Helen Elizabeth “Betty” Tank graduated from Russell Sage College in 1932. While a student at RSC, she majored in Secretarial studies. Betty was also a member of several clubs including Forum, Press Board and the basketball team. She wrote for the student newspaper, the Quill and served as the Editor-in-Chief during her senior year. Betty was also an avid hiker and outdoorswoman. She was a member of the Outing Club for three years and as a senior, she served as the Hiking Leader.

Betty graduated during the early years of the Great Depression, so she worked odd jobs before finding work as a secretary for a social worker in Philadelphia in 1933. While she enjoyed the city of Philadelphia, she accepted a secretary at large position at Connecticut State College in Storrs, Connecticut shortly after in September 1934. Betty worked at the college for three years before leaving for work as a chauffeur-kennel girl at Airlie Farm in New Bedford, New York. While the job did not pay much, she was able to save enough money to finance a trip to London in August 1939. Betty lived in England, Turkey, and Cairo during World War II and worked a variety of jobs including a position with the American Red Cross in Cairo. She returned to the United States in 1944 due to ill health. She detailed her war experiences in her memoir, Pushing my Shadow, published in 1995.

Upon returning home, Betty worked as a teacher in rural areas of the country for several years before returning to school. In 1951, she began studying and working at Columbia University’s Teacher College in New York City. She earned her Master’s degree in 1954. Afterwards, she taught in the Albany Public School District before accepting a position as a second grade teacher at the Coxsackie School District in 1960. Betty retired from teaching in 1971. Afterwards, she traveled and worked on her memoirs. Betty died on April 16, 2007.