculum real-world working conditions for students. It also provided an opportunity for faculty and other scholars to research early childhood education. The Lesley-Ellis School was a co-educational day school with small classes serving students from nursery school to the sixth grade.

Carole Slattery:

There was another little boy came in [to the library] and wanted something on the country of Sikkim and I had…was hunting around because Sikkam is a little Indian principality in…tucked in by Nepal and Tibet and it was very small. I could find a little bit of reference in some books for him and I said well its very small. I don't really have very much. And he said, "Yes, I know. My aunt is the queen." I just looked it up to see what had happened to Sikkim and unfortunately she didn't get to be queen for too long because they voted out the monarchy in 1975. And I told you the music teacher who was there a lot of the time. She was an old Bostonian lady. Very strict and upright and opinionated. I think she was probably a good music teacher but her music was not what you would call modern. And I remembered saying that I liked Pete Seeger and she scoffed at that and said he was a terrible communist. It was not (laughs) not her style of music.