HomeMy WebLinkAboutCampus Kids, Oral History taken Feb. 18, 1998City of College Station
Memory Lanes Oral History Project
This is gene hix . Today isfeb 18 1998
(month) (year)
I'm interviewing for the / 51 time A, „
Mrs., Lou Burgess Cashion
Mr. David W. Williams, Jr.
Mrs. Rush Williams Lawrence
Mrs. Lee A . Hunnell
This interview is taking place in Room /o C of The
L- IL
rf: ri c e.
C'e r1 7 r at 1300 George Bush Dr.
College Station , Texas . This interview is sponsored by the
Historic Preservation Committee and the Conference
Center Advisory Committee of the City of College Station,
Texas. It is part of the Memory Lane Oral History Project.
Have each person introduce themselves so their voice is
identifiable on the tape recorder.
The purpose of The Historic Preservation Committee is to gather and
preserve historical documents by means of the tape - recorded interview. Tape
recordings and transcripts resulting from such interviews become part of the
archives of The City of College Station Historic Preservation Committee and
Conference Center Advisory Committee to be used for whatever purposes may
be determined.
I have read the above and voluntarily offer my portion of the interviews
with :
(Name of Interviewee)
The City of College Station, Texas
Memory Lanes Oral History Project
INTERVIEW AGREEMENT
In view of the scholarly value of this research material, I hereby assign rights,
title, and interest pertaining to it to The ity of College Station Historic
Preservation Committee and Conference C Al ter Adva Committee.
Interviewer (signature)
Date 2 - % S y
6-en
Interviewer (Please Print)
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
action in whole or in part are covered by insurance. 1 �h 1 � , / I . � � La-
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rviewee (Please print)
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Interviewer (Please Print)
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Signature of Interiliewer
Place of Interview
List of photos. documents. mans. etc.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
Telephone
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
In progress
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
2 le -9g
Date (1_2( 4 j 1 /
Initial
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
action in whole or in part are covered by insurance.
LEE A . PukJNELL
Interviewee (Please print)
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Signature . .of. Interviewee.
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Name
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Address
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Telephone
Date of Birth Nikf 210 1?37
Place of Birth CA.44, I \ �-k AwA
I nterviewer (Please Print)
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Signature of Interviewer
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Place of Interview
List of photos, documents, mans, etc.
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
Date
Initial
In progress
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
action in whole or in part are covered by insurance. ' R 1L-/■1
Inte v e
Intervi ier (Please Print)
signdture of Interviewer
Place of Interview
List of photos, documents, mans, etc.
Interview
Nama, e a r /
Addr`e s
Telephone -q—
Date of Birth 1'�
Place of Birth &p &p
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
In progress t/
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
� -- 9T
Date
kt*
Initial
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
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action in whole or in part are covered by insurance. f I ( g
Intervi we print)
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Interview
Signatufe of Interviewer
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Place of Interview
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
/
(Please Print)
List of photos, documents, maps, etc.
Signature of Interviewee
Name , 3?() 6, pk t,r
Address
F1r6 -090
Telephone
Date of Birth `S .T -
Place of Birth ti-/ 'FY
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
In progress it
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
Fec., q'
Date ( C )
Initial
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
action in whole or in part are covered by insurance.
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Intervi er (Please
Print)
Signet'ture of Interviewer
Place of Interview
List of photos, documents, mans, etc.
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
In progress ✓
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
Date
Initial
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
City of College Station, Texas 77840
ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET
I hereby give and grant to the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE, City of College
Station, Texas, for whatever purposes may be determined, the tape recordings, transcriptions, and
contents of this oral history interview. Also, permission is hereby given for any duplications of
original photos, documents, maps, etc. useful to the history project to be returned unharmed.
Interviewee releases, relinquishes and discharges CITY, its officers, agents and employees, from all
claims, demands, and causes of action of every kind and character, including the cost of defense
thereof, for any injury to, including the cost of defense thereof for any injury to, including death of,
any person, whether that person be a third person, Interviewee, or an employee of either of the
parties hereto, and any loss of or damage to property, whether the same be that either of the parties
hereto or of third parties, caused by or alleged to be caused by, arising out of, or in connection with
Interviewee provision of historical information, whether or not said claims, demands and causes of
action in whole or in part are covered by insurance.
Intervi (Please Print)
Signature of Interviewer
/6‘,
Place of Interview
List of photos, documents, mans, etc.
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Signature of Interviewee
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Add ress .
4.6140
Telephone
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed
In progress
Interviewee agrees to and shall indemnify and hold harmless CITY, its officers, agents and
employees, from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, causes of action, suits and liability
of every kind, attorney's fees, for injury to or death of any person, or for damage to any property,
arising out of or in connection with the use of the items and information referenced aboved by
CITY, its agents, representatives, assigns, invitees, and participants under this grant. Such
indemnity shall apply where the claims, losses damages, causes of action, suits or liability arise in
whole or in part from the negligence of city.
DI.l
Date I /
Initial
A &M College Campus Kids
18 February 1998
Room 106
Moderator: Gene Hix
Intvw Group:
Lou Cashion (LC)
Dave "Bill" Williams (DW)
Curtis Burns (CB)
Shirley Williams (SW)
W.H. "Bill" Little (WL)
Lee Adcock Hunnell (LH)
SW - Mr. Moderator, I have a question since I'm a spouse and not a campus kid. I
wonder if I could act for my sister -in -law Ruth Williams Lawrence who is a campus kid
and is unable to be here today. She sent me by fax about four pages of her remembrances,
and I know she'd like to commit it as part of the record.
GE( - Well, I wish you'd had asked Gracie that question. The committee wants what we
have here and wants to be sure that you leave that with us.
SW - Well, I can give it as part of the oral history some. In Ruth's name, if you would
allow that because she's very interested. And also my other sister -in -law, his older sister
Margaret Ann Williams Caldwell is ill. She was registered for the conference; she lives in
Austin.
GH - Well, I would say if our conversation bogs down,I'll call you or have you read it.
SW - All right, fine. That would be great. Thank you.
GH - Mrs. Williams, sign your name as proxy of what your telling us about.
LH - My name is Lee Adcock Hunnell. I was the daughter of Col. and Mrs. Thomas
Adcock. My mother is still alive today with many wonderful memories of the ten years we
spent in College Station. As for living on and off campus, we must hold the record
1
because we lived in six houses in ten years, moving on campus and off campus as the
military dictated. I left College Station not because I wanted to, but because of my
father's death. My mother remarried an old college friend and moved away. I came back
here to date a little bit when I went to Trinity University. I graduated from there and
married a Yankee who had the good sense to move South eventually. After our children
were grown up. I attended law school, and practiced law in Houston; I am retired and
living there now.
Gil - That's about the length we're looking for.
CB - My name is Curtis Burns. My father was Professor of Veterinary medicine and head
of two or three departments. We moved on campus in 1937 and moved off campus when
everybody else did in 1940. Lee Adcock Hutuell was the girl next door. We moved up to
College Hills. I went to A &M and graduated in 1952 put in a career as a fighter pilot in
the Air Force, retired, came back to the community and worked for A&M for about eight
years, retired again and now busier than I ever was.
LC - My name is Lou Cashion really representing my husband ML Red Cashion who was
actually born on the campus across the street from the A&M hospital. Dr. Marsh just
crossed the street to deliver him. I spent the war years on the campus in the home of my
grandparents Dr. and Mrs. T.O. Walton when my dad Herschel Burgess was overseas.
Red and I started school together, married, and except for the time we spent in the
military have lived in College Station ever since.
WL - My name is William H., William Henry (Bill) Little, please call me Bill. Now I was
born in Bryan and grew up maybe one hundred yards from the A&M campus on the south
2
side of the campus. My father taught in the Entomology department for forty one years,
but I remember when it was Southside Development Company. I've jotted down these
early memories I can read off to you for whatever value or interest it may be to you.
Gil - Let's come back to that later.
WL - Could you read it later on? Read it, write it, or xerox it and give it to Mr. or Mrs.
Lancaster.
Gil - After the introduction we'll come back to you.
WL - All right.
DW - I'm Dr. Dave Williams, I was known as little Bill cause my father was big Bill. Dad
came to A &M in 1920, 1925 was head of the animal husbandry department. Early 40's he
was made vice- chancellor of agriculture. He finally ended his career as acting president
for a year and a half in 56, 57. My mother was active in anything that could be done in
College Station. They both really left an imprint. I was born in Bryan but we lived where
the Memorial Students Center is now and later I've kind of imagined I'm the last campus
kid. Being vice - chancellor we still had a house on campus and I don't remember any
other kids still being there. And my wife Shirley is with me.
SW - Thank you, I'm Shirley Williams and I'm here as a spouse, and as I have said I have
talked to my sister -in -laws Margaret Ann Williams Caldwell and Ruth William's Lawrence
and at the proper time I'd be happy to share some of their thoughts.
GH - Thank you very much, now lets go back to you.
WL - I've jotted down a few memories from my early childhood. They are vague and
disconnected. I tried to put them in chronological order. One of my earliest memories is
3
being in the College Store that was across the street from what is now Heaton Hall. I was
down there in a grocery cart. Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Thomas were looking at me. I
remember my mother walking down Abedeen Street. It was just gravel and later they put
asphalt on it. I have vague memories of the end of the Southside Development Company.
Remember CW Burchard going around reading water meters. I saw Mr. and Mrs.
Burchard in their dining room; Mr. Lancaster owns it now, but they were dining in their
dining room and I saw them in there and I thought I was just a child and I heard the
nursery rhyme, "The King and Queen Eating Bread and Honey," and I thought they were
eating bread and honey then. Perhaps, in 1938 barely, just barely I remember going to the
train station which stood way out there with my mother, and we were going in there to
vote I guess, it was the decision to incorporate the city of College Station and I was
fidgeting and I can remember Mama telling me to be still. I might remember the last
meeting of the Southside Development Company, we were walking right directly in front
of the Burchard house and Dr. Clark, in a booming voice, "and with this final act, I hereby
dissolve the Southside Development Company." And I can remember a lot of people
walking out. In 1939 I remember driving by the Textile Engineering building. The
machines were making awful noises. I might have a memory I guess it was Mr. Dan
Scoates' funeral. Of course I was too young to comprehend feelings about that. O.W.
Ball that might not be the correct initials but there was a Dr. Ball who taught biology at
A &M for many years he had a daughter named Julia Ball. She died when she was young
and a scholarship in her honor they may still have it. And they lived in a magnificent house
when I was a little child and I remember riding by in the car, by their house. It was a
4
magnificent mansion. It has been torn down years ago. They used to have movies in
Assembly Hall which is where the interfaith chapel people have weddings there now. I
remember seeing a movie, now I don't remember what movie it was about two young
ladies got on a ship traveling the Atlantic Ocean in Paris, France; they went to either the
Eiffel tower or the Cathedral of Notre Dame and it seems they missed the closing time and
got caught in the observation tower with no elevators to take them down. I remember
them throwing there hats down and one landed on top of a gargoyle.
GH - I'll have to interrupt just a minute please, do you have some more interesting items
like that for us.
WL - Yes
GH - How many more?
WL - What?
GH - Several more?
WL - Oh yes.
GH - Lets let somebody else.
WL - Well I'll probably write it up and xerox it and give it to Lancasters.
GH - We want to hear the rest of it. I feel.
WL - I understand
GH - Who would like to share something
LC - Well I have an interesting memory for people. My grandmother and grandfather, he
was president of A &M and did all of the university entertaining. There was nowhere to
entertain except for Aggieland Inn and it was too small. On this particular occasion they
5
were hosting President and Mrs. Roosevelt, I have pictures that I didn't bring. Part of
being a campus kid was being involved in university occasions. Being in the house at the
time my grandmother had gone to so much trouble to make it suitable and presentable for
the president of the United States. Mrs. Roosevelt's luggage was shipped ahead of time,
brought in from the train station. At the last minute, she didn't come. Never the less her
clothes had been hung in the closet and she had a magnificent purple velvet dress with a
train with ecru lace around the collar and a pair of high heel shoes and I went in there and
put that dress on and those high heel shoes and I paraded up and down the staircase until I
heard Big mother(my grandmother) come in and I went back and hung the dress up and
put the shoes away and my grandmother didn't know that story till I was past 40 years
old.
Gil - Did you tell us how old you were when that occurred?
LC - She was expected probably around 1940 so I would have been about 8 years old.
Gil - 8 years old.
LC - I was small, but I got away with that one.
Gil - Who would like to toss something in?
DW - Talking about presidents I remember when Eisenhower came, and I was a Boy
Scout at that time and I was standing there in the thing and as he left he puts his hand on
my shirt and says, "How are you son ?" And still I glow everyday. One of the wonderful
things about being on the campus was the number of people that came that you got to
meet and see and sing songs was one of the best entertainment which meant you might be
standing next to a dean or student anyone that could sing Era Lee Hensel could play a
6
piano, she could play anything you wanted to say. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hensel was always
sick; except for a sing song she would play beautifully.
LH - I wanted to follow up on Bill William's comment about living on Throckmorton
Street. Twice I lived on Lubbock Street. In the E.L. Williams house (to Bill Williams):
which was not named after your parents, but the other Williams, and in the Brooks' house
at 244 Lubbock which is now moved to North Gate. I could point it out on my pictures.
One summer, when we lived on Lubbock, my brother Tom and I ran a little lemonade
stand with Ralph Shuffler who lived on Throckmorton.
DW - You lived next door to the Shufllers?
LH - It was in relation to these names that I wanted to tell you about my Sunday school
experience. I was a charter member of St. Thomas Episcopal Sunday school. My brother
and I went there every morning, Saturday night meant polish your shoes. Sunday
morning you read your Sunday school lesson before you walked over to St. Thomas. My
Sunday school teacher, there was Mrs. F.L. Thomas, that you (Bill) mentioned. I loved
that woman. Nobody meant more to me or had greater impact in framing my character
than Mrs. F.L. Thomas. She was our teacher for very many years. When I was three
years old, I thought she was Mrs. "St." Thomas. She had us memorize a prayer called "A
Prayer for Grace." I was the only one in the class who memorized it. She rewarded me
by allowing me to "star" in a movie with her, filmed by the forestry department. In it she
is reading to a child and I was the child that sat there and listened to her. The most
absolutely wonderful thing in the world was listening to Mrs. Thomas' stories. I
remember very vividly her stressing the importance of the Ten Commandments. She
7
would go around and call upon us to recite each one. For some reason I always got
number three, and I loved number three because I was so good at it: "Thou shall not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him "Gilcrest" that taketh
his name in vain." I was an adult when I realized why she liked me to say that. I still have
every book Mrs. Thomas gave me. Just this past summer I finished reading one of those
books to my grandchild. I still have the cross she gave me the day I was confirmed , May
19th 1948.
LC - St. Thomas is it at the same place as it is now?
LH - It is. The side buildings were somewhat different on May 19th, 1948. The side
building, called the Parish Hall, was dedicated by Bishop Quinn who came in from
Houston for that occasion on the day I was confirmed.
LC - I was there that day.
LH - You were there that day? No wonder it took so well. My mother told me that next
morning,
"Your father and I talked last night." ( Daddy had been back from war about two years.)
"We are so glad we lived to see both our children confirmed." Two monthslater my dad
was dead. He had been killed in a military training.
GH: I see several items on this list I've been handed has to do with what kind of housing
that people lived in on the campus, things like how many rooms and loans and types of
houses. Let's start with someone who hasn't really spoken yet. Curtis, did you say you
lived on campus?
CB - Yep!
8
Gil - Do you have anything else that you would like to tell us?
CB - We had a three bedroom house like almost everybody with kids had. I don't
remember that much about it. It was a frame house, didn't we have a picture of your
house over there?
LH - No.
CB - There is a picture of a house that is typical of the ones I recall they took them off
campus and sold them for about three thousand dollars. I do remember that our detached
garage didn't have gravel on it, it was just bare earth. Pretty much covered with oil from
the cars, and mom always told me to stay out of it cause I'd always get dirty.
LC - As I recall the rent they paid on those homes was between ten and twenty dollars
per month. Is that your recollection?
DW - Yes. And I think it was an incentive for the folks to come to the university they got
a house.
GH - Is our group talking about the same time?
DW - We're talking in terms around 1930- 40 -45, we had to move because the MSC was
built.
LH - In the written personal narrativel brought with me today, I described my early years
on an off campus. In it I've told how our house was sawed in two. Daddy was killed on
July 22nd 1948, and we had to get off campus just as soon as we could find a house. The
person who bought it was moving to its present location at Northgate, but I can remember
a man taking an ax and making a hole in the floor and sawing my house in two, right
through my bedroom.
9
DW - Most were bought by the various professors who lived on the campus and the folks
in later years lived on in Fairview in a house that was on the campus that they had bought.
GH - Bill, give us a couple more of your -
WL - I told you about the movie I remember the name Shirley Hampton.
CB - Temple.
WL - Not Hampton, but Temple. Shirley Temple. She was one of the prominent movie
stars in the late 30's. Also I can remember a airplane 1940, traveling from a wire to the
ground. It was a telephone pole and wire was down. The airplane went down on a wire
and landed directly in front of where the A &M Methodist Church and Aggie Credit Union
building are now. The Dallas Morning News around September 1, 1939. I was about two
years old then I couldn't read then but looking back I could see the headlines Germany or
Hitler invades Poland. You could probably still find that on microfilm. We were riding in
the car and Poppa called Hitler a mad man. He never did like Hitler. But German people
were the best people in the world. I remember a song I guess when the United States was
neutral "When the Lights Go On Again All Over the World ". I remember hearing it. And
said something about they were bombing raids over Britain. I also remember hearing this
old radio - Churchill and Dunkirk.
GH - OK. Do you want to read two to three lines from your paper?
SW - These are some impressions by Ruth Williams of the dominating life on campus.
The 8:00, 12:00, 1:00, and 5:00 whistle that regulated our lives and everyone else's on
campus. The bugle calls from the circular stand between the YMCA and the drill field.
Taps, Reveille, etc., but not Silver taps were played daily. I went to sleep to Taps, very
10
comforting. The milk from A &M's F &B station was delivered daily, had thick cream on
top - so good. We were all disappointed when it was deemed necessary to homogenize
milk and selling of unpasteurized milk was banned. The ice wagon which delivered ice
weekly and the chances - rare - of getting a ride on the wagon or a sliver of ice to eat from
the driver. The laundry with the sheets starched and ironed and oh, so cool when you
stretched your feet out on a cold night. The drill field with all it's activities - parades, drill
practice, the band marching, the music, big reviews.
DW - The drill field was my baseball field. In the evening dad would make me shag flies.
SW - Big reviews, the trees with their grant dedication markers. I can't even begin to tell
how often I went around and read each one. The bonfire, part of our lives for weeks each
year, not just one night. In early years we had to be sure we left nothing out on the yard
that we wanted because it could easily become part of the fire. The dairy barn, down by
the railroad station where you could go buy ice cream and also just wander around
looking. And there were the pig farm, cow barns, rodeo arenas, and horse barns, all
located near the animal science building.
DW - I had a job dad paid me when I was in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade to clean stalls every
afternoon at the cattle barn. I got five cents a day. That was about the time when
cheeseburgers came out. I had my first cheeseburger and asked me what I thought about
it and I said it was really good but the difference wasn't worth a days work. My sisters
even made up a song. `Bathless Bill" is gonna be ill. He's contaminated, rotting away
day by day, should be fumigating from that job.
11
SW - The YMCA where we went to the Union Sunday School and to Casey's
Confectionery for sodas, frozen malts, and to check on the possibility of getting an empty
cigar box. Harry's barber shop also at the Y and had a shoe shine stand where you could
sit and watch all the activity. The Y had a lobby with the big chairs and the Sunday funny
papers from all the state papers, and it had a ledge. I felt it obligatory to crawl out on it
ad standing up on the edge myself all the way around the building. Why I don't know, but
probably because it scared me so much. Also in the basement of the Y was a heated
swimming pool and became a bowling alley. Lessons were ever present in our lives,
horseback riding every Saturday morning at 8:00 AM at the calvary stables, piano lessons,
little symphony orchestra lessons, dancing lessons... and paper dolls. The older
neighborhood girls spent hours drawing and painting paper dolls. She talks about the
safety all the children felt safe on campus because everybody knew you and the campus
cops - the famous KK - would take care of you.
Gil - Could you talk about the relationship with the kids on the campus?
CB - My first cousin's son (Henry D. Lowrance) lived with us while he was going to
A &M and he graduated in 1939. One of the things I remember, I went to his final review
and I climbed up in a tree and I fell out and I didn't brake my arm. I sprained it and a
sprain was a lot worse than a brake. Later his brother, Burns Lowrance lived with us for a
while too. Kids at least my age 8 or 9 years old - didn't have a whole lot of social
interaction with the cadets who weren't related to you. I remember we use to play with
Reveille a lot. She liked anybody that was in uniform.
Gil - Now is this the very first Reveille?
12
CB - Very first Reveille. If she wasn't in a good mood she'd growl, but I never heard of
Reveille snapping or biting and she just loved anybody in uniform. The biggest fire trap on
campus was the Assembly Hall. I use to go to Presbyterian church and to the movies in
the Assembly Hall. I think everyone went to go see Roosevelt. I remember him riding
down in that convertible Lincoln and he spoke to a group in Kyle Field. He also reviewed
the corps on the drill field. It was the most exciting review. We were used to seeing the
horse outfits working those days in 1937. For example, all the calvary rode horses and the
artillery was horse drawn with the cannons and cassons. After that the officers and
guidons of the mounted units formed a long line opposite of the reviewing stand. They
lowered the guidon lances and swords and charged to the reviewing stand and reighned up
short of the reviewing stand.
GH - Does anyone remember Camp Coral Lake?
DW - Searcy Braswell, a very successful lawyer and Searcy was my best friend. He took
care of me. I use to love to march behind the band before I went to school. My dad came
home early - took me down to Joe Saslick's and took a picture of little Bill with a stick off
the china -berry tree marching behind the band. My mother got so mad at him. One didn't
spend that much money on a good picture unless one were dressed up and ready. I wasn't
the only one marching behind the band.
GH - Who remembers when the movie people came and
DW - We had a cow horn that dad would call me to lunch with everyday. They would get
their film ruined.
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LC - I stood out by my grandparents home on a little metal fence around the corner of the
yard. All the campus cops knew all the campus kids - our names. They took care of us.
Red did something to interrupt the shoot. I can't remember what it was but I remember
my grandmother calling me in the house. My grandfather always called me daughter. He
said daughter, you behave yourself because they don't have the money to reshoot,
reshoot, and reshoot. And we want this university represented well. I did get the big
lecture over something I didn't even do. We were always so involved with campus
activities.
SW - John Kimbrough.
CB - I can't remember all of them
LC - I have a whole bunch of pictures in a box of what they gave to my grandparents.
CB - I suspect we are all in that movie "We've Never Been Liked." One instance was
when the corps was marching into Sibsa and we were all in the big crowd in Kyle Field.
LH - I just want to ask a question. I remember Nancy Reynolds coming to the high
school band hall one afternoon. She had pictures of two boys her dancing with we
commented, " Well, this one's sure better looking than that one." She explained, " well,
that one's my boyfriend and the other one was Audie Murphy."
CB - Audy Murphy came, I believe in 1951. I was a junior in the corps and we had a
review in his honor and for me he was one of my greatest heroes.
LH - Somebody needs to ask Nancy, since she's here today, if she still has the pictures.
[Later: I asked Nancy, and she soes. In fact, she had a copy of the picture of Audie
Murphy made for each of her children.]
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DW - The dances for the girls were I think unbelievable on campus they would dance 3 -4
steps and get cut in.
LH - We had girls stay at our house. It was four dollars a night and that included
breakfast and that was brought in on a tray.
LC - And it was your obligation to keep girls who came to the dances in your home.
WL - I remember one time my mother let a girl stay for the dance before they had hotel
facility.
DW - Speaking of dances, do y'all remember town hall? Wonderful we had 7 -9
performances a year and it was packed. And you didn't have one encore you had three
everybody that got to come said what a great audience it was.
LH - Remember Alec Templeton, the blind pianist? I remember getting an A on an
English paper for describing a Burl Ive'sperformance. He was so plump, it looked like the
buttons were gonna pop off his coat.
CB - They had movies at Guion Hall. We kids took great pride in innovating ways to
sneak in the Guion Hall to see the movies. It only cost a quarter, but you could usually
find doors or windows to sneak in the movies.
DW - Sunday afternoons free movies because the kids on campus that couldn't go
somewhere else, but the William's didn't go to the movies on Sunday. There were some
things you did and some things you didn't, and that was one of them. Boy there was a
good mail end. I was sitting there, dad sat beside me. "You ready to go ", "yes sir ". I had
hidden my bicycle in Bob Marshall's yard so they'd think I was playing with him
15
LH - I loved John Marshall. I named my child John because I was in love with that boy
for years. He was sixteen when I was four. He pedaled me around campus on his
handlebars. Back to those movies - do you remember what they cost us when it wasn't
Sunday?
LC - 12 cents ?
LH - It was 9 cents at Guion Hall and since I got ten cents allowance for three house
work, that fit into my budget. The campus theater was 12 cents.
GH - Who knows about the college zoo?
WL - I might have a very vague memory of the college zoo. It was around 1938, 1939. I
might now that you mentioned it. There might have been one.
Gil - This doesn't indicate time it was there, it just was located on the west side.
WL - Yes, it was located on the west side. Now this is unclear, don't quote me but there
was a small zoo and they had the Texas A &M Creamery there - might have been a small
zoo there, but it was closed down or went out of existence before WWII. Now if I might
continue my narrative, I don't remember the Pearl Harbor, 1941, but looking back I
remember gasoline rationing and meat rationing and rationing coupons. A lot of people
didn't like that but gasoline rationing cut down on a lot of running around. Bryan Army
Airforce base opened in 1942, I remember going out there with mom and I saw a great big
gray colored airplane. It looked enormous to me. Well I didn't comprehend this at that
time but it seemed to me WWII had a great impact on this community. I remember in the
Bryan Eagle they had a comic strip Captain Easy and if they have any microfilm in the
Bryan library they might have that. I remember hearing about the Battle of Midway, and I
16
thought it was a little town of Midway, Texas. And I had an uncle, my father's younger
brother who was in the Navy, and served in the Pacific theater, and was involved in the
Battle of Guada Canal and we would hear from Uncle Jim. He's dead now. I remember
Mr. Cofer a neighbor for many years who had a spotlight on the roof of his home and the
attack on Pearl Harbor at the time people were in a state of panic, I didn't know that the
war in Europe had started before then, but Mr. Cofer had a spotlight on his home and he
would shine it throughout the neighborhood and one time I was running outside on the
sidewalk and he had this spotlight on me. Although I don't remember a lot about the war
, but I remember one time when I was in the second grade one of the small islands in the
Philippines, so many bombs were dropped on it that it blew up the island. The war ended
in 1945, Papa had the radio on and there was a lot of static over the radio, something
about the Swiss Embassy, blah, blah, blah, Swiss Embassy, Emperor Hirohito surrendered
unconditionally and there was a general rejoicing. The war years meant very little to me.
My father never left home; he stayed right here at A &M - he certainly didn't want to leave
me and my older sister, they claimed it had a big impact on this country. My father spent
less than ninety days in WWI with an honorable discharge; WWII meant very little to me
and to my parents and I can say something else. In September of 1946 the A &M College
enrolled 8200 or 8700 students (I read that in A Centennial History of Texas A &M
University, by H.C. Dethloff). It was a record enrollment, and at that time no one could
foresee the growth at A &M College. No one - the governor of Texas, the President of
A&M Board of Directors, the Chief Administrative Officers could foresee the growth of
A &M which I think was foolish. But whenever you have a war two things are gonna
17
happen: higher taxes and social change. It seems that it's only been since WWII or 1950,
that A &M and College Station and Bryan just really began to grow. Recently, the US
News rated A &M as one of the top twenty five public institutions in this country.
GH - Thank you very much. Bill this might be something you could tell us about and
some trouble. The peach orchard, you recall that? The peach orchard on the
Northside of the campus.
DW - I'm afraid not, the peach orchard doesn't, the place where I was from had a lot of
trees and so forth, but no peach orchard. We had a lot of fights and clay clod fights. I
remember WWII old helmets.
CB - Some of our fatherw had been in WWI and had helmets as souveniors of the war.
We'd have these clod fights where the MSC is located now. Everybody had plenty of
helmets. Colonel Frank Anderson had plenty of helmets of every nation in WWII.
DW - Frank Anderson who the track was named after and all was a wonderful man and
had two older sons. When I got ready to go to school I didn't want to go I wanted to
climb trees. I finally agreed to go to the 6th grade because Rusty Anderson was going to
the 6th grade.
LH - You twice commented on something I wrote about that has to do with trees.
Climbing trees. I became the conniseur of climbing trees; no Saturday could be more
perfect on one which I was allowed to wear jeans (not worn any of the rest of the week)
and go climb the trees. I wanted to mention two and see if you remember them. On the
corner of Throckmorton and Lubbock there was a fine climbing tree, One of its limbs had
to be supported because it grew parallel to the ground. You could walk that limb like a
18
sidewalk. Another one was in the center of this block of Lubbock there was a big parking
lot in the center, and the finest, most magnificent oak tree was there. My brother and I
spent one or two summers fixing a tree house up in it. It was a multilevel fortress - we
got a pulley and hauled up rocks, like they used to make the parking lot. Well, when
Daddy was killed and we went to Fort Belvoir,[ VA] for the funeral, they bulldozed that
tree, and I wondered if the guys got rained with our entire ammo supply For all the times
we climbed it and all the levels we reached, we no one was ever hurt. When my brother
and I came back from the funeral, that tree was on its side. Tommy walked up the
magnificent trunk that was lying there on the ground to where the branches were and
when he jumped down he broke his foot.
GH - I want to make sure that everyone feels that they all have contribute. Lou did you
have something you want to say? And if you want to pick on or two more from your..
CC - Well the trees do any of you remember the cedar trees? but Red
started his business career he took that little red wagon to the train station and he'd haul
those big trunks for the Aggies for twenty five cents a piece to pull the wagon, they had to
pull the wagon with he and the trunk in it for that he got twenty five cents and he had a
thriving business going until his daddy caught him and he didn't think that was terribly
appropriate and that was the end of his career but it worked for about a year.
WL - Talking about trees there was a tree on Mr. Silvey's lot- a chinaberry tree. When I
was a little kid I like to climb it, well mother and father would see me out there and
scream at me to get me down from there. You talked about a peach orchard on campus, I
don't remember that. There was a pear orchard that was right directly east of us by Mr.
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D.B. Cofer's house. He taught English. I think he taught English for years he was on the
faculty and staff 1910 to 1958 and he was and he had a pear orchard I remember that one
time with my mother there was a mother rabbit that had baby rabbits over there you seen
them in the grass. The Episcopal Church owns that property now. They have a school
there.
CB - Work on the campus was always available.
DW - You were expected to work. I tore down buildings, I had a paper route. The kids
were used and it was fine ...
CB - You made a little money doing this?
DW - Precious little. I remember setting pens for the old YMCA you talk about getting
filthy dirty.
LC - And the girls were taught the social graces. You served at your parent's friends
parties and all that was part of the social climate.
DW - The children were really accepted in the social climate. It didn't matter who was
having a party or how dressed they were. The kids were probably there too.
CB - One of the greatest jobs for the summer was when I worked in the ice house. I
would get the ice and chop in blocks. There was always an elder person that would take it
and sold it. Another great job was working for the F &B dairy working for Mr. Copeland.
And I delivered milk for them on the milk truck and we'd always have a bottle two or
three left over.
DW - Chocolate milk!
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CB - No I just liked the plain old raw milk the F &B dairy sold. I was setting pens at the
YMCA bowling alley. Another one a little later after I moved off campus I worked over
in Bagley Hall that had the cotton carding machines I remember sitting there from 5 -6 to
9 -10 o'clock at night and maintain the cotton carding machines. They tore it down.
LC - Textile building, wasn't it?
CB - It was the textile building, Bagley Hall. Years later I saw a documentary about child
labor abuses in England and the Northeast where these children were maintaining these
carding machines and remembered I was doing that when I was about that age, but I
didn't know I was making good money for that time. Probably 25 cents an hour.
DW - One of the jobs I worked for and ... the campus.. plants and maintaining the plants
and they decided to paint the green house. July 8th. That means you close it - I painted,
washing pots
CB - I worked part time one summer cleaning out the greenhouse...
LC - The girls worked in the registrar's office for 50 cents an hour. This was by the end
of the 40's. I worked ther summers of 1946, 47, 48.
DW - Do you remember what a treat it was to go and eat at the Aggieland Inn? You
didn't get to go very often.
LH - The day before was Engineer's Day. The most marvelous day when you were a kid
on campus. Do you know what we are talking about? All of the departments would open
up. It was a big open house, all the parents were here for the big parade for Mother's
Day. But there were wonderful exhibits. I can recall being fascinated by a faucet hanging
in mid air by a string with water coming out of it. Mr. Fleming in the workshop would
21
give out some samples, and you could get an ashtray with Texas A &M on it stamped out
right before your very eyes.
CB - They were an aluminum cast replicas of a campaign hat with T -A -M -C engraved on
the brim.
LH - The other thing.... remember in the chemistry department what you got? Free
popsicles!
CB - Also in the Medical Engineering Shops every year they would pile up a cone shape
pile of sand to make a replica volcano three to four feet high and once an hour it would
erupt and the smoke and the lava and the sparks would erupt. That's where they had the
cast aluminum replica of the campaign hats. The electrical engineering shop had a big
tesla coil that would simulate lightning flashes.
GH - Shirley, go ahead.
SW - I think most things have been covered. But I was going to say from someone who
was not a campus kid, I am envious. What an exciting life! And from reading William's
account, there was something always going on. It's like he said, we were like spectators
attending all the Aggie games as part of the knothole gang..
LH - You know what the knothole gang meant? You paid a quarter to get in. [to Kyle
Field] But, I can show you to this day bars that are a little bit further apart than others,
where a child could slip through, and you didn't have to pay the quarter. That was two
and a half weeks allowance.
SW - The band and Reveille and the original black Reveille, the yell leaders, the colors,
the war hymn, the spirit of Aggieland. We glowed or suffered along with all of the other
22
Aggies. Football signs would hang from every dormitory usually painted on sheets and
yell practices in front of the Y and even midnight yell practices were all a part and what a
life campus kids must of had! I am envious!
WL - I remember being in the knothole section but I never lived on, I just lived off
campus I'm just giving you my memories that I have....
DW - Well you're talking about this stadium and games, on Sunday afternoons we used to
play football and we were just like we were the Aggies. Another thing we used it for was
for riding a bicycle down the ramps or skating.
SW - Lou talked about the hospitality to the girls. I remember Madge Williams always
had a buffet at her home on football weekends and when they lived where the MSC was.
They looked up and here were a bunch of strangers in the back of the line. They thought
it was a public restaurant. They were just coming through the buffet.
LC - There was such a sense of family. I know those of us that experienced it wished
others had.
DW - You were talking about Red, his father. Do you remember how funny a man he
was!
LC - Yes, but when one of us did something bad, the whole campus knew about it. And
the character building and ethic of that situation was quite, not wasted. The students
knew us by name, many professors invited them for meal in their homes. Most professors
had a group of students in, and the students would rate the professors - on the food they
served. Everyone knew who had the best food and who you wanted to avoid. And so we
never went over there for snacks after school - to the one's you avoided. I can't
23
remember but one of those. But there was just a sense of family and it's hard to describe
and express
CB - I think we should start talking about the school. Bill's too young for it. I was in the
2nd grade in the old music hall. I think the place was condemned already. It was a two
story building with an old metal fire escape which was condemned. We were not allowed
to play on it, but of course we did. One thing I remember there was a plaster statue of
George Washington in the hall and Wally Anderson and I were scuffling one day and we
knocked the statue off and broke it's ear. Well Wally and I went to the principal's office
and we were paddled by the principal. I remember he had a ping pong paddle for grades
1 -3 and a board for the older kids. Wally and I both got paddled for good reason I guess.
During the middle of the next year (third grade) they opened up the chicken coops.
LC - If you got a paddling at school you got a paddling at home.
WL - I know when I got to high school and me and papa got talking about conjugating
verbs and papa said when he went to school they parsed verbs. P- A- R- S -E -D.
DW - I had a pony that I got to keep. Certainly we got some exposure - remember the
horse barn? They had a fellow named Garrigan- funniest Irish man "You will set a horse
young man!"
LC - I remember he would say "You will ride a horse like a lady!" (English saddle)
DW - With the pony we got to use the jumps, of course that didn't mean we would go
galloping off...
LH - Talk about Pinkie Down's car. Do you remember Pinkie Down's car? It had
wooden wheels. Was it white or pink? Was it a Model A or.... Pinkie Downs was know
24
to be invited to speak at a funeral once and he said, " I don't know the deceased, but as
long as I have your attention, I'd like to say a few words about Texas A &M."
LC - What is this about competition between the Southside kids and the Northside kids?
LH - I remember chinaberry fights between brothers against little sisters
CB - And clod fights. Before we quit I'd like to bring one thing.. there was a ravine by
Kyle Field, where G Rollie White is now. There was a drain culvert about 40 -36 inches
wide going out between the floral gardens and the present day A &M president's home.
The boarders on either side of the culvert were made of a very good quality clay.
Whenever it rained really hard, a bunch of us would go out and build a dam across the
culvert. Construction was supervised by the sons of some of the kids whose father's were
engineers... There were tennis courts near the field house and we would find tennis balls
and go out to the polo field and find, what do you call them? chucks... that they lost. We
would find broken polo mallets and we'd play games with those and use the tennis balls
we found to play stick baseball.
DW - I played ping -pong. We had a student named Wally Moon. I never won a ping -
pong game with him...we'd duke it out, we'd be close, I never won one from him...
CB - At the A &M baseball diamond we kids used to shag balls at the baseball games. If
they hit a foul ball you had to bring the ball back. And we'd chase balls just for the fun of
it, but if it crossed the fence for a homerun, we all got to keep it. For years I had one of
Wally Moon's homerun balls. He hit a lot of homeruns.
WL - If you got there early enough, you could be bat boy. And early enough meant for
A &M, not quite early enough meant for the other team. I had to get a hair cut one day
25
and I knew I was going to be late and I was so mad I just really had them peel it. And
sure enough I was the bat boy for Texas. I got sun burned and it peeled....
WL - Well, I was born in 1937 in Bryan. Well he was born in Bryan too. He lived on
campus too.
LH - If you'll go back to the public comments, I want to respond to Bill's Little's
incredible statement about not being affected by WWII since my father was gone from the
house for three years. True, there weren't as many military children as there were
civilians, but I felt that all my classmates were affected by the war and not only just the
coupons but Bill surely, you remember the air raid warnings when we had to get in the
center of the house and turn out the lights. And Mother would walk around outside trying
to see if we could even use a flashlight in the center of the house. The war permeated our
very existence. It wasn't just going on in Midway and the Battle of the Bulge. Breakfast
was a time of silence because mother wanted to hear the news, the war report. Don't you
all remember that?
CB - I do,
LH - Well lets hear what Bill remembers about the war.
WL - I might remember the war reports, but that to me seems like almost WWI or Civil
War. My uncle (mother's brother) never served in WWII. He worked for the railroad and
his worked was deemed necessary for the national effort.
DW - Each evening we would have a "culinary delight" and you had to go into the kitchen
and fix whatever was available. Sugar was rationed and I had lemonade. I used all the
26
sugar we had and I thought it would really be good if it foamed. I put baking soda in it!
There went the sugar ration.
CB - After I lived on campus I started living up at College Hills during the war. We
moved off campus in 1940. But we went on scrap drives for the war effort. Paper drives,
metal drives, and we would even collect glycerin fat you would use for cooking. I
remember all the boys would be excited when someone would give up an old Esquire
magazine because it was like the Playboy of it's day. They rarely got to the dump.
WL - I remember scrap drives.
CB - One more thing I remember on the third floor of the YMCA building was WTAW
and we used to go up there and we were enthralled by the radio broadcast. Particularly
when the were doing some kind of a drama. You had al these little machines created all
the sound effects. It was fascinating. Spent a lot of time up there You were talking
about trees, I remember one tree you use to climb. It was a mulberry tree in our yard that
Lee Hunnell and I use to climb that tree and eat mulberries during mulberry season.
Mulberries always had some kind of insects on them. We'd pick a mulberry and thump it
to scatter the bugs and eat it. Mulberry juice is unfortunately a permanent stain, so during
mulberry season we were always red and blue.
LH - I began in first grade with Mrs. Fred Sloope. When we moved to Houston in 1965
after a long removal from Texas, I had my own child evaluated by his first grade teacher
to see where he was and what he needed The teacher said he needs more work on
phonics, he obviously hadn't had that. She said, "Let me explain to you how we teach it
here." And she went on to describe huffing for h's and puffing for p's and the sounds of
27
vowels and I said, "Gosh, this takes me back to Mrs. Sloop's first grade class." And she
said "You're from New Jersey, how did you have Mrs. Sloop, Mrs. Fred Sloop ?" and I
said , "Yes, that was my first grade teacher from College Station, Texas." And she said,
"She wrote the book that I'm using."
WL - Somebody said to me College Station is a very unusual community. Some people
might question that, but if ever there was a college town it's College Station, Texas. And
A &M College was just a few buildings, way out in the country and the town grew around
it. People from different parts of the country - why, from my house, where I lived. Next
door neighbor used to be Mr. and Ms C.W. Burchard, Mr. Burchard was from
Pennsylvania, Mrs. Burchard was from Florence, Alabama. Down Dexter, Doherty, who
was one of the founders of the Southside Development Company, came from Illinois.
Right next door was Mrs. and Mr. Lancaster. I think they came from Colorado. Then
Mr. and Mrs. Scoates both originally from Illinois, but they came from Mississippi. Going
down south Mrs. and Mr. Clark, he was from Virginia. Mr. Fred Burt - he was from
Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. E.G. Smith were both from upstate New York. Mr. Lyle, taught
math, he was from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Lyle she was from Mississippi. Dr. Potter, taught
biology, I guess it is zoology now, was from Kansas or Midwest
DW - He really established the pre -med department.
WL - Going down Pershing was D.B. Cofer, he was from Kentucky. Jensen, head of the
chemistry department at that time, he was from Kansas or the Midwest. John Mitchell,
taught mathematics, was from Tennessee. Dr. Campbell, head of modern languages was
from Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. McGee, parents of Bill McGee, were from Kansas or the
28
Midwest. Mr. Orr was from Oklahoma, Mrs. On from Louisiana or Florida. Mrs S.S.
Sorensen was from Delaware. Dr. Gravitt was from Illinois; Mr. and Mrs. O.W. Silvey
were from Indiana.
DW - He was the one that followed in the pre -med department.
WL - People from different parts of the country, not from Texas. It was not a typical
community.
LH - Plus you had the military come in who were educated the people.
WL - They said in 1876, 1890, the turn of the century, military colleges were popular
back then. Now I wasn't born back then but I say after WWII, there were trends against
military colleges, but there you are....
LH - ...we tried to go fly kites on top of the Academic building. You could just walk
right up there. Does anybody remember the Rice owl?
CB: Nobody mentioned the zoo but I remember the museum. The oldest Aggie
resided in that museum....the mummy...
LH - Do you remember Dr. Milton from the chemistry department? Dr. Milton use to
bend glass straws for our Koolade, and you would almost go cross eyed watching the
Koolade go up the straw....
CB - ...Wally Penberthy got stuck up in the bugle stand. I was so skinny I could get in
there all the time. He got up in there and panicked. I was trying to tell him how to get
out but nobody would listen to me because I was the culprit that got him stuck up there in
the first place. To this day Mrs. Penberthy remembers that.
29
LH - We never mentioned the social events of the year that did not involve Aggies. The
pet show held over in the arena
DW - I won best pet in show with this little pony....
LH - I won best Boston terrier with two ears. I tried to sell tickets in the trailer park.
They didn't buy one ticket. It never occurred to me that our neighbors were buying the
tickets to be nice. I thought it was the best social event of the year....
DW I could get down off the saddle and slide down her back and grab her tail and lean
back. I have never seen such a horse. I remember losing her for two days and the radio
station announced it.
LH Well, I can't imagine having a pony. I went around Texas A & M on my tricycle.
There were absolutely no restrictions on me. After all, I was four years old and I knew my
way home, and if I didn't, someone else did. But you certainly did not have to worry
about child molesters.
DW They were talking about President Walton. Supposedly, when I was four, my dad
got a telephone call from his secretary that President Walton had a visitor and if he would
come get him (me.) I don't remember this because I was four years old at the time, but I
remember the story.
LH I remember my phone number was 47184. They have more digits than that now.
CB- Actually, it didn't start then. You mentioned the large number of students coming
back after the war. A couple years later is when I got into A & M. I graduated from high
school in 1948 and my freshman year in A &M we had about 8,000 in the Corps. In 1947,
they'd had that big hazing scandal where the entire Cadet Corps officers had tendered
30
their resignations. The A &M president accepted the resignations although no one
expected him to. The following year, they put all the freshmen out at Bryan Field annex.
When we fish were at hte annex no upperclassman bothered us much. But the sophmores
would come out there on weekends.
SW- To haze you?
CB- Well, it was pretty mild hazing. They pretty much cut out the overt hazing. We got
more hazung as sophomores. I was in the Air Force ROTC at the time. I wanted to fly
since even before World War II. Bill, do you remember when the campus theater opened
in 1939? The first show that they showed was Gunga Din. They gave me a bunch of
leaflets. I got on my bicycle and delivered the leaflets to every home in College Hills and
all around. As my reward, I got an airplane ride. I went out to Easterwood Field, the
runways were all grass. I don't know if you remember or like the Aeronca C3. It looked
like a bathtub with high wings. I was in the rear seat. Grass was up to the bottom of the
airplane fuselage as we taxied out for takeoff. Incredibly slow airplane. We had about
forty -five minutes riding around- saw College Station. But you were talking about that
airplane out at Bryan Field in 1942. It was a P -51 Mustang Fighter. I remember this
vividly. I loved airplanes. The community had bought so many war bonds that had
bought that North American P -51. They flew it in to Bryan Field to help war band sell
money. I think it was named "The Spirit of Brazos Valley."
SW- I lived in Bryan and we went out and saw that airplane.
CB- About 1936, they had an air show at Black's Airport off Leonard Road. I remember
parachuting and biplanes doing acrobatics.
31
WL When did you transfer to Bryan?
CB- Sophomore high school. I was a freshman in Consolidated high school in 1945. `46,
`47, and `48, I was in Bryan.
WL You graduated from Bryan High in 1948, went to A & M in `48, and graduated in
`52.
CB- Yes, I graduated in only four years including three summers.
WL What was your degree in? Civil engineering?
CB- Landscape architecture. I started flying. That's a heck of a lot more fun. I decided
that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life over a drawing board.
LH Do you remember in May 1948 when they had that series of three movies at Guion
Hall on Saturdays? Well, my birthday party fell on a Friday night. We had a dance, then
the boys went home, and the girls spent the night. Everybody slept. I mean nobody slept,
but me. I fell asleep. Two girls walked a third girl home in their pajamas. Some of them
wanted to see what Guion Hall was like- in moonlight. Saturday morning, mother made
us breakfast, then went to Guion Hall to watch Mickey Rooney grow up to be Spencer
Tracy in Young Thomas Edison. It was wonderful.
THE END.
32
From:
1.
RUTH WILLIAMS LAWRENCE
to: Family Practice 2/17/98 at 11:55:25
Born in 1926 - lived on campus from birth until marriage in 1949.
Parents - David Willard Williams and Madge Rees Williams
During his years at A &M, Dad was Head of the Animal Husbandry Department, Vice
President, then Vice Chancellor for Agriculture of the A &M system, and Acting
President of the University. Mother's devotion to the college and to the
community earned her the title of Woman of the Year in Brazos County. Both were
active participants and contributors to life in College Station.
We lived in three campus houses during my life there: the first was on the road
that runs from the old drill field to dead end at the entrance to Kyle Field. It
was only one block long. We lived there until the summer before my fifth grade
in school. We moved to the street that bordered the drill field. That house was
torn down to build the Memorial Student Center - I was in college by then. Our
next house was over next to the Chancellor's home, near where the new dorms and
mess hall, the corps area, were built. Certainly they are not new now since that
was fifty years ago. I think the name of the street was either Throckmorton or
Lamar. I was married in that house after graduating from Texas University -
girls could not attend A & M at that time, much to my sorrow.
Growing up on the Texas A.& M. Campus
My brother, sister, and I often comment on the fact that we had ideal
childhoods. We felt completely safe physically, had freedom to roam at will in
a place where everyone kept a friendly eye on our well- being, and where we knew
we belonged. We were Aggies and the college permeated almost every facet of our
lives.
My memories of growing up and what I did vary of course by my age at the time
so I'll just jot down my strongest impressions and hope it will help form a
picture of life at that time and place a la stream of consciousness. Because of
the differences in our ages, my sister and my brother should be able to widen
the range of view to include both older and later times.
The bands marched down our street to the stadium for all the big games: fans
came on trains for the Rice and SMU games and walked from the railroad station
down our street to the stadium. This was big excitement and I HATED them and
their sissy bands. I was an AGGIE! I was also about five years old. The entire
student body was in the corps in those days and the Aggie band was was my idea
of perfection. I still prefer it to all other marching bands.
Most of the children in the neighborhood of our first house were older than I
and they were an unusually active and creative group. They ranged from four to
seven years older than I, with my sister a true member of that group.
I was their satellite, errand girl, shadow a great deal of the time.
For example: One of the big activities was having sales between neighborhoods -
more or less garage sales for children - about every six weeks - our next door
neighbor wore rouge and her empty vanity cases were highly prized as
merchandise. The job assigned to me was to get her to give them to me for our
sales. I haunted the poor woman. As I recall the currency used to purchase each
others' garbage at the sales was straight pins. At other times the Gang would
put on carnivals or shows down in the ravine - a place where Luke and Charlie,
who owned the local grocery store, held wonderful Easter Egg Hunts each year. I
ran errands for the performers until I was worn out and didn't see the show or
carnival. However, I felt an important part of the action.
1
From /le:li'(A(/
z
To: Family Practice 2/17/90 at 11:50:24
The adults on the campus were professors, administrators, coaches, and their
families. They all knew each other and all the children. On the whole they were
amazingly interested in and tolerant of us. I spent many hours going around
visiting with these adults when I was too young to join in the Gang's ball games
or other activities.
Clubs were formed almost weekly by the Gang. One of the most notable one was the
D.O.D.A. - the Dear Old Detective Agency - which was based in our backyard in
the wash /chicken house. Everyone was fingerprinted in candle wax and the walls
were covered with pictures of such notorious criminals as Baby Face Nelson, John
Dillinger, and others of that time. All the Detectives had to have a desk
(wooden crate or box) to be a full fledged member. Of course, I could never be a
Detective but I would be tolerated as a janitor if I could get desk boxes for
the detectives.
Our next door neighbor, Dr. Taubenhaus, was shy as I was and I spent a great
deal of time watching him perform his experiments with plants and flowers. He
gave me a bunch of sweet peas every year on my birthday. His children were
older and with my sister and her friends were D.O.D.A. members.. My job was to
procure boxes for the detectives from Dr. T. - he wouldn't give them to the
other, older children, even his own. I suffered over having to ask for them. He
reluctantly supplied them, one at a time. I still find it difficult to ask for
things.
Climbing trees was my passion and after I learned to read I spent hours up in
various trees reading. Mrs. Bagley's trees were best and it didn't seem to faze
her that a child made free use of her property
My hobby was sending off for samples. I would cut out coupons for such things
as Absorbine Jr., Pertussin Cough Syrup, Hot Dan the Mustard Man spoons, etc.,
and paste them on penny post cards that I walked to the post office at the train
station to purchase. While at the train station, I would visit the college dairy
before walking home through the cedar grove (later the Grove where summer dances
were held) and the neighbors' back yards.
The Hensels had a rope tied to a tall tree you could climb up and swing way out
on. Since you had to climb the tree to get to it this was a favorite activity of
many of us.
The biggest deal ever was when the college built the new swimming pool - the
natatorium. It was close to our house and was regarded by all the kids as Oz.
The tilers would give us the tiles that were stained by concrete. We took them
home, counted them, assorted them by color, fondled them, then dug holes in our
back yard, coated the holes with concrete and lined them with the tiles. All of
us were involved in this magical project. We hoped to be able to dig a hole
clear to China to see if the Chinese would be standing on their heads or their
feet, and to line the hole with tiles for easy access to China. At least, that
was my aim. Probably the others were unaware of my plan since I never told
them.
The swimming pool when it was completed continued to be a big part of all of our
lives. College families could go and use it from 3:00 to 5:00 each weekday
afternoon, and, I think, from 7 :00 to 9:00 at night. I am not sure of the
evening hours since I went in the afternoon. Swimming and diving lessons were a
part of our lives from then on - taught by members of the Aggie swim team and
their coaches.
2
To: Family Practice 2/17/95 at 11:57:15
Lessons were ever present in our lives - horseback riding every Saturday morning
at 8:00. at the calvary stables, piano lessons, little symphony orchestra
lessons, dancing lessons... And paper dolls. The older neighborhood girls spent
hours drawing and painting paper dolls" a la today's Barbie dolls- and
designing and drawing elaborate outfits for them to wear. They were painted
with water colors and outlined with India ink. I drew and painted in imitation
of their work, and wouldn't trade anything for the experience, but my work never
approached theirs.
Impressions of the dominating atmosphere of life on campus:
The 8:00, 12:00, 1:00, and 5:00 whistle that regulated our lives and everyone
else's on the campus.
The bugle calls from the circular stand between the YMCA and the drill field -
taps, reveille, etc. but not silver taps were played daily. I went to sleep to
taps - very comforting.
The milk from A &M'S F. and B. station was delivered daily - had thick cream on
top - so good. We were all disappointed when it was deemed necessary to
homogenize milk and the selling of unpasteurized milk was banned.
The ice wagon which delivered ice weekly and the chances - rare - of getting a
ride on the wagon or a sliver of ice to eat from the driver.
The laundry done at the college laundry with the sheets starched and ironed and,
oh, so cool when you stretched your feet out on a cold night.
The drill field with all its activities - parades, drill practice, the band
marching, the music, big reviews, the trees with their granite dedication
markers - I can't even begin to ell how often I went around and read each one.
The bonfire - part of our lives for weeks each year - not for just one night. In
early years we had to be sure we left nothing out on the yard that we wanted
because it could easily become part of the fire.
The dairy barn, down by the railroad station, where you
could go buy ice cream and also just wander around looking.
And there were the pig farm, cow barns, rodeo arena, and horse barns, all
located near the animal science building/
which housed the meat labs and slaughtering plant. Many places to explore. Only
you needed to be sure you didn't wear any red or the bulls might charge you - or
so I thought.
,The YMCA where we went to the Union Sunday School and to Casey's Confectionery
for sodas, frozen malts, and to check on the possibility of getting an empty
cigar box. Harry's barber shop was also at the Y and had a shoe shine stand
where you could sit and watch all the activity. The Y had a lobby with big
chairs and the Sunday funny papers from all the state papers, and it had a ledge
that ran all around the building at the second level. About every three months
I felt it obligatory to crawl out on it and, standing up, edge myself all the
way around the building. Why I don't know but probably because it scared me so
much. Also in the basement of the Y was a heated swimming pool /where I had
swimming lessons when I was about six. Later it was covered over andibecame a
bowling alley.
3
To: Family Practice 2/17/98 at 11:58 :07
All the sidewalks on the campus where we felt free to ride our scooters and
later our bikes, and to skate. The ramps at Kyle Field also were utilized in
this manner. The ramp rides could be dangerous because they emptied on to a
cinder track and a fall could leave you with black speckles of cinders under
your skin. It took about a year for the cinders to work their way out as I can
attest after a spectacular slide from a scooter fall.
The movies and programs at the Assembly hall - I was grown before I realized
that not everyone answered the actors on the screen and whistled through out the
movie. I thought it was fun to listen to the students - I was oblivious to
anything that might have been out of line. . I truly believe that the children
raised on the campus were the most innocent in the world.
The Aggieland Inn was the place to go to on special occasions. It was not an
every day occurrence. Nor were the programs at Guion Hall. This was where the
opera singers, famed actors, symphony orchestras, and other really outstanding
concerts and programs were held. We went to all of them and learned
appreciation for excellence at an early age. I can remember how the visiting
artists appreciated the genuine enthusiasm exhibited by the Aggie students.
Games - games were a major source of entertainment solo or in groups, at home or
at school. Among the favorites were Red Rover, Giant Stride, Go In and Out the
Window, Farmer in the Dell, Jacks, Marbles, Sling the Statue, King of the Hill,
Card games (except on Sunday), Tag and Gotcha Last, Hop Scotch, Jump Rope, and
various ball games. Our front yard and the side walks were the sites for these
activities.
After supper on summer nights the word would go out that there would be a
playout that evening. Everyone would show up and Hide and Seek would be the
culminating game, not starting until it began to be dark - so it would be
scarey.
Both front and backyards were utilized for playouts.
Monopoly became popular after it was put on the market and the games of it were
like marathons, going on for days. Checkers and dominoes were rainy day
activities.
Sports - All the sports the College students played were eagerly followed by the
kids - both as spectators and as practitioners. Tennis balls were hit endlessly
against garage doors; basketball hoops were hung in and out of the houses. My
young brother used the main hall in our house for an endless game of basketball.
He played both teams - A &M vs some other school. A &M somehow always managed to
eke by and win in these games. Since the telephone was also in the same hall,
talking to your friends and dates on it was a real hazard; a basketball could,
and did, hit you in the head if you were unwary. (It was always the other team
that hit you - not the Aggies.)
As spectators we attended all the Aggie games as part of the Knothole Gang. We
sat in the end zone at the football games. I still like that view of the game.
The band and Reveille - including the original black one- , the yell leaders,
the colors, the yells, the War Hymn and The Spirit of Aggieland - we glowed or
suffered along with the other Aggies. Football signs would hang from every
dormitory, usually painted on sheets. And yell practices in front of the Y and
even midnight yell practices were all part of football week -ends.
4
From:
To: Family Practice 2/17/91 at 11:59:02
At the basketball games we usually sat on the first row where you felt a part of
the game. The high spot when I was little was halftime and the college tumbling
team performed.
At baseball games the bags of peanuts in their shells and the freshman band
members being forced to chew tobacco by the upperclassmen are my primary
memories.. Why this stands out so, I don't know. Eventually such hazing was
stopped and the game itself became very important. The stars were our heroes.
The echoing sounds in the Natatorium at the swim meets is my primary impression
of those. We knew all the swimmers and divers and seldom missed one of the
races. This was not true of tennis because the tennis courts were often off
limits because some of the players - not necessarily the students - used bad
language (damn being the biggie.)
Dances: Growing up and going to the dances at Sbisa Hall (beginning the junior
year in High School) has to be a memory that cannot be topped. There were so
many boys that you rarely took as many as three steps with one before you were
cut in on. The dances were well chaperoned, the music was excellent, the dancers
were friendly, the dresses were formal and felt wonderful and it all seemed
magical. When I look back on the orchestras we danced to, I find it hard to
believe how many of the really top big bands came to the A &M campus. For any
Campus Kid of the feminine gender the dances have to be an outstanding memory.
I'm sorry my children didn't get to experience them when they went to A &M.
I feel like the song IF THEY ASKED ME I COULD WRITE A BOOK.yI hope it is
apparent that my memories of being a Campus Kid are very happy ones. I loved the
people, the students, the place, then and now.
Now if only we could do something about winning important football games on a
regular basis. MAYBE NEXT YEAR
5
GROWING UP ON THE TEXAS A &M CAMPUS
1940-1942; 1946-1948
c
Reflections of Early Childhood
by Lee Adcock Hunnell
My father was career military, 1929 graduate of West Point, USMA, corps of Engineers. In
1939 he was assigned to duty at Texas A &M as PMS /T. That year A &M's "Fighting Texas Aggies"
were number one in the nation. We were proud to be Texans..
There were no quarters on campus for us that fall, so for a few months we rented Dr. Mayo's
house in North Oakwood. I was 2 but I remember that my brother Tommy, 4 and I were free
to roam the woods and ravines around our house. As Mother was reading us about Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn, the wooded gullies with little islands in them were perfect for reenactment of our
bedtime stories.
Several civilian professors lived in nearby houses. The Middletons were my favorite.
Although their only child, Gracie, was away at college, they were very good to us. In his chemistry
lab, Dr. Middleton made marvelous glass straws with turns and wiggles for us; one could go cross -
eyed watching red Kool -Ade wind through them. When my parents brought us "calling" on Sunday
afternoons, Dr. Middleton would relieve the boredom of our having to sit quietly by hiding pennies
in the living room for us to find; also he saved us the comics that were printed on the little cardboard
sheets that separated shredded wheat biscuits.
We played with the other professors' children who lived nearby: the Blanks (Tina and Dicky)
and the Pemberthys (Wally, Jean, and Beth). They had a big red dog, probably a setter.
Although we lived off campus that first year or so, there were frequent occasions when we
visited the campus. A big attraction was the free movies on Sundays at Guion Hall. I was fascinated
by the fountain in front of Sb -hall; sometimes it had colored lights on it. I also liked to visit the
building with the dome (the Academic Building) and look at the contents of the glass case in the
rotunda. Once my parents showed me that the Aggies had acquired a fine stuffed owl, "borrowed"
from a rival college in Houston. On my next visit, shortly thereafter, I saw a shattered trophy case,
and an empty shelf where the repossessed Rice Owl had once, briefly perched.
Sometime in 1940 we were able to move on campus. Our first home on campus was on a
very short side street off Lubbock (now Joe Routt Boulevard) and near Kyle Field. G. Rolly White
Field House sits there now. Only one other house was on the street; our neighbors were Dr. and Mrs.
P.W. Burns, and sons Curtis (9) and Jack (2). Our families, four generations now instead of two,
1
remain friends to this day. We were soon introduced to the culi ary advanta es of living at an
agricultural college: we ate tender calves liver and drank sweet raw unpasteurized milk, just like we
loved on Granddaddy's farm in Kentucky. There was a wild persimmon tree in our yard. We did not
get to live in that house a long time before a building project required that both houses on the street
be removed. The Burns family moved to College Hills; we were assigned quarters just a block north
on Lubbock. Our home, known as the "E. L. Williams house," was right behind Dean and Mrs.
Bolton whose house faced Throckmorton. The houses across Lubbock from us backed up to Guion
Hall. My brother and I were sitting on the floor of the living room of that house when news of Pearl
Harbor came over the radio. I had no idea what had happened, but I knew it was very, very bad, and
I should probably cry about it, so I did. My childhood was not quite the same after that day for a
long, long time.
The War Years
Daddy soon left for "the War." We were allowed to live in the Williams house for a few
weeks; I don't know why; perhaps it was until Daddy's orders came through. We were still in the
house for my fifth birthday, in May, 1942, when I got the mumps, and Mother had to go to Louisiana
to say goodbye to Daddy, and Dr. Andres came to the house and gave me a quarter because it was
my birthday and I was so sick.
I liked living on campus. One could go everywhere on smooth sidewalks by tricycle. And
there were always clean cut young men around that were nice to little kids. Perhaps those young men
� ` made life interesting for the "KK's" (the Campus Cops), but the military families in those days
�r probably provided very little excitement. Once, while we lived in the Williams house, our dog,
Clementine, disappeared. Clem was a Boston terrier with an affectionate nature but unblessed by
beauty, highly valued only by our family. I was inconsolable until the KK's put me in the sidecar of
a motorcycle and drove me around the neighborhood. Clear up near the commando course, we rode,
looking and calling for Clementine. By the time we returned, dog -less, Clem had been found close
to home; she had wound her leash around one of the foundation pillars supporting Coach Norton's
house and was stuck up under there.
Sometime in 1942 we moved off campus and into the little red brick house that still is
numbered 211 Fairview in College Park. We rode out the war there, a blue star in the window.
Military discipline in the home continued despite Daddy's absence. We polished our shoes every
Saturday night, read our Sunday School lesson every
,,�-
^ Su??i�day morning before we were allowed to
read the funnies, walked to St. Thomas' Episcopal Ch`tn Jersey Avenue, and wrote to Daddy
every Sunday before we could go out to play. We hid in the dark of the center hall during air raid
warnings, rejoiced when Daddy called home, and looked for his wonderful packages of German
helmets and ammunition boxes. Once Daddy even sent a German doll and wooden shoes from
Holland.
Campus was still only a few blocks away and we were very much a part of its daily life. The
commando course was a great place to play with rope swings over a mud pit and other obstacles to
• challenge the bravehearted. Mother went daily to pick up our mail at Box 4777 at the little post
office near the New Men's Dorms. We all mourned when Reveille died. I thought it was particularly
tragic that he was buried on the birthday of the man for whom I was named. History should reflect
that the funeral of the first famous dog was on Robert E. Lee's birthday, January 19, 1943 or 1944.
After the War
May 1946, Daddy finally came home and was reassigned at Texas A &M. We got to move
into our third home on the campus, 244 Lubbock. It was by far the biggest house I had lived in and
was ideally situated for adventure. From our front yard we could see the band march by; we could
even sell Cokes for a dime to the football crowd. Because we were just across the street from the
basketball games, we went to most of them. And we swam regularly in the huge indoor pool; at night
we could just put on our pajamas after a swim and wear them across the street going home.
As students at A &M Consolidated, we could joint the Knothole Club and go the Aggie
football games for only quarter. Only the quarter was never necessary because we knew which of
the wrought iron bars near the Kyle Field entrance were just a little farther apart that the others, and
we could slip through, which we did regularly. Off season, we loved to ride our wagons down the
steep cement ramps. In the spring we used the huge expanses of concrete between the stadium gates
and Lubbock to draw gigantic hopscotch games which we played in the cool hours before school.
Col. Frank Swoger was our neighbor then and his children our playmates. We rode our bikes to
school in those days, along the sidewalks of Lubbock and Throckmorton, then across the drill field
by Duncan Hall over to Jersey.
The absolute best weekend of the year to live on campus was Mother's Day weekend, and
although the parade was exciting, the really fun part was the Saturday before the parade, Engineer
Day. The most marvelous exhibits were on display all over campus. We ran from one wonder to the
next. In one we saw a faucet suspended by a string with water coming out of it. Mr. Fleming had
free samples of wood working in the shop. Another year they stamped out ashtrays that had the
Texas A &M emblem on them. And in the chemistry lab they gave away free popsicles, made in test
tubes. I really miss being a child, free to wander on Engineer Day.
I recall one spectacular birthday while I lived on campus. On May 26, 1948, I had a slumber
party, at which no one slept but me. In the morning I learned that one of my guests had become sick
at her stomach during the night, and two more walked her home in their pajamas then walked over
and sat on the steps of Guion Hall to see what it looked like by moonlight. In the morning Mother
fixed us all breakfast, then we went to a special 10:00 Saturday morning movie at Guion Hall. It was
just about the best movie I had ever seen: Mickey Rooney played young Thomas Edison and grew
up to be Spencer Tracy. And it was free!
Fall was another exciting time to live on campus. Day by day, we could watch the bonfire
being assembled. Finally the big night would come; the band would march in and the fire would be
lit; and we would all run around in the sparks and a spark would burn a hole in my brother's jacket,
C and Mother would be really angry, and Tommy would do it all again the next year. I wonder if little
boys are still getting spark holes burned in their jackets at the Aggie bonfire.
It was easy to become a connoisseur of fine climbing trees on the A &M campus; there were
so many and one could be fearless, knowing an Aggie would rescue you if you became afraid of the
leafy heights. One of the finest trees was in the front lawn of the commandant, Col. Welty (later the
residence of Major Norman Parsons and his six children). The ancient oak was supported by a brace
under one huge limb that ran like an elevated sidewalk parallel to the lawn below. Another even
grander climbing tree was in the center of our block in a parking lot. We built a fortress up in it in
the summer of 1947 or 1948. We spent hours climbing higher and higher in that magnificent tree and
none of us was ever hurt. But it was a sad day for us when it was bulldozed to build the Memorial
Student Center. My brother walked up its huge fallen trunk then jumped off and broke his foot. .
The skating rink, later known as the Grove, was another campus site etched in childhood's
memory. It was the scene ofi birthday parties by day and free Tuesday night movies in the summer.
Once a sudden summer shower caught my brother and me at the theater and Aggies wrapped me in
their raincoats and ran to my home, carrying me. And on another evening, we were waiting for just
such a movie when the curtain came down, suddenly, on my idyllic life as a child on the campus.
Eager to get prime seats, Tommy and I had bolted from the supper table that July evening and
gone to the Grove before its gates were even unlocked. We simply crawled under the fence and
staked a claim to even more seats than we had friends. Then, just before the movie began Dr. Burns
C IF -- the neighbor from 1941 -- and our minister, The Rev. Orin Helvey, appeared at the little theater.
They said Mother wanted us at home. Strangely, they had brought a car to drive us the short three
blocks to our house. Home was stranger still. The quui et street we had left only an hour before was
lined with cars. Their occupants all seemed to be in our li r oo � In a feivv moments, Mr. Helvey
told me why. My father had been killed that day in a military training accident while on summer
maneuvers with the engineering students from the corps of cadets.
Once again we had to move off campus. The day we did so I had the unique experience of
watching our old, rambling quarters at 244 Lubbock being cut in too. The house had been sold; it
had to be moved to build the new Memorial Student Center, but it was too wide to pass through the
live oak lined streets. I am sure I saw a carpenter take out an axe, create a hole in the floor of my
bedroom, then take a hand saw and saw across the floor. I still wonder if he could have sawed all
the way around the room, up the walls and across the ceiling. Whatever he did was eventually
reconstructed because the house still stands today just north of North Gate and my bedroom is whole
again.
We had two more good years in the community; even off campus we never lost the feeling
that we were as much a part of A &M as any of the cadets. I would ride my bicycle over for engineer
day and attend the Mother's Day parade and watch as an award was presented in honor of my father
to the cadet with the highest average in engineering in the junior class. Twice I was allowed to
present the award.
4
The persimmon tree is gone, the E. L Williams house is now a parking lot, Guion Hall was
torn down years ago, and I pace the halls of the MSC wondering about where my old sawed -in -two
bedroom would have been. Of my childhood on the campus of Texas A& M, only the friendships and
countless happy memories remain.
5
Lee Adcock Hunnell
February 1998
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