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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCampus Kids, Oral History taken Feb. 18, 1998 (6)City of College Station Memory Lanes Oral History Project This is 6-u Today is e , ? y� (month) (day) y) (Year) I'm interviewing for the time 4 , ile4x,L (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Dr. - tc.) • This interview is taking place in Room 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. /©7 of The with : 6. The City of College Station, Texas Memory Lanes Oral History Project INTERVIEW AGREEMENT The purpose of The Historic Preservation Committee is to gather and preserve historical documents by means of the tape - recorded interview.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 (Name of Interviewee) 1. 4/) N AL 2 7. 8. ,�!- ' 9. 4. r 14Cf A 10. 5. 11. 12. In view of the scholarly value of this research material, I hereby assign rights, title, and interest pertaining to it to The City of College Station Historic Preservation Committee and Confer nce Center Advis ry. Committee. Intervieivkr (signature) Date � 7Y \ (ki/cK 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. Int iew (Plea9'e print) Signature of Interviewee Name J 2 tAMIV o RR13 cis 771 Address Telephone Date of Birth V 6 OJJ h- C4 ki lace of Birth /l am Interviewer (Please Print) List of photos, documents, mans, etc. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE City of College Station, Texas 77840 ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET Signatt *e of Interviewer Place of Interview INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed 7/(0 9 Date Initial )) ' 23TJ 14 ) 'T>( 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. 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. din rn Interviewer (Please Print) Signature of Interviewer Place of Interview List of photos, documents, maps, etc. Name ess Date el-• one Date of Birth �� Place of Birth INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed Initial 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. e4s ,',e/•4A/ Xpe. 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. t + E k i v i e a print) Signatt�ir4 of Interviewee: TkEifiA, N LLA 6 - 1 Interviewer (Please Print) Signature of Interviewer Place of Interview List of photos, documents, mans, etc. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE City of College Station, Texas 77840 ORAL HISTORY DATA SHEET Addres Telephone , Date of Birth i\)/ O ) Place of Birth d � „ e Z-.a INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed Date Initial hi 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. 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. Interviewer (Please Print) Signature of Interviewer Place of Interview List of photos, documents, mans, etc. In rviewe (Please print) F. Signature of Interviewee Name ct 3 Q3(4+4,-, 4,--, OoS o r - t) c.._c Address 43 r y4h , Telephone Date of Birth 8/ i � G C 7 1 2 4 Place of Birth l��fY►^ � INTERVIEW STATUS: Completed Date Initial 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. Remarks: City of College Station Memory Lanes Oral History Project Memory Lane: @SA.YYI 9LLS k iO Interview No. Name Ri 1 k1SQ Interview date Interviewer Interview length Interview Place Special sources of information Date tape received in office # of tapes marked Date Original Photographs Yes No # of photos Date Recd Describe Photos Sent to interviewee on First audit check by Oral History Stage Sheet Interview Agreement and tape disposal form: Given to interviewee on Received Yes No Date Signed Restrictions- If yes, see remarks below. Yes No Transcription: First typing completed by Pages Date (name) Received from interviewee on Copy editing and second audit check by Final copies: Typed by (name) (name) Pages Date Pages Date Pages Date Proofread by: 1) Pages Date 2 ) Pages Date Photos out for reproduction: Where to: Date: Original photos returned to: Date: Indexed by: Date Sent to bindery by Date Received from bindery Date Deposited in archives by: Date Remarks: City of College Station Memory Lanes Oral History Project Memory Lane: e LLk'YI 2uS k dS Copy editing and second audit check by Final copies: Typed by Oral History Stage Sheet ( l 41 L(-.V1 f�` r _ I Interview No. Name rid' Oti Interview date Interviewer Interview length Interview Place Special sources of information Date tape received in office # of tapes marked Date Original Photographs Yes No # of photos Date Rec'd Describe Photos Interview Agreement and tape disposal form: Given to interviewee on Received Yes No Date Signed Restrictions- If yes, see remarks below. Yes No Transcription: First typing completed by Pages Date (name) First audit check by Pages Date Sent to interviewee on `� Z5 (name) Received from interviewee on 9/z:5 (name) Pages Date Pages Date Proofread by: 1) Pages Date 2) Pages Date Photos out for reproduction: Where to: Date: Original photos returned to: Date: Indexed by: Date Sent to bindery by Date Received from bindery Date Deposited in archives by: Date Remarks: City of College Station Memory Lanes Oral History Project Copy editing and second audit check by Final copies: Typed by Oral History Stage Sheet Memory Lane: QWYV\ - Interview No. Name '- Yl Y U GI ( rtifirisf Interview date Interviewer Interview length Interview Place Special sources of information Date tape received in office # of tapes marked Date Original Photographs Yes No # of photos Date Rec'd Describe Photos Interview Agreement and tape disposal form: Given to interviewee on Received Yes No Date Signed Restrictions- If yes, see remarks below. Yes No Transcription: First typing completed by Pages Date (name) First audit check by Sent to interviewee on 4Z5 Received from interviewee on 10 1(1 (name) (name) Pages Date Pages Date Pages Date Proofread by: 1) Pages Date 2) Pages Date Photos out for reproduction: Where to: Date: Original photos returned to: Date: Indexed by: Date Sent to bindery by Date Received from bindery Date Deposited in archives by: Date Remarks: City of College Station Memory Lanes Oral History Project Memory Lane: ( m, pits kJ Ws Oral History Stage Sheet Interview No. � Name CLVA k *RoktIS Q r Interview date Interviewer Interview length Interview Place Special sources of information Date tape received in office # of tapes marked Date Original Photographs Yes No # of photos Date Rec'd Describe Photos Interview Agreement and tape disposal form: Given to interviewee on Received Yes No Date Signed Restrictions- If yes, see remarks below. Yes No Transcription: First typing completed by Pages Date (name) First audit check by Pages Date (name) J� 2 cJ Sent to interviewee on Received from interviewee on G/ Copy editing and second audit check by Pages Date (name) Final copies: Typed by Pages Date Proofread by: 1) Pages Date 2) Pages Date Photos out for reproduction: Where to: Date: Original photos returned to: Date: Indexed by: Date Sent to bindery by Date Received from bindery Date Deposited in archives by: Date Moderator - Teeny Wicker (TW) Notetaker - Katherine Stansy Interviewees: Bill Hensel (BH) Keith Langford (KL) Henry Gilchrist (HG) Rusty Anderson (RA) Memory Lanes Oral History - Campus Kids TW: Everybody knows me as Teeny Anderson Wicker. W- I- C- K -E -R. I moved here when I was two years old. I don't really qualify to be an interviewee, because I lived one block off of A &M campus. So, with the purpose of this particular meeting is to conduct the memory lanes for those who lived on A &M campus prior to the 1940's. This is February 18, 1998, in room 107 of the Conference Center. I would appreciate if each of you could introduce yourselves as we go around the circle. BH: rm Bill Hensel KL: Keith Langford HG: Henry Gilchrist RA: Frank Anderson, better known as Rusty Anderson. TW: I think we'll start at one end of the circle, Bill, would you like to start this? Mr. Hensel? You can just talk about what the campus, what living on the A &M campus was like, and when you moved there, and some of your fun experiences. BH: We moved onto campus in 1925 - -we lived in Bryan when I was born in 1917. My father went to the University of Illinois for six years and we came back here in 1925. I lived on campus until 1929, and then they had to move our house to build the East side of Kyle Field see. I've Known this gentleman right here (to Keith Langford) since he was in diapers (laughter), we lived next door to each other. TW: Well thanks for doing an intro skit. I didn't remember that. KL: I had the good fortune to have him as my room orderly was at A &M My folks built a house in 1929, south of campus and I was here until I graduated form A &M and I went into the Army nine months before Pearl Harbor and stayed there until after the war, lived in Houston until eight years ago and I moved back here eight years ago and I owned A &M Travel. rm eighty years old and I still go to work every day. TW -- Good for you. What street was your house located on Mr.Langford? KL -- I don't know what the name of it was in '25. TW -- But then you said you moved to South College Station. You moved off campus at that time? KL -- Moved off campus down to Dr. Clark's subdivision. It just started. At that time - '25 - everybody lived on campus. The profs lived on campus where the Memorial Student Center is now, there was a complete ring of houses. TW -- Did your family buy one of the houses on the campus or did they build separately? KL -- We were furnished a house by the University, until we built one in 1929. TW -- I see, that was your own home, not on campus. KL -- Yeah. What was the name of the street, Bill? BH -- I have no idea -- (laughter) It was paved with cinders, I remember that. KL -- It was dark way up there and on the side was Dr. Bailey on the corner. BH -- It ran underneath what was then the steel bleachers on the east side of Kyle Field. We faced the athletic field, so to speak, but what the name of it is or was... KL -- I don't have any idea. BH -- It's just about the same street that is now next to G.Rollie White. RA -- This is a north -south street, is that right? KL -- Yes, it is. RA -- The name is Houston Street. BH -- I don't know if it's Houston of not. I don't think if it had a name then (laughter). TW -- That's possible, yes. As I say, I did not live on campus, but I was playing on campus as a child enough to know much of what you folks are talking about. KL -- When they built it my dad was in the architecture department, of course, he and Henry Norton were the architects on the stadium in 1927. I worked as a water boy when I was 10 years old on the stadium, made 10 cents an hour for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. When I graduated from A &M, I went to work with a oil refining company digging ditches for 69 cents an hour, and glad to get the job (laughter). I told my kids and a lot of people that kids today wouldn't do what we had to do. TW -- Mr. Langford, what did...in those days everybody worked pretty hard, including the children, so what did you do for fun, for recreation, and what did you wear in those days? Were jeans popular then? KL -- Ma'am? TW -- Were jeans popular for the kids to run around in those days? KL -- No. TW -- What did you wear to play? KL -- Whatever I had. I don't know. I can't remember. TW -- You don't remember, okay, what did you do for fun? KL -- Well we had a group that was in there and we played a little touch football and a little softball. In high school we had a five or six man basketball team. We didn't have enough to have a football team, I think there was sixteen in my graduating class and softball during the summer was the main thing we did. TW -- Henry, tell us a little about your life on campus. KL -- ...We had to ride the trolley to Bryan to get to go to the picture show on Saturday, that was the highlight. (laughter)... HG -- We moved to A &M in 1937, I was 12 years old at the time, we lived in Austin, my father was a Texas State Highway Engineer and came to A &M to be Dean of Engineering in 1937. We lived on campus and I'm trying to see the map here to see if it's right on the old College Road, it was facing the railroad tracks, a small house, that was part of the campus housing, uh, I remember the small atmosphere compared to Austin. I know every morning on the uh doorstep, was the order that came out of the Commandants office - it had a list of the students who were in the infirmary and not at class that day - they were excused. BH -- Daily Bulletin. HG -- Daily Bulletin, that's right. We lived there for probably a year. As far as the arrangement for that coming year, was they were building a house for my father -- a white brick house that's right across from what was then called 12 new dormitories. So we lived there all through high school. I remember several things: One, I was really surprised in the thirties, malaria was very common on A &M campus. And, my dad, being an engineer was wondering why this was happening. And it's very easy to understand. The anopheles mosquito, which is the same mosquito which was prevalent in the Panama Canal and almost kept that canal from being built, spread Malaria and the solution was to get rid of the mosquitoes' breeding places. So they started a program to drain the little ponds around and to put a light oil on the water. Now to do that today, you'd be put in jail, but there were people all over, around the campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods getting rid of the mosquitoes. You mentioned Dr. Clark's addition which was attractive, partly because of the nice lake, there, but it was also the primary breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. And, when the city decided to force the draining of that lake, Dr. Clark went out and sat on the dam to keep them from reaching the dam and draining the lake. The old lake bed is still there and is a nice park. A couple of other things, right quick, I remember Pearl Harbor day. I was with some friends, we had gone to the movies, at that time the Campus Theater had been built, and we were watching the movie " A Yank in RAF ", and in the middle of that movie, they interrupted and said that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. So, what did we do? All us Aggies stopped and we stood up and sang the Aggie War Hymn. And, I don't remember if we stayed to see the rest of the movie or left, but I remember that day very, very vividly. KW: That Campus Theater is not used as a theater now, but that building is still located at the corner of University and Boyett. HG: What's in there? I see the building. KW: They have an entertainment bar, and this type of thing. Fairly recently constructed. But we don't have the old Movie theater anymore. HG: Sure don't. TW: Henry, do you remember going to Mr. Lipscomb's and having a double - dipped ice cream cone, with any kind of topping you wanted, and we'd challenge him to thinking up weird things to put on it. You could get that kind for a nickel. (Everybody talking at once) HG: I sure remember Lipscomb's pharmacy. I don't remember... (Everybody talking at once) TW: Old Fashioned Drug Store, even had the curly Q soda chairs and round tables. (Everyone talking). TW: I'll say something I saw in these questions and before we get to Rusty Anderson, there is mention here of a peach orchard on the north side of the campus. I do not recall this. Do any of you? A peach orchard on the north side of the campus? BH: I remember Westside, but I don't remember North. TW: Well, this says North. HG: Of course, at that time all the Agricultural Schools and Departments were on the main campus. It would be quite natural, they would have experimental orchards, there. I remember the potato farm was there right in the middle at the campus, as well as, you remember the old horse barn is still there and has been remodeled. TW: Except for the Ag industry, there was no campus on the other side of the railroad tracks. HG: There was only the Dairy, the Creamery. You could go there and buy the ice cream and butter. TW: I understood that the creamery is still functioning. I don't know if is or not. Rusty what about your experiences on campus. RA: I was born at home on campus in 1928. Our house was located on the block where the Memorial Student Center is today. I arrived about 6:15 pm. The college physician, Dr. J. E. Marsh, performed the delivery. After the delivery he mother and dad that the time was perfect because he could go to a dinner party that evening. (Laughter). At the time there were not many restaurants in College Station. A notable exception was the Aggieland Inn. Most entertaining such as dinner occured in campus homes. Keith might know this better than I, but in the 1920s some parties were fairly formal. In the 1930s I can remember men dressed in suits and ladies wore more formal dresses. These occasions were rather frequent. As far as children were concerned one of our big activities in the summer in the 1930s was going to the College swimming pool (P.L. Downs Natatorium). It opened in the afternoon. Most of us would be lined up outside before the doors opened. Swimming was a great deal of fun. We used to drop pennies in the water and try and retrieve them. In the deep end of the pool this was quite a feat as it was 8 feet or more in depth. Another thing for the boys was clod, accorn or firecracker cannon fights. No one was ever seriously hurt. We aslo used to play football on the lawn or around West of Guion Hall (Rudder Tower Block). For the girls Florence Richie brought a little culture to the neighbohood with play and skits. A sheet served the curtain for these outdoor performances. Mary and Tom Leland, respectively, played the violin and cello. We had a lot of fun as children. It was a safe environment. In fact most of the houses in those years were not locked whether or not the occupants were at home. I do remember that during the economic depression of those years that men would come from the railroad track area to the back door of houses and ask for food. It was a time that the general population was affected more than the college community. Returning to the younger boys and their attire. In the summer time we wore short pants and often went barefooted. In the fall we wore khaki long pants followed in the winter by corduroy or wool pants. We usually had a suede jacket and other warmer clothing for winter. I attended the first four grades on campus in a two story white stucco building formerly called the Music Hall The high school students went to PFeiffer Hall, the oldest building on campus, built around 1887. Incidentally I received my college diploma across the street from where I was born and three blocks from where I went to the first grade. KL: I was in the first class at Pfifer Hall, the graduating class. RA: In Pre -Med, I had several courses at Pfifer Hall Later Pfifer Hall was demolished Ten years ago a Texas state historical marker was placed on campus commemorating Faculty and housing. I made some remarks on that occasion. I would like to submit a copy of these remarks to the moderator. TW: Would you mind the hassle? We'd like you to read it out to everyone. RA commences to read from the attached manuscript: "Frank G. Anderson, Jr. at the Dedication of a Texas Historical Marker Commemorating Faculty and Staff Housing on the Campus of Texas A &M College" -- ATTACHED AT END OF DOCUMENT TW: As I mentioned earlier, this is almost like a reunion because so many of us have enjoyed each other over the years. As Rusty mentioned, Tom Leland earlier, as I recall, after graduation he taught at Rice University. RA: Yes, he taught in the Chemical Engineering Department It is very interesting to see that he evolved from a 13 year old working in a garage laboratory to becoming a department head of an outstanding university. TW: Very outstanding young man, though I don't remember him very well. His younger sister Mary Leland has moved back to College Station and is in another session group. RA: Some time about 1936 or 1937 the Cleveland Indians and the NewYork Giants, who were, in different major baseball leagues, had one of their preseason games at A &M. At the time there was a wooden green fence on the south side of the athletic facility. As the teams were warming up prior to the game several Aggies were climbing the fence near the track straightaway with the intension of sneaking in. As I was standing close by they asked me WI wanted a boost over the fence. After boosting me over they asked my name. I said "Frank Anderson." At the time my dad (of the same name) ws commondnt. I have never seen people disappear so fast. Years later, I told that story to one of my patients, and he replied, "You know I was the O.D. (officer of the day) that day." HG: I remember that baseball game. I got Carl Hubbell's autograph and I still have that. He was a very famous pitcher. TW: Billy, tell us a little about your life. BH: Well, we went from behind the old Kyle Field bleachers to the main campus. In those days the houses on the campus which generally were near or around the drill field were the most desired. Anytime someone would retire the other faculty members were allowed to move up. My dad had been named head of the Department of Landscaping and was responsible for repairs and maintenance of the grounds. We ended up on a house located at the west end of what is now the Memorial Student Center. This was a popular corner because the students would come up and down the street going to football games. I started to work during the summer for 25 cents an hour when I was about 12 with several friends. As far as Hensel Park, that was named after my dad, north of the campus, that was one of those nice areas that was developed into a nice picnic area. There were, at the time, 2 lakes out there that lasted until they had to be drained. But anyway, they were nice enough to name it after my dad. And it still bears the name I haven't been out there recently. TW: It is still there. As I recall, when those lakes were there, there was some pretty healthy water moccasins out there. BH: Campus homes had slate roofs, very old, one bathroom, no matter how many bedrooms. Practically all the campus houses had servant quarters, somewhere in the rear. This was in the depression years. You usually had colored servants who sometimes lasted a month or sometimes lasted years. They lived in the servant quarters. Really just a one room, I don't want to say shack because they were well built. TW: As is mentioned, my father, along with several others who were involved in this session did purchase the houses they were living in and moved it off campus when that property was needed for the expansion of A &M. September 1941, they had to be off by march 1941, September, I believe. A: My parents bought one of those houses. Keith, you mentioned that your income was 10 cents an hour. My dad may have gotten that information from your father because my first job was to pull nails from that house for 10 cents an hour. TW: Some of those houses still exist. The house my dad bought is open for rental property. It is well built. There are some other questions here that are curious to me...As a child living on campus, I hate to admit, but I don't remember the zoo. Do you all remember the zoo? BH: There was a zoo across the railroad tracks, which was the Missouri Pacific and the Southern Pacific. Instead of going into the creamery you turn right. It was a small zoo, and who put it on or why, I don't know. But yes, there was one. I don't remember it lasting past the 30's. HG: I remember a museum where the Administration Building is. There was supposed to be a mummy in there. (laughter) BH: Yeah, it existed. That building had various names. One of the most glamorous names was the Hog Serum (laughter). Do you remember that? TW: Do those of you who lived on campus..did you purchase your food at Northgate or Bryan? KL: I went to Charles' Grocery Store. They delivered. TW: What about gardening equipment or fencing this type? How did groceries come into College Station? On a train....Nobody seems to know! BH: I think as far as poultry, they were able to get stuff from poultry farms on the west side of campus. HG: There was a small farmers market in Bryan on Main St. there. TW: Don't you remember that being close to the icehouse? HG: No, I think it was almost in the center, close to Highway 6. TW: The reason I say that is because that icehouse is still there and just east and south of the old icehouse there is still a structure of very worn wood. RA: Speaking of ice, people bought ice at the college power plant. BH: That's right. This goes back to the early 30's. The ice was delivered from the ice plant which was steam plant was still there. People has a sign that they put up in their window the amount of pounds you wanted. The iceman would come by and look at the sign and put it in the icebox in the kitchen. The kids awaited his arrival during the summer, 'cause when he chopped the ice we would climb in and he would yell, "Get away you kids!" We all managed to find a little ice to eat off of. There was a community store on campus. It was near Milner Hall RA: When groceries started coming from Northgate the store on campus stopped. TW: Tell us about Casey and the YMCA and getting a haircut. BH: It existed. I would go to Casey's in the YMCA basement. When I was a freshman, Mr. Langford would send me over to get what drink he preferred or whatever. The YMCA was the center of things before the Student Center was built. RA: In Casey's Confectionary, there were booths around the semicircular outter perimeter. Parallel to th inner wall there was a straight marble topped bar. As I remember, soft drinks, chocolate milk, etc. and sandwiches were served. On the south side basement level of the YMCA a barbershop was located. In the main floor lobby ping pong tables were located. When we moved off campus our house had a porch large enough for a ping -pong table. At the time ping pong was one of my interests. Henry, your dad would take me on in ping pong sometimes when your parents visited. Behind the lobby of the YMCA was a chapel. For many years the Presbyterians used this chapel for their services. TW: The YMCA building was the center of activity not only for the Aggies, but in those days, the maintenance staff and faculty too. You mentioned the swimming pool where we took lessons in the summer, we were lucky because it was an Olympic size pool and the first indoor pool I ever swam in was an Olympic sized pool, and we thought nothing of it. HG: I remember some of the people, probably like Rusty...would, at night, sneak in through one of the windows and swim at night (laughter). KL: It might be worth mentioning that what is now the Bryan Municipal Golf Course was then the Bryan Country Club, and they had a swimming pool in summertime. It was "the place" in Bryan- College Station. RA: I learned to swim there. Of course, the pool at A &M later took over. BH: Actually, there was a swimming in the basement of the YMCA, and it wasn't the greatest place because, being indoors and in the basement, the water was rather dark(laughter). When I learned to swim there I had a few qualms, like if I sank, would I ever be found(laughter)? But it was later covered up by our first bowling alley on campus. TW: Oh , that's what happened to the swimming pool - Because I bowled and people would mention the swimming pool, but I never knew where it had been. Okay. There was quite a bowling alley down there - four lanes? BH: Eight lanes. TW: Eight lanes. RA: The ROTC parades at A &M were always a big attraction to kids on campus. They were usually very well attended....I can remember, about two or three houses east of where your parents lived, Bill ...there were two large cedar trees. Those of us who were not too big at the time would climb them and have a great view of the parades. I remember -- I think it was 1936 - the centennial year of Texas ... Several of the cadets were dressed in the uniform of the military of the preceding nations to control Texas. I still remember the French uniform. These cadets carried the flag of the respective nation. (To KL) You were probably already at A &M at that time, weren't you? KL: Yes. As a matter of fact, I was going out with a girl named Grey who was Miss Texas that year, and she was the daughter of Pinky Downs, who was the business manager here. TW: Tell me some of your experiences involving the 8, 12, 1, and 5 o'clock whistle that used to blow on campus. Do you remember those? BH: The steam-whistle? I remember it well. TW: That was better than a town clock. BH: Campus was designed divided into quarters, I guess, and whenever there was a fire, the steam whistle blew a certain number of times, and that gave you a hint, at least, of where the fire truck was going. In those days, they had a hard time getting through campus because, while they weren't Model T's, they were just a little bit above it, and the students, if they weren't in class, loved to run out of the dormitory and attempt to get on the truck with the fire men (laughter). RA: I heard Red Cashion once say that he put some rocks on the rails of the railroad which extended into the campus. He was very little at this time - five or six- but the rocks were sufficient to derail the engine. Some of you might remember that. Everybody went to see the derailed engine (Laughter). When Red told the story, he said, nowadays he probably would have been thrown in jail and his parents fined a million dollars. BH: Well, I guess the steam boat plant was run by coal in the early days, and the spur that came had to come through the north gate, about where the post office is, I guess - the old post office - and go on to the steam plant, and that's where near there.... is where he created hazards for it (laughter). KL: Eight, twelve, one and five every day. TW: Eight, twelve, one, and five. I knew if I was playing with some of you folks or girls on campus after school and that whistle blew at five o'clock, I'd better get home or I was in trouble (laughter). But everything worked out pretty well. All the offices and classes on campus opened at eight o'clock, closed for lunch between twelve and one, we were off at five, and started again the next day at eight. Very regular, very regimented, as far as that. BH: It was a 44 hour week, I might add, for classes and all the offices. RA: Which meant Saturday morning classes. TW: How many of you folks' families kept the Aggies' dates when they came up in the spring for the dances? RA: My mother was from Navasota. The daughter of the John D. Rogers of that city stayed with us several times when she came up for a dance. BH: Well, while in college we moved out of the dormitories and turned the whole dormitory over to the girls who were coming into town. There was an agency or an office on campus for those who had a spare bedroom and would be willing to have one or two girls spend Friday and Saturday night with them. To provide housing for the Aggies was essentially what they would do for their social activities on campus. Being a military campus at that time, the boys could not leave campus without passes, which were metered out rather frugally as I understood, so their social activity was confined pretty much to activities on campus. It was really a big deal to have your girlfriend come up and have a place to live. HG: They had some really big dances in Sbisa with great orchestras. I remember, we were probably, say, junior or senior in high school, and our classmates - the girls - were all going with Aggies so they were going to the dances and we would go up there and catch come of those that were leaving and get their ticket so we could get in and watch and dance with the girls. HG: We had...Lawrence Welk, Stan Kenton, Red Buttons, Phil Harris and others. TW: Do you remember the juke box dances on the slab during the war, which is now the Grove? Bands weren't able to circulate, men were in the service and so they put in a jukebox out there and continued to have the dances on that concrete, outdoors. RA: One of the social events of the year also was the Cotton Ball, and some of us who were younger were crown bearers... that's all I remember. TW: Most of the housing around here at that time was wooden wasn't it? A few brick or sod home, but most of them were fairly simple architecture and wooded structure. HG: And as things developed there were brick houses. TW: Oh, I don't remember this, I don't remember the Shirley Hotel, a two story frame building, the first hotel. It was later called the Aggieland Inn. The Aggieland Inn started off it, it was a different structure. BH: Yes, my dad lived in the Shirley Hotel as a bachelor professor and all the single professors, as I recall, lived in the Shirley Hotel, or the top floor of the YMCA which was also dedicated to single people who couldn't find another place. But there was a wooden building in the vacinity of Aggieland Inn over there. TW: Allright, the Aggieland Inn then, across from Sbisa Hall, at that time was a rock or brick structure, stucco, yeah stucco. Was not the Shirley Inn, per say, approximately the same location, but not the same building? BH: Yeah, the other one was completely torn down long before the Aggieland Inn was built, as I recollect. TW: Now, the resident quarters at the Y, was there a ...the chapel and the ping pong table area lobby was at the top of the stairs, which would be the first floor, then there was two tier stairs going up. Now, was that the top level? BH: No, that was the second floor lounge in which your dad held Vespers on Sunday afternoons, it was used, I guess, for social events and other things and the top floor was for renters. TW: This came up in another interview and for some reason, I do not have much recollection beyond the stair to the second floor, even though Dad conducted business there. I don't remember being there and I wasn't sure whether from that lounge area that there were rental rooms on the edge... BH: No, not them, but I don't know what the floor was used by Casey, Harry Boyer, who was single at that time headed up a little of everything. TW: What kind of social activities did you or...including your parents do? As I recall there was quite a bit of bridge and fetch wasn't it? The English counterpart to Bridge, wasn't that? Anyway, card games, ice cream socials. RA: Some of the ladies were very much engaged in playing bridge. My mother was a member of two bridge clubs, the campus club and the Junior Bridge Club in Bryan. Many years later after mother passed away I was going through somethings she had kept and found 20 or 30 filled in bridge scores dating to 1932 or thereabout. TW: She must've won that game (laughter). Knowing your mother, I imagine she won many And I think we mentioned that most of the early social life on campus was in individual homes, you know, parties, desert, come for desert. Did we....My family did and in other areas, but on campus, was there an awful lot of ice cream making in the summer? HG: There was some. Yes, there was. TW: Oh „talk about the fish tank for a while. Three miles from campus near the present Easterwood airport. My father was involved in that, but I don't remember much about it. HG: It was just a place for socializing TW: Was there really a pool out there? Was ther a tank, a tank for swimming in out there? HG: Sure...fenced in Easterwood .... There used to be picnics out there. Students went out there and swam. They had fish day. Everybody went out there and got drunk really (laughter). TW: Now remember, this is all recorded (laughter). KL: Fish got to be upperclassmen that one day. TW: Oh, do you remember the Sunbeam Special that used to come through here, that fast train? Every afternoon, my dad and I went down to watch it come through. I learned to drive on Wellborn Road. I used to drive in the evening and we'd sort of time it when the Sunbeam was coming through. RA: Prior to World War II the Aggies sometimes would put butter or oil on the railroad tracks as they gained elevation north of College Station. This caused the train wheels to spin and the train to slow or stop. On the more positive side Freshmen were delegated the job of sweeping out the cars of the passenger trains. KL: Sweep it out. BH: ...to go to the train and sweep it out. Train people liked that part. KL: Well, we had special trains when we played football in Dallas -Fort Worth. The whole student body rode the train. Of course, nobody had automobiles, and no other ways to travel but all on the train. TW: A as I recall, that really was a beautiful train, particularly in contrast with what we had coming through before. It had that chrome dome shaped top to it and, coming through around 5:00, the sun caught it. It was beautiful...orange, yellow. HG: The train at night was the owl, one each way. I remember one spring day, it would have been, I don't know, April Fool's day in '38 or 9, the Corps actually stopped the train, do you remember this, Bill? BH: Yes, sir. Actually stopped the train, commandeered it, and rode it to Bryan. TW: Bill, if you can elaborate: you could've been involved in that (laughter). BH: No, I really wasn't, but it did happen. HG: Just one year, was that it, or did they do it every year? BH: I don't remember, but I do remember April Fool's day, where you didn't go to class, and dressed up in anything you wanted to and eventually were corralled and asked nicely,of course, to return to your dormitory as there were classes going on. KL: I have pictures in the '35 annual on April Fool's Day dressed up like I was. TW: Do you remember the... KL: Great days they were. TW: Yeah they were. KL: No drugs, no robberies. TW: The girls could walk across the drill field and across the campus safely, with never any thought of threat. It took us a month before we left on vacation to find the old lock key in front of the house. I mean, really, we had to search for the key for one of our doors before we could leave, to lock up. RA: One year when we were on vacation and our maid, who worked for us for fifteen years, and stayed a day or so longer then closed the house and got on with her vacation. On leaving she put a notice on the window of our kitchen door saying, "Mrs. Anderson, the back door key is on the ledge above the door." (laughter) Nobody used the key. TW: They were talking here a little bit about the Rudders - that Frank Regan with Sulphur Springs, Texas Ave....east and Jersey Street which is now George Bush, of course, and old Highway 6 out west, which is Wellborn Road. In the early days, what was the topping on those roads? Was it tarmac, was it tar, was it gravel? I remember in my youth a lot of muddy roads. Does anybody? Keith, do you remember that? KL: Which roads? TW: The ones on campus, what's now University and George Bush, Highway 6 and Wellborn. Those were the main roads. They were gravel roads. KL: They were gravel roads. BH: They were gravel and later they were hard black asphalt. KL: On what is University Drive now, where the Hilton is, for example, that was far out in the country. There was nothing out there. The school buses ran out there because A &M Consolidated was, at the time, primarily for kids that lived on Wellborn and all around there. The reason I think there were so many because 4 of 16 were actually professor's children living on campus. TW: I was a little behind you. In the early years, there was a larger percentage of kids on campus...Professor's kids. KL: See, all grades, one through eleven, were in one building TW: Yes, I started... RA: I remember Mr. Sa Cavit who owned thousands of acres of land during the depression years supervising some workers on the street in front of our house on campus. He was mounted on a horse. TW: I remember there being some water wells off of Sulpher Spring Road. Short street with two or three on either side of the road, white wooden home with water wells around there off of Sulphur Springs. You tell me or any of you tell me where that road is, or was with respect to what is there now. I can't in my mind approximate the different distance from Northgate to that particular road. Betty Whitten's family lived on that road. She would get operations, and I remember going down there. Back then, my eyes at that age, you know, could have been a block or two. I. I just don't remember where. BH: Well, you got....it was roughly up. It's where student housing apartments including Hensel apartments TW: hush, ha (nods head) o.k. BH: It where Albertson's used to be, that shopping center. Sulphur Springs Road would be a block out northeast and it ran this way. TW: All right, that's approximately where I thought they were. BH: Yeah, but the apartments are there now. TW: All right, were those wells the wells that supplied the water in early days to College Station and the campus? Mother remembers that at times the smell of the sulfur from the taps was just overwhelming when they moved here in the 20's. BH: Well, I think it did, but I don't think it was the primary supply. KL: I don't know I never smelled. TW: (shakes head) It was a horrible smell. RA: I think the city of College Station, which was founded in 1938, initially obtained water from A &M. TW: Do any of you have specific or special memories of the bonfires on the old drill field. When you all were living around the drill field (mumbling by everyone - laughter) KL: On a good day, you could pick up anywhere put logs up. RA: My first recollection of the bonfire dates to 1933 or 1934. As the weather was bad my brother and I watched the flames and light against the dark sky from a kitchen window of our house. The bonfire of the 1930s were smaller than those after World War It The wood came from any soure including Professor Frances. In 1935 when my father was commondant I remember accompanying him to a log cabin across Highway 6 from the southeast corner of the campus. There he talked to farmer whose outhouse had been taken to the bonfire. The structure was retrieved and the next year trees which needed to be cleaned on the west campus were made available to students. Landowners in the county also increasingly began to make similar wood available for the bonfire BH: I remember one of the early moments of the hauling all the stuff. One of the baggage carts which belonged to the railroad thought that would disappear, and the commandant or whoever would have to retrieve them and give them back to Mr. Black and whoever was screaming loud when they would find no baggage cart. TW: Do you remember there being any particular problem when we had the football games here or Big Band Era when there was a lot of family view, large influx of people, was there any problem on the campus as far as congestion or transportation or any of that. BH: I speak from experience as far as football games are concern, when the drill field was used for parking because people not only came here by special train, but the ones that had vehicles and were close enough to drive, was able to, the cars would park on the drill field and it was a total mess. HG: And also your drive way would be blocked. BH: Your drive way would be blocked. I remember my dad on football weekends had fencing put up. He was able to do that since he had care and maintenance of running the staff but after people just pulling in your front yard and parked. You'd have to find the means. HG: It was congestion BH: Yes it was! HG: Of course students weren't allowed cars were they? BH: No KL: But they would . When I was a freshman there was one student who had a car; but when I was a senior, I had one, but I had to keep it off campus. You could not keep it on campus. TW: Students were permitted to be married in these days, there were anniversaries in our women camps. Except, do any of you, there was, prior to World War II, there was an opportunity for teachers for rectification and for children, those involved at A &M, to enroll in a course or two for the summer along with privileges of the swimming pool I understand, did any of you enroll out of high school that summer before you left for college or take any courses from high school to A & M....I always wanted to, but I wouldn't make it because we would go round the clock, we were working. KL: My senior year was the first year we were in Pfifer Hall which is right next to the Administration building. When I was a senior at A &M Consolidated I took two algebra courses at A &M. BH: You were a senior in high school? KL: Yeah, Mr. A.D. Martin, was my mathematics professor. I got credit for those 2 semesters when I entered A &M. TW: I didn't realize high school students could enroll at A &M. KL: I don't know of anyone whoever did, but I did I know that. (laughter) TW: You have proof of that. BH: Well, they use to let daughters of the faculty, deans, and so forth enroll in courses during the summer even after the war. TW: After the war? KL: After the war. TW: I just thought I'd go ahead and go to the University of Texas because women could not enroll for a degree at A &M, but I always wanted at least one credit on that transcript from here... Do any of you have any other roles? I am not saying that we are through, but I don't want to throw questions to the point where some things are not brought up. BH: Well, you asked about dress during the summer, and I would say it was about as informal as the boys going bare foot some of the little girls too. We had cut off cover alls or something similar and it was definitely not, I guess we wore straw hats or whatever we had. Back in those days you could have BB guns, no problem. We were supposed to be shooting birds. We managed to hit a few other things. (laughter) TW: For instance? BH: It was wide open and nobody worried about it. There wasn't a whole lot of social life. It was the Depression, you made up your own games, and of course there was everybody playing football or whatever, nothing very organized during the summer. We all went swimming and and played lots of ping pong at the Y. KL: Lots of ping pong and rubber guns. BH: Rubber gun fights were popular. HG: They were big business, back then of course you had to hide it. BH: Of course we had inner tubes from the tires. KL: Yeah, that's right, huh, I remember the entertainment radio in the evenings. Jack Armstrong and some other things like that. And then, If you were sick and didn't go to school, Paul Perkins and the others were on the radio and Sunday night, Jack Benny and Fred Allen and I forgot who else, but it was a big night for radio. TW: With the moving of the houses off campus, M.L. Cashion, director of YMCA had moved off to the Anderson Housing off campus and he was director of the YMCA for many, many years. A very fine person and very, very dedicated to the youth in a christen fashion in his administration of the YMCA. One of his sons is James, who is in another session today, and the younger of the sons, Mason. KL: My dad was on the YMCA committee with Mr. Cashion. TW: Well, I didn't know that they did a marvelous service because we young kids were always running around. They did a fine service on the campus. HG: I think after he died, Mrs. Cashion was hostess for Board of Directors Headquarters, a two story building right by Sbisa. I think she ran that for a number of years, and I think Gordon Day succeeded her. KL: My dad did the art at Day's house, I remember that. Margeret still lives there. Her husband just died a few weeks ago. His name was Percy. He was a Track star at A &M. BH: We did have movies on the campus at the Assembly Hall Mainly for students, but anybody could go if they could put up with the noise. And then later Guion Hall was turned in somewhat to movies, but downtown Bryan, but that was sometimes hard to get. TW: I think the assembly hall was sort of a town hall. BH: Where was that? TW: Right where the chapel is now. KL: Where All Faiths Chapel is, right there. BH: The assembly hall was a wooden building, if it ever caught on fire I don't think it would kill anyone. TW: They always use to have plays there. BH: There were some plays there (nodding) TW: There were some gathering places there . Places where we could eat. I can't speak to you about whether that was prior to or after the new incorporation in College Station. RA: Sunday school met in the basement of Guion Hall. Later the A &M student theater group, the Aggie Players, used this space for performance TW: I went when they were meeting at Doovan. I'm not sure about my information here, but I am going to speak to you anyway. There was a time for Sunday school prior to the normalization of Sunday school in the Presbyterian church where it was a community Sunday school, non- denominational. BH: They called it Union Sunday school. TW: Union, You're right and rather. That, I think it followed you still in existence after the incorporation of College Station. TW: There was not a consolidated school system that was in 1921. There was not a consolidated school system. There was a school, but not consolidated and the city had yet to be incorporated. Mr. Garland Brown was the first law enforcement officer. He was in campus, but he was College Station law enforcement also. What was he called, constable? Remember him? BH: I think A &M's police force had two retired Army sergeants (nodding head no). In early days, looking here at this old portrait...There was a compulsory chapel for the students. At least the freshman and sophomores were marched to Guion Hall Sunday mornings at 11 o'clock. KL: Marched in for meals three times a day. BH: Well yeah TW: I remember, I am not supposed to be interviewed. I do remember riding my little training bicycle when they had school on campus, and everybody went home for lunch in those days, and I could not for the life of me get from school past Military Walk before the Corps started marching, and we were taught so rigidly to respect the military, and we had to obey the rules on campus, and I would sit there with that little size training bicycle on the curb. Now I wouldn't get home, I wouldn't get a lunch, and that Military Walk looked so wide and I kept thinking I would get in trouble if I pedaled between platoons. (laughter) I was scared. We honored and respected all the military programs, pretty much because they controlled all the activities and one way or another it touched the lives of our families well, thank you. Does anybody else have anymore comments? We have a little more time that we could give to it. KL: It was great! BH: Sure did bring back old memories. (mumbling by all) KL: I would like to make one observation myself. People always find it interesting with the exception of World War II, I have not missed a home football game since 1925. TW: Boy Mr. Langford, that is quite a record. Just imagine. That is wonderful. HG: Gosh I was hardly born then. Laughter by all HG: Boy you suffered through a lot of games. TW: I would like to point out the tape that this particular group, with the exception of moderator, where speakers are all men so there was a time or two when I felt like there should be a woman's view inserted into the recording. (laughter) I will say one thing as the conversation now closes, etc. As a little girl I remember, and I think at that age most of my friends were girls. I lived at Northgate, and all the yards, literally, when we moved into the house my father had to level out and seed the yard because the cotton burrows were still visible. And we have a photograph which has been previously shown, where there are still four rows of cotton which have been striped between our house, the front of the church, and the church and down to the studio. KL: If you don't think this is a small world, during World War II, one of the guys I ran into in Germany was the captain of the Colored Artillery, today it's this gentleman right here (pointing to BH) TW: Oh boy, Mr. Hensel! BH: Long way from home! TW: Yes! BH: We'd come back to see each other. TW: I bet well, I do want to thank you personally and on behalf of the College Station Conference Center and the Historic Preservation Organization for your willingness to come... Mr. Gilchrist, Bill, and I believe the rest of us are one way or another locals. Thanks for coming and sharing your memories with us from the society. BH: And thank you ladies for sitting through this. Laughter by all. REMARKS BY FRANK G. ANDERSON, JR. AT THE DEDICATION (0 v OF A TEXAS HISTORICAL MARKER COMMERATING FACULTY AND STAFF HOUSING ON THE CAMPUS OF TEXAS A &M COLLEGE APRIL 8, 1988 I am sure that many who lived in faculty and staff housing on campus join me in thanking Doctor VanRiper, the Brazos County Historical Commission and the City of College Station for working to preserve this aspect of the history of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. The institution was more isolated and much smaller than it is today. Because of the isolation many services were provided on campus - groceries at a college store, dairy products at F &B and the creamery, frozen food storage at the Animal Husbandry building, laundry service at the college laundry, ice at the college power plant, swimming at Down's natatorium, riding classes at the stables. Campus children could receive education from the first grade through high school at Pfeiffer Hall and another building. A number of children were born in the faculty houses as the college physician was allowed a private practice for a number of these years. The environment was not limited socially, recreationally or cultur- ally. The campus houses provided the setting for many of these activities. Dinner parties were more frequent and often more formal than today - men wore tails in the teens, tuxes in the twenties and suits in the thirties. Bridge parties, music practice and performance, poetry composition, painting, discussions and visiting were significant parts of life in many of these houses. In earlier years visitors to A &M not infrequently were guests in these houses. The campus was not without eccentrics. Doctor Asberry may have held the record in this regard. His house was surrounded with multiple rows of oil rig -like towers and trellises on which climbing roses grew. His intent apparently was to develop a black rose. Although Doctor Asberry became deaf he continued to have several pianos which he enjoyed having played in unison. His bathroom is said to have had paintings on the ceiling. From the viewpoint of a child the campus was a great place to grow up. The environment was safe, generally houses were left unlocked even in the absence of the occupants. Our elders were on the whole tolerant of most of our behavior and we coexisted with the Aggies without any major problems. The upper level high school and college age daughters of the faculty dated Aggies and not a few became the bride of a young A &M graduate. A &M provided many interesting events from the viewpoint of a child as well as an adult. A visit by Franklin Roosevelt, a national champion football team whose games we watched from 25 cent seats in the Knot Hole Gang section in the U of the stadium and cavalry charges at the Cadet Corps reviews as well as a variety of demonstrations and discussions were stimulating experiences. We played touch football outside the walls of Guion Hall and watched movies inside that visually impressive edifice. Our bicycles carried us with jolts and bumps over the terraced sidewalks in front of the New Administration building and our feet carried us through mazes of shrubbery in games of hide and seek and chase. About the third grade when I finally accepted the fact that the educational process also applied to me I began reading books actively. First I read the books in our library and then that of the Gammons and then ventured the four blocks down Houston Street to the Waltons. Mrs. Walton usually rewarded me with an elaborate cool soft drink. I would like to tell two stories about the children of our next door neighbors. I will preface the first by saying that Mary Leland, a member of the Brazos Symphony, is the younger sister of one of the subjects. Tom, her brother, demonstrated an affinity for chemistry even before becoming a teen -ager - having a lab in part of the Leland's garage. I once asked too many questions about the contents of his bottles. He replied one was Deuteronomy and another was Leviticus. I retained these names long enough until the Sunday school experience in the basements of Guion Hall and the Assembly Hall gave me new insights into their meaning. Tom later became the head of the Chemical Engineering department at Rice University. Clod fights, acorn fights and firecracker cannon battles were a major activity for campus boys of the 1930s. Once Billy Gammon and I held off the rest of the neighborhood from the workshop behind the Gammon's house. Our opponents were marshalled behind a piece of plywood which Sam Rae, Billy's brother, supported upright with the aid of one finger exposed to our view. A direct hit on that finger by an acorn fired from our firecracker cannon resulted in the complete collapse of our opponents fixed instillation. This event may have pointed Sam Rae toward diplomacy. Before his state department retirement he had become an ambassador. In thinking back about these years from an adult's perspective I can remember only two faculty members who lived on the two blocks where my parents lived who left A&M for reasons other than retirement. One went to Iowa State where he became president and the other some years after the general exodus off campus moved on to a position as a member of the United States Federal Reserve Board. I believe this says something about the quality of life in the campus community in those years.