In order to complete this project, a lot of research and effort had to be put in. I had to make sure that every piece of research that I found about the Glassboro Summit, along with President Reagan’s commencement speech at Glassboro High School, was historically accurate. Through the lens of cultural geography, I made sure to take all points of view of the events into account. To do so I researched the same topics across multiple websites, such as the New York Times and the website created by Rowan University specifically about the Glassboro Summit. In doing so I found out many pieces of information that are commonly left out. Included in this was the reasoning behind President Johnson’s choice of Glassboro, specifically Hollybush Mansion, for his meeting. Many people tend to believe that it is solely because Glassboro is between D.C. and New York City, home of the President (D.C.) and the site of the embassy for the Soviet Union at the time (NYC), however, this is not entirely true. In fact, the place of choice originally was NYC, but at the time there were many people in that area protesting the Vietnam War. Due to this, the President decided it was best to move it to a small town, out of the way of protestors, while maintaining a short distance from the Soviet Premier’s point of entry of NYC and the White House in DC. In fact, the Glassboro Summit was so important to the town of Glassboro and to Rowan University, it was memorialized on a plaque that I saw while doing field research at the Hollybush Mansion.

Prior to this project, I often thought of Glassboro as a small quiet town, however, after my research, I began to think of it as a powerful center of American pride and of general acceptance. Through this project, I have seen how much effort it took from the community to enable President Johnson to reside in Hollybush Mansion for this meeting for about 3 whole days with only a few days notice! In order for this to happen, some people in Glassboro had to open their homes to the press to allow them residence as the entire town was filled. I found it to be incredible the extreme lengths the people of Glassboro will go to in order to support their country. In addition to this, I also saw that this town is filled with acceptance and support for everyone. When it came to the Glassboro Summit, the townspeople supported the President regardless of their political ideologies. They even went as far as to hold signs saying that the town loves America. These acts of kindness and acceptance were replicated yet again when President Reagan gave his commencement speech at Glassboro High School. Following this speech, a student from the graduating class, Miss Volz, did an interview with The New York Times in which she stated, “I'm honored and excited to have the President here even though I don't always agree with all his policies.” Despite her difference in political views from the President, this student embodied what Glassboro represents, the ability to look past differences and accept people. From this research that I’ve completed online and at the Campbell Library at Rowan University, my idea of Glassboro has changed entirely. What I once saw as a small quiet town in Southern Jersey, I now see as a town with a heart big enough to support the country as it has shown many times, especially at the Glassboro Summit.

This is what I tried to symbolize in my mural, the ability of the people of Glassboro to come together and support people despite differences, something that is hard to come by in the year 2019. For this reason, I attempted to use the mural to not only bring people together but to reflect and appreciate the townspeople’s ability to do so. That is why I included a picture of the crowd that showed up to the Glassboro summit in support of President Johnson. The most important piece of this, as seen in the mural, is a person that is holding a sign that directly states “Glassboro State [Rowan University] Loves America.”

While this embodies what the mural is about, I decided to change it to simply saying “Glassboro Loves America”, in order to demonstrate that the town as a whole is supportive, not just the college. In addition to this, I made sure to include President Johnson and President Reagan shaking hands. Again, this reflects what the people of Glassboro have been accomplishing for so long, the ability to accept one another despite differences, including political ideologies. While I don’t know if this mural will be shown to the community, I hope it does, because I believe that the message it shows is powerful and especially true. In 2019, soon to be 2020, we are in a time of great polarization across many communities. Hopefully, if this mural was added to the water tower in Glassboro it would pass on the sense of acceptance throughout Glassboro’s borders and into the neighboring towns and counties and states, passing on the idea that we should all support and accept one another.

Although I completed this project as a solo member and not as a team with a fellow classmate, I did have the help of a few extremely influential people. Included in this were Dr. Jennifer Kitson, Mr. Michael Benson, and Mr. Dylan Kois. Without Dr. Kitson, I would never have been able to see this side of Glassboro, which I am now grateful for, and hope to learn more in the future. In addition to this, Dr. Kitson aided me in forming my imagined mural topic, my mural itself, and completing the scalar version of this project. On top of that, Mr. Michael Benson was a huge help. Mr. Benson aided me in refining my research and putting my information onto my scalar format while I was at the DSC in the Campbell Library. In addition to this, Mr. Benson gave my class a historical tour of the major places in Glassboro, piquing my interest in the political history, specifically Presidential visits, of Glassboro’s past. Lastly, I’d like to acknowledge Mr. Dylan Kois. Although not directly involved in the class or the project, Mr. Kois utilized his skills in Photoshop and artistic design to aid me in formatting and designing my imagined mural as it looks on the project.