HomeMy WebLinkAboutEarly Education I Panel Group 1Early Education Oral History
Group 1
Elora Dale
Willie Leighton
Georgia Belle Landiss
"Elora Dale has yet to return her transcipt
"EARLY EDUCATION HISTORY"
PRIOR TO 1960
Kymberli Rucker - Transcriptionist
Naomi Shannon - Moderator
Bill Lancaster - Video Operators
Mrs. Shannon: Now start telling when you started teaching at this school?
Mrs. Leighton: I started substituting when we moved here from Austin; which was
1940. And I started my contract teaching in 1943. 1943 -1944 was my first contract year.
Mrs. Shannon: Elora, introduce yourself and tell when you started.
Mrs. Elora Dale: I'm Elora Dale, and I think I started in 1952, but I think that's right.
Mrs. Shannon: Yea, 1952. Well Mrs. Leighton, gave me a few questions that I think we
need to fill in its background. Ah, what year did Highway 6 become recognized? Oh, I
got a pen. That was 1927 and 1928 she said.
Mrs. Leighton: Ah, that should be 1937.
Mrs. Shannon: Was it 37, ok. And that was when they built before that people came in
on College Avenue.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, yea that came out Old College Road, and up by the railroad track,
and the main entree was from the railroad station.
Mrs. Shannon: When did A &M Consolidated School organize, and move to it's own
location here at the old campus?
Mrs. Leighton: Is Bill, allowed to talk?
Mrs. Shannon: Oh, sure.
Mrs. Leighton: He could tell that better. Weren't you a student back about then? I
thought you were, because Jean, now she's Robinson, but she had her first grade on
campus, and she also had third grade on the college campus with Mrs. Holsman. First
grade with Louise Coke.
Mr. Lancaster: It was Christmas 1939 I was in 6th grade and we packed up our stuff
when we went home for Christmas in the old school on campus it was January of 1940
when we moved into our new building over the Christmas holidays I think.
Mrs. Shannon: And those are these old buildings that some of them are still there?
Mr. Lancaster: Very few of them are.
Mrs. Shannon: Few of them.
(Audible)
Mrs. Leighton: They've torn down what were called the chicken coops?
Mr. Lancaster: Most of them I think are gone.
Mrs. Leighton: I could recommend those chicken coops architecturally perfect for
teaching.
Mrs. Dale: They were great.
Mrs. Leighton: They were good. They were so adaptable. Bill Caudill, and I made a
teaching film out there if you can recall. The year Bill, left for Houston. You know he
got so famous it was either drive all the time or move down there. He made a name for
himself. That film was shown in London England by Bill Caudill. It was titled "Building
for Learning."
Mrs. Dale: I wonder if it's still available?
Mrs. Leighton: It would be great to find out.
Mrs. Shannon: Now who was the first superintendent at A &M Consolidated School?
Mr. Lancaster: Well what year?
Mrs. Shannon: When ya'll moved over here in 40. Who was superintendent over there?
Mr. Lancaster: Paul Edge, was at the time of the move. The superintendents before him
was Sykes. And there was another man that I remember he name was S.D. Carry. I was
told the S.V. stood for Saint Valentine (Laughter) I don't know if that's true, but Mrs.
S.D. Carry was a superintendent back then. Then there was Mr. Sykes, and there were
others of course Paul Edge, superintendent when we moved to this side.
Mrs. Shannon: There's Georgia Belle.
Mrs. Leighton: Hello Georgia Belle. (Laughter). Bring me my hug.
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Mrs. Landiss: Yea, I got to do that.
Mrs. Leighton: I guess so. How are you? It's wonderful to see you.
Mrs. Landiss: You know the hardest thing about work was getting there.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, tell me about it.
Mrs. Shannon: Were glad your here.
Mrs. Landiss: Thank you, thank you.
Mrs. Shannon: We were talking about some of the early history. I need to get you to
fill out this. The same thing we filled out before. Just this part at the top over here. I'm
the interviewee.
Mrs. Shannon: Let's talk while Georgia Bell, is doing that about some of the original
teachers who were here, and then who taught at this campus.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, you mean the early, early days. You mean over on campus. That
was before my time.
Mrs. Shannon: Well Bill, can tell us some of those now. Some of the early day
teachers.
Mr. Lancaster: Mrs. Fred Slutter taught in the first year for many years of course she
was very well known for her phallic. Of course, Mrs. C. B. Holsman, was the third grade,
and the teacher I had in the second grade was Mrs. Seims, I don't know how long she was
here it wasn't to long. Mrs. Lomax, was my fourth grade teacher. Mrs. Bright, was fifth
grade teacher and Mrs. H.L. Heaton was the sixth grade teacher.
Mrs. Shannon: Oh really. She was librarian over here.
Mr. Lancaster: She was my 6th grade English teacher.
Mrs. Shannon: Did that school go through 12 grades over there?
Mr. Lancaster: It did originally. Now the building that was built as it was generally
built were the core dorms are now was originally 12 grades as it grew the college gave the
use of a old dorm Fermier Hall. Kids would go and take breaks out there.
Mrs. Shannon: Yea, that's right, that's right.
Mr. Lancaster: (Audible)
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Mrs. Shannon: Now who were some others that were here when you moved over here,
because you were here then?
Mrs. Leighton: Well I wasn't involved other then a substitute teacher. The first school
year was 1940, I substituted over here until my first contract in 1943 -1944.
Mrs. Shannon: What did you teach?
Mrs. Leighton: High school English.
Mrs. Shannon: High school English.
Mrs. Leighton: The students were so smart. This is a commendable school system. I
recall a youngster who had an assignment in radio, he was doing a paper to present on I
want to say television, I guess could have been television, it could have been. Anyway the
English teacher was a Mrs. Thompson, and she was ill. Do you remember Mrs.
Thompson?
Mrs. Landiss: Yes.
Mr. Lancaster: If I could be interceptive it would be Mrs. Thompson, husband was a
architect he help design this new campus. ( Audible).
Mrs. Landiss: Did he work with Mr. Caudill?
Mr. Lancaster: No, now see this was before Caudill time. He was Caudill was
instrumental campus across from Holik street not this campus.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, I thought he was the one who built wooden building s for $75,000
dollars. (Laughter).
Mr. Lancaster: Caudill, was probably still in school at that time. He came probably 10
years later when the campus across Holleman street became new
Mrs. Leighton: Georgia Belle, who was the family that donated this land of course this
little school system coming off the campus with no funds, had to have resources from
some source.
Mrs. Landiss: No tax. Nothing to tax. There was anything to tax in those days.
Mrs. Leighton: But some family was generous enough to sponsor the school and to give
the land, and at the time they had asked to be unrecognized, I think it would be a nice time
to bring them forward now, and put them into the history. They brought forward one fine
wonderful school system. The best!
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Mrs. Landiss: Next door to Willie Leighton, she saved my life.
Mrs. Shannon: Oh, were you teaching next door to her then.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, she saved my life. (Laughter).
Mrs. Leighton: You were that talented energy that I was looking for. Oh, we needed
you. You could get more done. All of them, they have been so good.
Mrs. Shannon: Well Georgia Bell, you have not introduced yourself for the tape. Want
you introduce yourself and say when you started to teach here.
Mrs. Landiss: Pm Georgia Belle Landiss, I started teaching here, when my husband was
in the Navy. I taught Homemaking in the highschool, and then when he came back from
the Navy I retired. And we had Bill. Then Mrs. Sloop at that time every summer she
taught us new ground. And when Bill, got started was going to start first grade I thought
oh I should go up there and take Mrs. Sloop's course (Audible) so I did. And we went to
Kansas City to visit Carl's folks during the summer, got back the day before Labor Day,
and Les Richardson was superintendent then. Does everybody know he played on that
1939 championship football team? Then he taught shop and he was the coach when I
started teaching at Consolidated. Well that was when he came back from the service. I
remember he was coming around from the shop one day, and he said this school can't
even afford to buy a hammer. (Laughter). I said tell me about it. We have five pairing
knives for the whole homemaking department, and then he became the superintendent.
Well it was Labor Day and he called me on the phone and he said what are you doing on
Labor Day, I said Pm doing the laundry we just got back from Kansas City. Well bring
your transcript and come on up here I want to see if you can teach third grade.
(Laughter). School started the next day. Thank goodness I was in my little sliding door
room right next door to Willie Leighton. I wouldn't have ever made it without her.
Mrs. Leighton: Well we needed you. In fact I just looked back at the talent we were
able to get.
Mrs. Shannon: When did Louise Coke, starting teaching in the new school?
Mrs. Leighton: Who, Pm sorry I did not understand.
Mrs. Shannon: Louise Coke.
Mrs. Leighton: Louise Coke started on the college campus. there's a little love story
that would bear putting in a book. Her husband lived with Louise's family while he went
to A &M, and their romance incubated there that ended in marriage, and she went with
him when he left to go to the, work that ended up in the service. And then when they
came back he came back to A &M ill. And when he passed away Louise, came back to us
in school, and that would have been about 1946 -1948. We were housed on Timber St.
and Louise was a first grade teacher.
Mrs. Shannon: There wasn't much here then. We had the school at this location, and
where was the drug store South Side? And then we had Blacks Pharmacy over on the
Eastgate. And the grocery stores where just the Maes Grocery Store.
Mrs. Leighton: Louis Maes, on what is now University.
Mrs. Shannon: Luke Patrenella's Eastgate.
Mrs. Landiss: And Mrs. Oden, had the Southside Grocery.
Mrs. Shannon: Well describe the facilities that were then. What were the facilities like?
Mrs. Landiss: They were great! They got a lot of criticism because they were made
out of wood, but they were the most conventient for the teachers and for the students,
except we had to walk to the cafeteria which at that time was down in the gymnasium.
Mrs. Leighton: All we needed was a little shelter, we had everything else.
Mrs. Landiss: When you went into your classroom, under the windows were little
drawers kids could put there stuff in and you had all this room to lay things out on. There
was a petition between where the classroom was and the, there was a little bathroom, a
place to hang there coats and in this petition between the classroom and that area that was
a closet so the teacher had a place to put things. It was tremendous. And they got all
those rooms built for $75,000 dollars. It was tremendous.
Mrs. Dale: Oh, remember coming to school early and, who was the janitor that always
had fires lighted. Remember he had a horse that came with a wagon.
Mrs. Leighton: I would always say, as I said a little earlier you could never dives more
convenience for teaching then the chicken coops. (Laughter). Ventilation I never saw the
perfection, it had those windows up over and all you had to do was take your stick to
open them or close them. Over on this side you had your flow of air there, and we had
gas those things you know radiators. We had about maybe 2 or 3 in the room it was just
perfect. And when you wanted to go outside and if it was a little bit of a rainy day we had
that little porch out front and we marked ours off as hop scotch and all kinds of games,
you remember that? We just had a build in gym. It was so pretty, we had this huge oaks
shading the yard and then as commemoration to Luke when he pasted away. The local
people who would give a little here and a little there. The professional people gave there
services. We built a big tennis court in honor of Luke. And there was our wet weather
because they couldn't play out there play tennis, and so the sun would come out and here
we go out there with our mother hens and the little chicklets.
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Mrs. Dale: I thought of the janitor, Ernest. Oh he was a jewel.
Mrs. Shannon: He had to start your fires before you got there.
Mrs. Dale: And the rooms always smelled so clean.
Mrs. Shannon: Well you taught in those buildings to and you thought they were
wonderful?
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, and the blackboards would raise up, and you had a shadow box back
in there you could observe all the holidays and whatever you wanted to display
Mrs. Leighton: Elora, you were apart of the extravaganza the season's past.
Mrs. Dale: Oh, didn't we have fun. Well then you did, you wrote the Texas History
extravaganza to. Remember that one?
Mrs. Leighton: Did it involve the whole grade?
Mrs. Dale: Yea, the whole 3rd grade, because I remember making a copy. I had a
student teacher that wanted a copy of it.
Mrs. Leighton: I'm sure, we had so many things like that. Classroom was a joy, our
little class rooms.
Mrs. Dale: You know one thing I hate to criticize education today, but one thing I think
there missing is there taking God out of the classroom. I know we never said now were
going to pray because we had all type or religions in our classroom and the little children
would just bow there heads and sings Johnny Apple Seed, and that was blessing enough.
And now instead of God in the classroom they got policeman in the hall, and I think that's
where were really felling the children.
Mrs. Leighton: And the relaxation is gone. The feeling of freedom. I felt not one little
bit of restraint. If it was teaching these children something, I knew that it would be all
right. We never worried about it did we? That's why I say we've been blessed with some
leaders.
Mrs. Shannon: What was your curriculum like is it different from today, or was it pretty
similar?
Mrs. Leighton: What was that Naomi?
Mrs. Shannon: What was your curriculum like?
Mrs. Leighton: Ah, pretty much the same. I believe we did a little bit more in child
directed interest, and enriching if faces showed a great interest in one particular thing we
just sort of drifting over in that and explored it as far as they wanted to go. That's the
way I remember it. We didn't go by a strict written directions, and again we were never
called down on it. I remember when I went to College Hills, Mr. Redal says I'm going to
let you go and do these things you always wanted to do. I just ask one thing. Make it
work. That's pretty hard charge, but I appreciated it because I had freedom, freedom to
teach. I think that's what teachers need today. I like to get on my soap box about that.
Freedom to teach, and parents to back them, and we had both. And we didn't have, I
don't recall if we ever had any big hassle with the discipline hassles, do you?
Mrs. Dale: I don't remember bringing any to the office.
Mrs. Leighton: A few when the county courts took over letting parents, letting homes
take youngster from up as you know past children in there own homes and guide them as
if they were there own. They sent, I mean courts, county courts sent us some younger
that were seventeen years old, and fifteen years old along that bracket at College Hills,
and I asked, it got a little rough. I asked why, because were trying to get these youngsters
down to an educational level where they could function, and of course they wouldn't
function at first grade, they just didn't have it, and they weren't a least bit interested in
getting it. Now that we had a little trouble with. But thank goodness the senior juvenilia
officers looked into it and saw they were giving us trouble, so they moved them on down
where the chronological years fitted, and that did a little bit more for them did we were
able to do. Because at least they could communicate with younger, the wrong kind of
communication may I say and hear it again. But we couldn't they had no one with whom
they could talk. Putting them with say a forth grader ah, at eight years old, put a
seventeen year in with his group to play baseball and we didn't have a coach, but that was
about the rough spots that I can recall. We got that worked out.
Mrs. Shannon: That would have been one of your more difficult aspects of teaching.
Mrs. Leighton: Yes, I would say that was actual teaching and just regular grade
placement. If they were a year or two older then the grade that didn't matter a bit. And
MHMR we just let flow main stream and had some of the finest teachers. Mrs. Cox, and
the different ones that worked with us.
Mrs. Dale: Sharon Frazier, was a life saver.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, yes Penny. Tell me, help me remember what was Penny assignment
over there?
Mrs. Dale: Didn't she do Speech?
Mrs. Leighton: Yes. Yes, that fits. I knew that Penny, was involved with us some way
because she came on to College Hills and took along the assignment there. But we had no
problems that I recall in age placements one or two years doesn't matter you can handle
that. But a gap from eight years to seventeen years is a little much.
Mrs. Dale: And then if you wanted to retain a child for another year we didn't have a
problem with the parents. Because they understood.
Mrs. Shannon: Georgia Belle, how many years did you teach out here? You taught
along time and then you moved back into Bryan.
Mrs. Landiss: I taught home economics in highschool for five years then I taught in third
grade for five years. At A &M then they would be glad to have you fill up their classes to
offer all sorts of workshops for elementary over at A &M. But then, of course, they
wouldn't give us a degree so I transferred what I could over to Sam Houston, and I got
my master in Home Economic so I moved to Bryan to home economics.
Mrs. Shannon: Mrs. Leighton, tell us about moving into College Hills, I heard you talk
about that.
Mrs. Leighton: Well it was delightful. I don't recall ever getting a teacher in a comer
and asking her to come to College Hills. I thought you don't do it that way. And I had no
idea with whom I would be working, I didn't know who was hiring the teachers. It was
the next year that Mr. Readle, started letting me do my own interviewing. And we had
no problems after that. What I would regard as a problem I got rid of it. I was working
after school, I would stay after my children had gone. I was packing books and oh it was
hot, and I was perspiring and I must have looked like a scrub woman, and it was getting
around 5 or 5:30 setting towards 6:00. Well I thought I better go home I'm tired anyway.
And just about that time some prized teachers came in the door, and all of a sudden I
couldn't believe it. They came to tell me that they been packing also. They said well we
are going with you. Ah, there was, with help like that it had to go. Soon I learned that
almost all teachers were ones I had worked with for a long time. President yes, she was.
And was she a good one! Houston had always furnished all the leadership for T.S.T.A.
(Texas State Teacher Association) which Pm sorry say, it doesn't have the power it use to
have. And all the school districts from Calvert to the coast were in district one. Well
Georgia Bell and I decided why didn't we have a meeting of district one, we could handle
it. We had enough places for them to stay, and so we offered our services didn't we
Georgia Bell? And we got it. They came here and I don't know if we ever had a finer
meeting. Wasn't it great? Do you remember it that way? We had the District One Spring
Convention here in Bryan- College Station.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, yes.
Mrs. Leighton: You had a lot of responsibility, doing the dinners all the meeting places.
There was never anything left unplanned.
Mrs. Shannon: What time of year did you move into College Hills?
Mrs. Leighton: August, 1961. The storm, Hurricane Carla, stopped us for two days.
We started moving in on the 7th. See in those days we opened the first week in
September we didn't go in August like now. And such a storm as Carla was. You know
churches and schools are never finished on target, you always wait a week, and College
Hills waited its week. And then William's Street was brand new it had never been used, it
was just named and for a college faculty member I think. Anyway was supposed to be
graveled, it was one -way, and graveled, and we had three rural buses that went way back
to the boon docks, and brought in youngsters. I don't know why to a new school. I
wonder about that now, I didn't wonder then like I do now. And as they would turn off
of the paved street the first two or three chug, chug, chugs down it went stuck. We had
to get all these children up to the building some how, and dry them some how. When had
telephone service. We did have I think the gas connections were on by that time. We
dried them with newspapers and these wonderful mothers and dads that I had all those
years I always remember them. As soon as the word got around what a fix we were in
over there they started coming in with towels and paper, you name it they had it. They
helped us get a lid on that thing, that helped up handle it. And our brand new building, I
remember the night before oh, what janitors, do you remember that sweet boy and girl.
We had polished that main hallway, that was the last thing we polished and I had on
shorts; and late Sunday afternoon, and we had it just leaning that was my dream, my first
school. And it had to be perfect. Well when I opened that door at seven Monday
morning (I couldn't get my car on the street and I knew I couldn't so I parked with Lou
the book man). Parked in his driveway on Walton Drive, and walked through there.Well,
I was wet to start with, and getting the children in and getting them dry oh, it was pretty
bad. And the buses just stayed there and everybody walked out, and the parents came and
got their children and walked to dry land. And after two days of that came beautiful
Wednesday morning I think it was the sun was just beautiful. One thing stayed and that
was our dog. That collie dog. And we, of course, named her after the storm. Ah, we
never did find where that dog came from. Ah you know the people from the coast were
up here in droves sleeping in the churches and sleeping in the floors of hotels and the
motels. Oh, it was a big bad thing, and that's where I met Dan Rathers. I can just go on
and on. (Laughter). I met Dan on television.
Mrs. Landiss: That storm made Dan Rathers. He wa right there in Galveston to report
on Hurricane Carla.
Mrs. Leighton: That storm made Dan Rathers. Yes it did.
Mrs. Shannon: For the record we need to point out for the tape especially that Mrs.
Leighton, was the first president of College Hills and Mrs. Criswall, was principal over
here. Was she the first principal over here?
Mrs. Leighton: No. Not the first one. She was the first woman.
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Mrs. Shannon: First woman ok.
Mrs. Leighton: Yea, we had I can't recall his name right now.
Mr. Lancaster: Grady Elms.
Mr. Leighton: I don't quite, that doesn't clear up. That sounds like it may have been
right.
Mrs. Shannon: About when did Mrs. Criswall become principal?
Mrs. Leighton: When did she start?
Mrs. Shannon: Yes, about when did she start, about when?
Mrs. Leighton: Ah, I would say. Could you put a date on that Elora?
Mrs. Dale: I don't know.
Mrs. Landiss: She was principal when I started.
Mrs. Leighton: When you started.
Mrs. Landiss: And she was the third principal. She had time to read through different
journals and professional things, and she would give us an abstract of her reading that
helped us a great deal.
Mrs. Leighton: I know we went for a good little while there with out anyone, and yes
we had a bunch of things that needed to be done and little higher level then a classroom
teacher, and then too we didn't have time to do it. When children would come to be
registered, we had to go on with our class work.
Mrs. Landiss: Is that when they started the head teacher that year?
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, that was dumped on that teacher. (Laughter). And you couldn't be
at two places at one time.
Mrs. Shannon: Talk a little bit about head teacher how the school structured Georgia
Belle.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, Willie you do that a lot better then I could.
Mrs. Leighton: No you go ahead.
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Mrs. Landiss: Willie was the head teacher of the third grade. Was Mrs. Sloan the head
teacher of the fourth grade?
Mrs. Leighton: Mrs. Sloan.
Mrs. Landiss: Mrs. Sloan, was she the hea teacher of the fourth grade? They were in
the next building over from us.
Mrs. Leighton: Mrs. Sloan never taught first grade as far as I know.
Mrs. Landiss: No fourth grade, Mrs. Sloop I think was the head teacher of first grade.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, yes she was.
Mrs. Landiss: And now the second grade I don't know. But Mrs. Leighton said I
believe.
Mrs. Leighton: Mrs. Buchanan I believe was head teacher.
Mrs. Landiss: Of second grade. We would have our teacher meetings and we would
share. (Laughter). You know if someone had a good unit we shared it with all. That
wasn't true when I went into Bryan. This is mine and this is yours. (Laughter). But we
didn't do that in College Station. The head teachers we had meetings and then we would
share with one another. If we had a good unit we would share we shared with everybody.
Mrs. Leighton: We did our own ordering of supplies. We had enough to run a good
school year. We had new books just about every year. And I think the parents had a big
hand in that. I just I'm wondering this day and time where are you parents out therewith
all this trouble going on in schools. All we did was send out the message and we had
help.
Mrs. Shannon: Well Dr. Richardson was superintendent. And then after he left Mr.
Ringer came on aboard? Well what are some of your other memories of early days of
school? Some of the memorable events? This festival you all talked about Autumn
Spring, Summer was that a big problem for the parents to come to?
Mrs. Dale: Oh yes, there was standing room only. (Laughter).
Mrs. Leighton: They came to everything Georgia Bell. They helped us with everything.
At the end of the school year, end of school picnics.
Mrs. Dale: That was fun.
Mrs. Landiss: If it rained we had the picinic under the stadium.
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Mrs. Leighton: Oh yes if we wanted.
Mrs. Landiss: We had to do that in droves. If it was raining we had it under the
stadium. You know after the, this may not be to much consolidated with, I remember
after we had our picnic and we came back to school as you go home, and that was the day
(Audible) Because they were an ordeal but the kids enjoyed it and we did to.
Mrs. Leighton: Do you remember Gary Godfrey?
Mrs. Landiss: Gary, was very handsome, and I remember one picnic we had down at the
grove the Loveless boy, Bill Loveless came to Mrs. Landiss, "Gary is up in the hook of
the basketball goal." I said lets leave him there, that's as good as a place as any. He got
down alright. But Gary, was a very very active person. And I remember also ah we
always had a kind of emotional first thing in the morning, and I remember one time Bill
Loveless, in charge of it or something. And they said some of the boys said Bill want you
tell that joke to Mrs. Landiss. "Oh, Mrs. Landiss shouldn't here that joke." (Laughter).
And also I remember they were very active in Little League. And talked about what we
did. (Laughter). It was quite a time, it was fun.
Mrs. Leighton: It was quite a time. Ah, the P.E. students that would send us!
Mrs. Dale: They were great.
Mrs. Leighton: They made our school. You know if you could appeal to a child
athletically and let him get his interest in that area going and his challenge then it seems to
also translate into the school work. And rve never saw it better demonstrated than our
students that we get from the Health and Physical Education department. Yes, our student
teachers.
Mrs. Dale: Remember we had John Hail one year.
Mrs. Leighton: Yes, I could never forget John. I could never forget sweet great big old
Dickie Dowell. He died with a heart attach not to, you know of whom rm trying to speak
of He's mother was a nurse and worked in the school, Vera Dowell.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, you mean the Dowells. Dickie Dowell and his mother Vera ws a
counselor.
Mrs. Leighton: Wasn't he wonderful?
Mrs. Dale: He could have kids at any age.
Mrs. Leighton: And he stayed with us long after his commitment. He'd come back and
help us on school picnics you name it Dickey, was there.
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Mrs. Shannon: Now where these student teachers, or where they P.E. teachers?
Mrs. Leighton: They were P.E. majors working for certification as P.E. teachers..
Mrs. Shannon: P.E. majors.
Mrs. Leighton: And we had some rather notable ones to that would come over as there,
some how them wanted teacher certificates and I presume that was one way to meet that
requirement wasn't it. That they would come over and do student teaching in order to get
certified. When they came out of school. I know that's how got ah Bob, at College Hills
right now. He came to me, they had a tremendous year in A &M that year. They had
won one of the big conferences Southwest wasn't it? What's the biggest thing when you
play all the games and win them? Southwest Conference Champions.
Mrs. Dale: National?
Mrs. Landiss: Well the Southwest Conference was a big thing in those days.
Mrs. Leighton: They had just won the Conference. And of course, they had to have a
lot of respect for themselves. I know he went on the campus with the Junior Senior
Highschool, I think yes it was teaching. He was going to teach. And some how they jusr
didn't have a meeting of minds. And what do they do with the coaches when that can't
handle them. They usually seen them to elementary school. That's what they did with
Bob. They sent me this man. I was almost in awe to look at him. Cause I had seen him
play some mighty big games. Anyway ah he was pretty good, and he came as a student
teacher with us. He was going to teach our P.E. And we had no place to have P.E. It all
had to be outside. And when the rain was pouring for weeks at a time like we had it
around here, Bob, had to bring his class inside and teach in gymnasium in not the
gymnasium we had not in the cafeteria. I went in oneday and he had one of our sweetness
little spirited girls standing in the comer, no standing at the blackboard with her nose in a
circle, and he was sitting with his he was suppose to be teaching Psychology. It was
sitting with his foot on the desk. Everything that I hated in a teacher was right there hit
me in the face. Woo I got mad. I tried not to let it show. I told Bob, lets have a talk
after school. And we talked it out, and he didn't ever do that again. He'd learn that there's
more then you have to be able to do more then just teach. Challenging things like no
place to teach. And look what, he was voted the best school man on the campus this past
year. In the system that's how he pulled himself, he had the talent in any field you would
want to take, but he just hadn't looked to find it.
Mrs. Dale: Now I think the secret we had is that we loved the kids, and they knew we
respected them.
Mrs. Shannon: Tell us the most difficult aspect of teaching back in the early days of the
school system? Was it your facilities or your lack of facilities made it more difficult?
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Mrs. Landiss: No! (Laughter) The facilities were all right.
Mrs. Dale: I didn't think so.
Mrs. Landiss: The facilities were all right. The ball is in your court.
Mrs. Leighton: The ball is in your court.
Mrs. Dale: I thought we had wonderful facilities. Lots of bulletin boards.
Mrs. Shannon: Well those old buildings we used for years, in fact there are some that
are still left?
Mrs. Landiss: All this blue ink, and they'll give it to us. That was very helpful. So when
you think about it naturally I guess it's about the only thing I could think of, is when we
had to take the children to the cafeteria in the rain.
Mrs. Leighton: In the rain, that was a challenge. That was a challenge. But it wouldn't
have taken a lot to repair that, and I dare say had we stayed at that pattern the children
our enrollments kept growing so. We had to have more teaching space. That causes to
have to move for I dare say that challenge would have been met of getting the children to
the cafeteria. They were just ready to put some overhang there get us there.
Mrs. Shannon: What were some of your most enjoyable aspects of teaching there?
Mrs. Dale: There were so many I don't think we have time. (Laughter). One particular
student I had wrote poetry. And it was a poet on campus this particular time. So I took
her one night to here this man, and I still have one of her reports she read for me.
Mrs. Shannon: Georgia Belle you brought something's. You want to share them with
us?
Mrs. Landiss: Ah, of course, we had Public School Week every year, and at the
elementary school that week the parents could come anytime they wanted to. The
highschool had one night and that was it. But I remember the kids you know always get
ready for Public School Week and we raised these blackboard and we had the shadow
boxes behind them, and of course, we had the bulletin boards and the Public School Week
was quite a thing. I don't know whether they still have it or not. But anyway the year
that I had Bill Landiss in the third grade is that we were grouped, the top group, the
middle group, and the lower group. And that year I was going to teach the top group, and
Bill, happened to be in it. Of course, I wasn't going to believe it with everybody else in
the room. And we just had a ball all year long. There were so many kids in that class that
had talent, and we even made a pilgrimage to Washington on the Brazos as part of our
Public School Week. The parents after church on Sunday's we all brought a picnic lunch
and we had a caravan of cars with a police motorcyclist. We went to Washington on the
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Brazos and saw historical things, and we had a picnic. And lets see Dickie Hervey was in
that class as remember. He talked about when we were down on the river and so forth
and, of course, they had to make a report. They had to make a oral report for me, when
we got back in school. I remember Dickey Hervey said we snuck up on her and all that
sort of thing. So you got a lot of vocabulary that came naturally then what you taught
them. (Laughter). But anyway we had a hold caravan of cars that went down after the
church on Sunday had a picnic and came home. But Public School Week was pretty
important and that year I took some pictures and fix this little thing, and I did make some
copies and took them over to the Copy Center and they weren't sure. rm not sure they
had all the pictures straight. Anyway I did have a copy of that.
Mrs. Shannon: Well I know Gracie, would like to have some of those to put in
milligraphics.
Mrs. Landiss: I had copies made of that.
Mrs. Shannon: Ok.
Mrs. Landiss: And then the other thing I have it's not elementary school but I think this
lady should have a lot of attention. This is Mrs. Ford Mutherlin who lived in the house
the Perrymen live in now. She wrote the 12th Man Song for Texas A &M.
Mrs. Leighton: How well I remember her.
Mrs. Landiss: For A &M, they recognized her on the football field several years ago.
Of course, she's now deceased. And she had a daughter named Mary, that I taught in
highschool. Then she had a son who became an Episcopal minister.
Mr. Lancaster: Episcopal. (Audible)
Mrs. Landiss: Yes, I can't remember what his name was. Did you remember?
Mr. Lancaster: Bill.
Mrs. Landiss: Bill, Oh yea Bill Munnerlyn.
Mr. Lancaster: Bill Ford Jr.
Mrs. Landiss: In fact Lynn street in Bryan use to be Munnerlyn Street. Ford Munnerlyn
built houses the students could afford to live in. And that's where a lot of the students
lived. Well anyway she wrote the 12th Man, and this is a picture of her.
Mr. Lancaster: She wrote the Tiger Fight Song also.
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Mrs. Landiss: Also there's a picture of her. She wrote the CHS alma mater song. I
always thought the CHS Song was a little low, it was kind of hard to sing that low. But
the Tiger Fight Song was great and, of course, they still use it. We started going to
football games then and now again that they have a stadium of there own again. And, of
course, they play the CHS Song and they play the Tiger fight song just as in the early
days.
Mrs. Shannon: She wrote both of those?
Mrs. Landiss: She wrote both of those songs.
Mrs. Shannon: Make sure and make those for Gracie.
Mrs. Landiss: And then she wrote the music for the Song of the Future Homemakers.
Mrs. Shannon: Oh, really. Now you had a story about the Future Homemakers that
you told in another group. Would you tell that again.
Mrs. Landiss: We had a National Organization we had a State Organization and
(Audible) and we had the chapter meetings for the Future Homemakers of America. And
the National Organization put out a call for our students to write a song. Lou Ann Smith.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, I remember her.
Mrs. Landiss: Lou Ann Smith was a very tall girl, she wrote a poem, of course, she
could not put it to music. So what do we do, but take it to Mrs. Munnerlyn. And she
loved music. Col. Richard H. Dunn, who had been the band director at A &M, and when
he retired he came over here. First to start a symphony orchestra, and then a band. And
anyway we took this music to Mrs. Munnerlyn. And back in the days when A &M had
their radio station in the System Building we had to cut a record, everything had to be
perfect on that record. It wasn't like the tapes you do now; where you can erase and do
something else. But we went over and one of the newscasters in Houston, Dick Gotleib.
He was a student at A &M, and he helped us make this record. Well I took it over to the
state department in Austin and that year they played that song as the wake up call for the
State Camp. And then they invited us to sing it at the State Convention that next Spring
in Galveston, in which we did. Well they entered it in the National Contest. The
Homemaking students had the hamburger concession for the basketball tournament to
make money to try to get money to send the singers to the 1st National Convention in
Kansas City. Its a first name convention. We raised all the money we could raise, and we
didn't have enough money. So Mr. Hershel Burgess, went to our local business people he
said these girls have earned all the money they could earn, and they don't have enough
money, but they ought to go. We just decided that we couldn't go, we just didn't have the
money. And he brought their donations and we went. The Tennessee Song and the
Texas Song were favorite of the whole thing, people entered songs at the National
Convention, and both of them were so good they decided that they couldn't decide on the
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National Song at that time. But the State made our song the State Song, and Mrs.
Patranella, and Mrs. Street, paid there own way to go, and we went on the train. We
went over to Hearne and got on the train to Kansas City. And of course Mrs. Munnerlyn
went along to play for us. The city autorium was in an old part of the downtown, which
was not the most desirable place for the hotels for the girls to stay in. Mrs. Munnerlyn,
went to play for them, and I remember so well. We where in these hotels, I told the state
director I said this is in the bad part of Kansas City, you don't really want those girls to
stay down there. Well she wouldn't ask for something special privileges, so we stayed.
And Mrs. Munnerlyn, well we were in a hotel where the airline stewardess and pilots
when they came in they had rooms that they could just go anywhere they wanted to and
sleep. But by golly when went to take Mrs. Munnerlyn, to her room, there was a naked
pilot sleeping in her bed. (Laughter). Well Munnerlyn didn't know what to do, of course,
we went to the office and they gave her another room. But anyway Joyce Patranella, well
she was a cheerleader at Consolidated that time. And she was one of the girls who went,
and when we would go into the auditorium there was always a gang of boys you know
because it was all girls, you know an all girl organization. And but there was always a
bunch of boys at the entrance and one of the boys said something about well if they were
from Texas you don't need to ask them they'll tell you, and Joyce, said yes, we were from
Texas. So anyway it was quite a experience for the girls and it was quite a experience
trying to get the girls across the streets on the same traffic light, you know in the city.
But Carl's mother and sister fixed the most wonderful meal for us to have at their home at
that time, and Carl's mother was just amazed how much the girls ate, because of course,
all they could afford to buy was hamburgers, you know that sort of thing; and she had a
meal that she bought for lots of people. But the girls at every bit. And, anyway we had a
very nice trip. And as I say Mrs. Munnerlyn, wrote the music and went with us to the
State Convention in Galveston and to the National Convention in Kansas City.
Mrs. Leighton: Just no end to the grace of that woman, and talent.
Mrs. Dale: Were you teaching when we took the whole elementary school to the circus
in Houston?
Mrs. Shannon: I think I was out that year.
Mrs. Dale: That was a good year then. (Laughter).
Mrs. Dale: Willie, you remember taking all the children to the circus.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, don't I, that's where I met Dr. Cooper. I became a nurse that year.
You know coming back we had asked the parents please don't give them but a dime. Well
going to the circus my little kids, most daddy's and mothers gave them fifty cents or a
dollar. They had everything to eat. That's what we asked we didn't want that we knew
what had happened. Coming back every kind of illness, vomiting oh didn't we have it.
And on the train Dr. Cooper, he had just moved here, and he said a hospital car and bless
his heart; he really made his name that day. He doctored right up and down, he contrived
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a way for those little fellows all to be comfortable and to be pruned, and where he got all
that ice water I don't know. A little tip of ice and something on there head, and the floor
of the car I won't ever know how he walked in that. But I know when I got home I had
such a good occasion I bought myself a new pair of boots to Houston shoes.
Mrs. Shannon: I think our time is just about up, does anybody else that they can
contribute or would like to? You've been a wonderful group.
Mrs. Leighton: We can only say that it has been a wonderful place to live. I guess I'm
talking for myself. And it couldn't have been more joyful. At first moving from Austin,
you see this is almost like moving back home for me, because I was born right across the
river over here on the Old San Antonio Road. And I kind of looked wilted, but Charlie,
had been offered a awfully good job, by his favorite professor J.T. L. McNew. Alphabet
McNew. So we came and I tried not to showed , but it wasn't to long until I was never
happier. It was just the sweetness place to come. And that was when the little New
Year's party on the campus, everybody went and it wasn't to big a crowd. Gill Gilchrist
was the president then, when we came. Dr. Walton had just gone.
Mrs. Landsiss: On New Years Day the President had a reception for the members of the
faculty. They had this in the president homes, and the register would stand at the door
and let so many in, and then when they came out, so many more went in.
Mrs. Leighton: Don't think he wasn't there, oh yes.
Mrs. Landiss: But anyway of course the Walton's were, Dr. Walton was president when
we came, and he, of course, Mrs. Burgess, was a Walton. And T.T. Walton and Dr. T.
O. Walton were their sons.
Mrs. Leighton: We should be mindful that as the Eastgate became established we should
remember'38 and'39 when the Highway was named. And we had a highway out this
way, that the Walton's had the medical, you might say a hospital over there. I mean T.O.
and the dentist along with them was?
Mr. Lancaster: Dr. Hooper.
Mrs. Dale: Um, Hm, Dr. Hooper.
Mrs. Landiss: Oh yes Dr. Hooper.
Mrs. Leighton: Oh, wasn't he a love? Dr. Hooper, and there on the corner was almost
the services of a little hospital.
Mrs. Landiss: Blacks' Phmarcy was right there.
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Mrs. Leighton: Thanks to the doctors that T.O. TT was there for awhile wasn't he?
With T.O. and then he moved into Bryan. Wasn't that true? I know Dr. Cooper, was our
dentist. They were all part of Easgate. We had to make Eastgate. And we made it. We
opened up main building, must have been the System Building.
Mrs. Landiss: That's the reason they turned around because of State Highway 6.
Mrs. Leighton: About 38, wasn't it? Thirty six, thirty eight.
Mrs. Landiss: Before we came here, it was there when we came.
Mr. Lancaster: Thirty two.
Mrs. Leighton: Thirty two, a little bit older then I thought it was.
Mrs. Landiss: But the System Building was always so beautiful and until we had this
energy crises in which we had to turn out all the lights; that System Building from
Highway 6 was just beautiful with those columns, and the lights came behind those
columns; it was a beautiful entrance. And, of course, before that, the Aggies come in on
railroad, and the Academic Building was the main building at that time.
Mrs. Leighton: Lead us not forget as we went on down and made the right turn to go up
the school, that whole hillside over there was a dairy farm "The Dovrovolny's there was
no such thing as all these busy,
Mrs. Landiss: Mrs. Dovrovolny was a very acute lady, and her son Antone is Justice of
the Peace. Well anyway I remember when the school went to buy the Dovrovolny's Farm
and Mrs. Dovrovolny, thought they did not want to pay her enough for it. And yes you
remember that Bill? Yes, she was really a very smart woman. I remember she hadn't got
what she wanted for that farm or not, but anyway that everything East of Holik. The
Dovrovolny's Farm went all the way from Holik Street to Highway 6.
Mrs. Leighton: Yes, it did. Prettiest stock I ever saw. Cows, horses and kids. She had
seven or eight kids didn't she? Mrs. Dovrovolny?
Mrs. Landiss: Oh, there were a lot of them. Gima, I think was the youngest, and I had
her in Homemaking. I remember seeing in the Annual one year, a picture of Crima,
standing in the door of the Homemaking Department passing out cookies, as the kids they
would go by. And then another thing I thought was interesting, I finally gave it back to
Antone, she thought I should have the bell. So she brought me the brass bell that the
Donvan's called people to eat, and at the time I knew she shouldn't give that to me, but
she wanted me to have it.
Mrs. Leighton: It's a pity you didn't take it.
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Mrs. Landiss: I did.
Mrs. Leighton: I thought you did.
Mrs. Landiss: I did. And I use it when Bill, was playing with White boys. (Audible).
Oh the dentist at the Eastgate. Bob White, was the oldest of the children. Bill, was the
middle one, and Joe was the youngest. And they lived when we built our house
(Audible). Well anyway when Bill, would be playing over there and I would give him a
five minute warning or I would ring that bell, another five minuteness I ring that bell that
means coming on home. Well I had that bell for years, and everytime I would see Antone,
I would say have you seen Gima, I was going to give it back to Gima. Well Gima, lives in
Fort Worth and I haven't' seen her since highschool, but finally I took that bell. We were
going to some place that I knew Antone would be there. I said Antone, this is the bell
from the Dovrovolny Dairy Farm, and your sister Gima, gave it to me when I knew she
shouldn't give it to me in the first place, but I want you to have it because a Dovrovolny
should have this bell. I was going to give it back Gima, but I have never seen her since
highschool so of course Antone has Dovrovolny's Bell.
Mrs. Landiss: What a treasure.
Mrs. Leighton: Laughter. Bill, were you already graduated when Antone...?
Mr. Lancaster: He was a year behind me.
Mrs. Landiss: Clement, was big D in the football team at Consolidated. He was Big D,
and then a little behind him was Antone, he was little D. And I remember Little D got a
tooth knocked out, playing football, and he had a tooth put in and all that kind of stuff,
and here he come to school without a tooth. I said Antone, put that tooth in your mouth.
Well the next day he came with it, you see we had this long hall in the highschool, and the
next day he came and I was standing there he said Mrs. Landiss, I got a teeth, I got it I
got it. He was a character. And Clements, we redid all the Homemaking tables. We
didn't have all the plastic stuff we have now, we had wooden tables, and we wanted to
redo them. Well all the kids hated to go to study hall they just detested to go to study
hall, and Clemente, would say I would be glad to rub those tables downs; if you just get
me out of study hall. And so he came in everyday to study hall and you know we got the
receipts from David Flemings who, was in the mechanical Engineering Department at
A &M.
Mrs. Leighton: Naturally you would.
Mrs. Landiss: To tell us how to redo those tables. He was a life savior because the
girls, we used old erasers and rub it down with oil and,
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Mr. Lancaster: Pumice stone, (Mrs. Landiss: Yea, right) motor oil, and pumice
stone.
Mrs. Landiss: Yea, and rubbed those tables down and they looked professionally done.
He would be delighted to do that instead of going to study hall. But you know we didn't
have any P.E. mainly our P.E. was the lunch room, the hour in a half we had for lunch
they would play out between the highschool and the elementary school and, of course,
there were no places to take showers or anything. Another boy that I remember so well
(Audible) he was a coach here, and he's the granddad of the guy that owns the (Audible),
but anyway they would come in after playing for an hour cause they had thirty minuteness
for lunch and they had to wait until the others played, and I tell you they would smelled
like they did not have a shower. And I remember that very well about the study hall. But
any of them would, any of them would do anything to get out of study hall, (Laughter)
and I had that study hall right after lunch for a while. But we turned out many local
doctors, business people, farmers, and politicians.
Mrs. Leighton: You would remember it along time.
Mrs. Shannon: Well ladies I thank you very much you've been wonderful.
Mrs. Leighton: Well we thank you, both of you. (Laughter). You had it timed just
right.
End of Session
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