Terre Martin was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1947. In the interview, she discusses her parents' experiences emigrating from Italy and settling in Newark. Her father owned a barber shop in South Orange, and her mother worked as a seamstress. She grew up in Maplewood and went to school at Clinton School, South Orange Junior High, and Columbia High School. At Douglass College from 1965 to 1969, she majored in Italian and recalls her Italian professor, Maria Teresa Moevs, along with her chemistry professor, Dr. Schombert. She describes Douglass traditions and changes in student life during that time period. Living at Gibbons, she became involved in campus activities, organizing the Soph-Frosh Picnic one year and serving as the house chair her senior year. While an undergraduate, she met her future husband, Douglas, who graduated from the Ag School in 1967 and then served in the Navy in Vietnam. After graduating in 1969, she and her husband moved to St. Louis, where he served as a naval recruiter. Returning to New Jersey, she took care of her three daughters, all of whom are alumni of Rutgers University, and volunteered with the Jaycettes. Over the course of her career, she has worked as a newspaper reporter, in public relations at the Sparta School District, and at Rutgers University in Admissions, the Office of Print and Electronic Communication, and the Office of Community Affairs. Active in Douglass alumnae affairs, she co-chaired the Douglass 100th Anniversary Committee and has been an active member of her class. In the interview, she analyzes changes at Douglass College and Rutgers University over the past fifty years.
She states in her interview, "The one constant in all our lives--we can always come home to Rutgers."
