HomeMy WebLinkAboutFrank G. AndersonRE - ?MARKS B Y FRANK G_ ANDERSON, JR_ AT THE DEDICATION
OF A TEXAS HISTORICAL MARKER COMMEMORATING
FACULTY AND STAFF HOUSING ON THE CAMPUS
OF TEXAS A&M COLL
APRIL 8 , 1 988
I am sure that many who lived in faculty and staff housing on campus join me in thanking Doctor
Va n Riper, 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 F8cB 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 Downs 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 culturally_ 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, po composition, painting, discussions and visiting were
significant parts of life in many of these houses_ In earlier years visitors to ABcM not infrequently were
guests in these houses.
T he 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 t
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 t
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 A8c8cM graduate
AB&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 t he 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 teenager —
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 the campus boys
of the 1930s_ Once Billy Gammon and I held off the rest of the neighborhood from the workshop behind
the Gammons house. Our opponents were marshaled behind a piece of plywood which Sam Rae, Billy's
brother, supported u pright 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 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_