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Linda Gill-Jones Interview:

A: This is Anna Swartwout here with
L: Linda Gill-Jones
A: For the Queens of Slippery Rock oral history project. Could you gives us your majors,
minors, and hometown?
L: My major was secondary education. With an emphasis in social studies. And my hometown is
Shalor Township which is where I lived when I started college but I've been living in Sewickley
for about 20 years.
A: What were you involved in whenever you were at school like activities clubs?
L: Well I worked when I was on campus because I paid my way through college with money
from working over the summer and some state at that time. They didn't give loans they gave you
the grants based on need. So what did I do? Slippery Rock is very Greek. Then we didn't have
the array of activities you have now. So I was very involved with my sorority and I was very
involved with working two full days a week.
A: You're the first May Queen we've been able to get a hold of, could you tell us about the
process of becoming May Queen and what it was like for you?
L: The process was you were nominated by an organization and then you had an interview by a
panel of people, one was from a modeling agency, one headed a major airlines, one owned the
local jewelry store. So you did an interview that was about an hour. That night you dressed up in
your evening gown and there was a parade down the Miller auditorium across the stage. Then
you were asked a question or two. It was very much like Miss America absent the swim suit
portion and there was no talent involved. So you were asked a question or two then they
narrowed it down to fewer girls then there was another question if you made that and then they
announced the winner.
A: How many girl were in the running?
L: In the running there were 41 girls.
A: Did your sorority nominate you?
L: No, they didn't. I was nominated by The Little Sister's of the Shield which was the companion
organization to a fraternity on campus. However, I think the three May queens preceding me
were all my sorority sisters. I was crowned by a sorority sister. At the time Alpha Xi Delta
cornered the market on May queen and Delta Zeta cornered the market on homecoming queen.
Just the way it worked, I don't know why.

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A: So you guys didn't have to campaign or anything, but why do you think they nominated you?
L: I was always a combination of three things. I was okay looking enough, I was bright enough,
and I had a sense of humor. I don't know but that was why.
A: Do you think those were the reasons you were crowned?
L: I absolutely do. I didn’t excel in anything but I was a B+ in a lot of things.
A: What did you think your chances were before you were elected?
L: None and neither did my sorority sisters. Before me they were all very ladylike. I was a bit
more ruckus. I can remember we were in a dorm and they were making me practice walking and
turning around. So I didn't make a complete fool of myself.
A: Well it was good you had that support system. Did you experience any negativity or stigma
around the May queen title and process?
L: I did and it was the following year when I came back to crown the new May queen. I was
crowned on May 6, 1969. Allison Krous was killed at Kent State May 4, 1970. I came back a
few days later to crown the new queen and there was a crowd of students that protested anything
about the May queen or anything that was frivolous when a young woman our age was just killed
on Kent State. So there was a young man who came up on stage wearing a toga and combat
boots. So there was a bit of a protest but mainly about what had just happened at Kent State.
A: Was there anything before then or was it a generally positive experience?
L: It was a generally positive experience. It was a different world. We weren’t protesting. The
Vietnam War and the social reforms that happened in the 60s and 70s really kind of bypassed
Slippery Rock we were in a bubble. There wasn’t any of us out there being protestors talking
about women’s rights or finding something like a May queen to be a demeaning type of
experience.
A: Right after you had been crowned, how had your college experience changed?
L: Suddenly I was the “it girl.” I had to make it sound like that. Before that you were one of the
pretty, semi-popular girls and then suddenly you became the 'it girl.' Overnight you were
supposedly different. Then I was named Fraternity Sweetheart from my boyfriend at the times
fraternity. They submitted my name to their national and I was first runner up for their national
competition. I went from being one of the girls to getting all this attention.
A: How was it? Did you enjoy the attention?
L: Yes, of course. I am not a behind the scenes type of person.
A: How did your family react to you winning?

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L: My father died of a brain tumor a year before that and he was only 52. All that was left was
my mom, my brother, and my sister. My sister understood it, she was in college so she
understood how excited I must have been. My mother was still grieving so when I called her and
let her know she was proud but she couldn't quite - she had her own things going on and then my
brother was 16 and he was clueless. They were proud but there were some other family dynamics
going on that made them not understand why I was so excited about it.
A: Did your view of the ceremony and being May queen change after you came back to crown
the next queen and there was protesting?
L: No it didn't. It didn't at all. I mean we were all very touched by what happened at Kent State it
started to change anyone's life when your own national guard is shooting at unarmed college
students so we all agreed that that was a defining moment in our country but it didn't take away
from our experience with May queen or the person who was crowned.
A: Good, I'm glad. It's important to recognize women on campuses, then and now...
L: There were fewer ways for women back then to be recognized on campus. We were on the
cusp here. We’re talking 1969.It wasn't quite the same world. We were emerging into a world
where women started defining themselves by their success, careers, or their accomplishments.
But we were just coming into that. At that time women were still pretty, arm ornaments in many
cases.
A Did winning change your life in any small or large way?
L: In many ways it did. First it gave me a boost of self-confidence. The boost of confidence that
carried me through in the rest of my life’s endeavors. I married the guy I was dating which I
shouldn't have, we should have said goodbye at graduation. And then I was 29 years old and I
was still hanging around my old friends and they were still talking about me being crowned May
queen and then I thought wait a minute, when you’re 40 no one is going to care. And I said to
myself, “do you want to be a woman of substance?” And the answer was I do. This husband and
I divorced and pursued a career at Carnegie Melon. Which is where I was for over 40 years. And
I was really very successful. I worked very hard I took the B+ looks, intellect, and personality
and turned it into an A+ combo. I was one of the top 20 women in that organization and many of
them were much better educated than I was. I don't mean that to demean Slippery Rock. I had a
degree in education, they had degrees from Harvard so it was a different world. But being
crowned gave me the self-confidence and the people skills that I could par lay that into a very
successful career.
A: I'm finding confidence is a common theme with the queens which is amazing.
L: Yes, people need a win in life. I shouldn't say need but a win in life of a significance to you
can do something to leap frog you into what you think you can do in life.
A: Since the May queen has disbanded, were there any riffs between homecomings and May
queens? Did you know any of the other girls?

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L: *Laughs* No! *Pulls out pictures* She was a runner up and was in a rival sorority yet all
these years later we still keep in touch via Facebook. All these years later you’re still friends. If a
person was not in your sorority or it was the rival sorority you just didn’t talk. We didn’t talk
then. We were so self-limiting in our boxes (within the sororities) but at the same time, and this
goes back to the Greek system we all lived together on a hall in a dorm so we all lived together
we all hung out together we ate together. Was there any animosity? We all wanted to win but we
didn’t do anything to sabotage. We didn’t interact. After the crowning, you were gracious and
congratulations then we went back to our normal behaviors. Now that we’re close to 50 years out
like I said we can be Facebook friends and share things.
A: Are there any other details of your journey that stood out to you?
L: It’s one of the times I realized how competitive I am. It was funny I was standing in the back
of Miller Auditorium and it came over me that I'm walking tall and proud. I was just a glow, I
knew I could win. I wanted to win and I won. And I’ve found out over the years I’m extremely
competitive and that’s why I succeeded in the corporation. I would work my butt off if it took
staying a 15 hour work day, and sometimes it did in order to be the one that succeeds and gets
recognition I do it. So it taught me I'm competitive and that I wanted to win.