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Home My WebLink About2006 The Three Rs Project HOLD Moment in History • PROJECT HOLD MOMENT IN HISTORY • AUG/SEPt, 2006 • THE THREE Rs Days of Readin’, ‘Ritin’ and ‘Rithmetic... THE DOME A&M Consolidated High School’s domed auditorium was part of a complex of build- ings designed in 1953 by the local archi- tectural ﬁ rm of Caudill, Rowlett, Scott, and Associates. That year “The Dome” received a major architectural award and was featured in Life magazine. The space ship style struc- ture housed a 600 seat auditorium, band hall and storage facilities. The Dome was sup- ported by laminated timber buttresses around a cylindrical base. Attending an assembly in the Dome was always a welcome relief from the Texas heat. The ﬂ oor was scooped out below ground level and covered in cool concrete. It was a perfect place to skate if you could sneak in after hours. Dur- ing the school day, the multi-purpose Dome was the site of band and choir classes. After school, it was abuzz with rehearsals. Occasionally, a wayward student was whisked off to the principal’s ofﬁ ce for climbing the exterior buttresses and cavorting on the roof. Often, the whole school was treated to a special assembly. In 1957, the “real” Aunt Jemima came to visit and drum up business for the local Kiwanis Pancake Supper. Little did we know that Aunt Jemima was really Rosie Lee Moore who lived in the nearby Black Jack Community outside Hearne. To us, she was a much-loved celebrity. On weekends, the Dome might have hosted the Sadie Hawkins Dance, the senior class production of Everybody Loves Opal, a local touring musical or critical announce- ments from the principal. In 1963, Principal E. P. Ozment stood on the wooden stage of See Dome, p. 4. The following are revised excerpts from two memoirs in the Project HOLD Oral History Files. The ﬁ rst was written by Jean Rosprin Robert- son and the second by Georgia Belle Landiss. Edited by Anne Boykin.In 1935, I started to school on the A&M campus, in a stucco building by the dorms near Duncan Hall. We had swings, slides and a merry go ‘round where we played at recess: one in the morning and one mid-afternoon. We were taught the 3 R’s and music. In the ﬁ rst grade, we built a play house in our classroom and furnished it. We had ﬁ eld trips to the A.&M. Creamery, the hog barn, poultry farm, meat center and library. We had four classroom parties: Halloween, Christmas, Valen- tines and Easter, with a picnic at the end of school. My teachers through the years were Mrs. Lyle, Mrs. Brownlee, See School, p.5. First structure exclusively built in 1920 to house campus school for children of A.&M. faculty and staff and sur- rounding areas. c. 1935. Pfeiffer Hall, site of ﬁ rst classes held for campus kids in 1920. Mrs. Holzmann, Mrs. Bright, Mrs. Heaton, Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Slaughter and Mr. Sims. Mr. Sims was also the elementary school principal. Mr. Paul Edge, Jr. was the superintendent of the high school and Mr. Ferguson was the principal. In 1940, we moved to our new school on Jersey Street (George Bush Drive). We called the elementary buildings “chicken shacks” because there were separate buildings for grades four and ﬁ ve. In 1943, I went to high school about 100 yards from the grade school. At that time, only 16 credits were needed to graduate: 4 in English (2-grammar, 2-literature), 2 in math (1-algebra, 1-plane geometry), 2 in history (1/2 Texas, 1/2 American, 1/2 world history, 1/2 civics), 2 in science (1-general science, 1-biol- ogy), 2 in P.E., and 4 electives with the choices being typing, shop, home months and 18 days at 7 percent. 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre? 8. Find the bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent. 9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods? 10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt. U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes) 1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided. 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States. 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas. 6. Describe three of the most promi- nent battles of the Rebellion. 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe? 8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865. Orthography (Time, one hour) Do we even know what this is?? 1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication? 2. What are elementary sounds? How classiﬁ ed? 3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals 4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u.’ 5. Give two rules for spelling words with ﬁ nal ‘e.’ Name two exceptions under each rule. 6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each. 7. Deﬁ ne the following preﬁ xes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup. 8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last. 9. Use the following correctly in sen- tences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays. 10. Write 10 words frequently mispro- nounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabi- cation. Geography (Time, one hour) 1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? 2. How do you account for the ex- tremes of climate in Kansas? 3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? 4. Describe the mountains of North America. 5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernan- dez, Aspinwall and Orinoco. 6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. 7. Name all the Republics of Europe and give the capital of each. 8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Paciﬁ c in the same latitude? 9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. 10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth. --J. W. Armstrong, Superintendent Salina County Schools, 1895. Original document on ﬁ le at Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Li- brary, Salina, Kansas. Reprinted with permission from KSGENWEB Internet Genealogical Society. n -2- Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Could any of us have passed the eighth-grade ﬁ nal exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas? Most likely, it was very close to eighth grade exams here in Texas. Please note that the students were allowed ﬁ ve hours to com- plete the exam. No, it was not open book. After all is said and done, don’t feel too bad if you don’t know the answers. Had you been studying a year (or more) for this test, you would probably have had a ﬁ ghting chance. 8th Grade Final Exam Salina, Kansas - April 13, 1895 Grammar (Time, one hour) 1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters. 2. Name the parts of speech and deﬁ ne those that have no modiﬁ cations. 3. Deﬁ ne verse, stanza and paragraph. 4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of “lie”, “play,” and “run.” 5. Deﬁ ne case; Illustrate each case. 6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation. 7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you under- stand the practical use of the rules of grammar. Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours) 1. Name and deﬁ ne the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. 2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare? 4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? 5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 Could YOU Pass an Eighth Grade Test from 1895? Several attempts have been made by folks on the web to answer these questions. If you are interested in seeing these answers, please email Anne Boykin at: aboykin@cstx,.gov. -3- A.&M. College of Texas in the 40s The A. & M. College of Texas in the 40s hastily prepared cadets for WWII. The students were eager to earn their com- missions and join the ﬁ ghting. The semester schedules were set on a fast paced trimester basis. Classes were held ﬁ ve days a week and half days on Saturday. Even still, the cadets managed time for college and a little bit of fun. Those who couldn’t wait to join the military, left in hopes of coming back later to graduate. --Anne Boykin, from Interviews with Calvin C. Boykin, Jr., 2006, and Project HOLD ﬁ les: Texas A&M University, c. 1940. n Henry Gilchrist’s A&M class schedule; “The Battalion,” April 15, 1941; Will Worley with slide rule in Electrical Engineering class, 1947. From Project HOLD ﬁ les: People/ Elected Ofﬁ cials/HenryGilchrist; People/Families/Alexan- der/A&M Collection; Texas A&M University/Academics/ Electrical Engineering. In 1885 the “Bryan Public School for Colored” was the ﬁ rst city-funded educational institution established for blacks in Brazos County. A.H. Col- well was the ﬁ rst principal who later became a prominent leader of black Republicans and in 1896 was named as presidential elector from Texas. A ﬁ re destroyed the school building in 1914 and a new brick building was built in 1915. In 1930, the school became Washington School and Kemp Junior-Senior High School opened across town. A ﬁ re destroyed Wash- ington School in 1971. The Brazos Valley African-American Museum in Bryan is now on the site. In College Station, A&M Consolidated Negro School, built in 1941, combined several small black schools. Eleven grades were taught in the seven-room frame structure at Eleanor and County Road (Holleman) in College Station. In 1946, it became known as Lincoln School. A ﬁ re de- stroyed parts of the school in 1966. The remaining school buildings were leased to the City of College Station in 1968 for Parks ofﬁ ces and Con- African-American Schooling in Brazos County 1946 Lincoln Panther Football Team; 2nd Principal W.A. Tarrow; Coach J. R. Delley. tinuing Education. Later, it became Lincoln Center, a College Station Parks facility. --Anne Boykin, Project HOLD ﬁ les: Those Were the Days, c. 1970; Lincoln School History by Debbie Jasek, 1999; and "Brazos County History," Glenna Brundidge, editor, 1986.nWashington School , Bryan. W. A. TARROW Principal J. R. DELLEY History Miss Cornelia Brown met Mr. Fred L. Sloop at the First District Normal School in Pikesville, Missouri around 1910. The two budding young teachers mar- ried in 1911 and continued their school- ing. Upon graduation, Mr. Sloop’s ﬁ rst teaching job took the couple to Queen City, Missouri, where they taught from 1912 until 1916. They moved on to other teaching posts and in 1923, they settled in Bryan, Texas, and resided at 3410 East 26th Street. It is reported that Mrs. Sloop was a supervisor for the rural schools. At some point, Mrs. Sloop began teaching Clockwise from left: Fred and Cornelia (Brown) Sloop. Mrs. Sloop and her class in front of the original school building on the A&M campus; Sloop Method of Phonics textbook “All Around with Dot and Jim.” Cornelia Sloop & Her Method of Phonics the campus kids: the children of fac- ulty and staff of the A. & M. College of Texas. It is not certain exactly what year she began teaching her “Sloop Method of Phonics.” Eventually, she published a reading series that centered on three main characters: a little girl named Dot, a little boy named Jim, and a cute little black Cocker Spaniel named Tag. In the 40s, Mrs. Sloop was principal of A&M Consolidated Elementary School. I recall reading her textbook series in 1955 and 1956 in the ﬁ rst and second grades at A&M Consolidated Elementary School. The earliest reference to her books that I have been able to ﬁ nd is January, 1953. Many older copies are still available. Some of them were reprinted as late as 1964 by The Economy Company, Okla- homa City, Oklahoma. --Anne Boykin From “Brazos County History,” Glenna Brundidge, editor, 1986.; Pickler Memo- rial Library, Truman State University Teachers College (http://library.truman. edu/archives/). Project HOLD File: Mrs. Sloop’s Class, c. 1930; www.Amazon. com; n the Dome and announced that all of A&M Consolidat- ed Schools would be closing for several days in an effort to slow down the spread of the ﬂ u epidemic. Students were ordered to stay home and away from crowds during this rare holiday. It was sad to see the Dome go when it was torn down some years ago. It stood at the corner of Holik and Jersey, The Panthers Pride of Lincoln 1949 - 1965 OPEN I N G S O O N AT TH E CONF E R E N C E CENT E R ! -4- now George Bush Drive. --Anne Boykin, A&M CHS Class of 1967; Project HOLD File: A&M Consolidated High School; “CITE Magazine,” 41 Spring, 1998. n Anne at the Dome, 1963. The Project HOLD Moment in History is a publication that focuses on a particular aspect of our Project HOLD online ﬁ les. To learn more about this month’s feature, browse our web site in the Education and Oral History ﬁ les. The Project HOLD web- site has undergone a bit of cosmetic surgery. We are sporting a new photo collage on our home page with links to the City of College Station web pages. You’ll love our new look! For opportunities to volunteer or contribute photos, articles, or mem- orablia to Project HOLD, please contact: Anne Boykin Project HOLD Heritage Coordinator aboykin@cstx.gov 979.764.3491 Visit Project HOLD at College Station City Hall! Monday - Thursday mornings or by appointment. 979.764.3491 -5-- NEW HOUR S! economics, or P.E.). We had our graduation at Guion Hall on the A&M campus. It was used for movies, plays and other entertainment. The teaching system was not as advanced as it is now, but most of us have fared pretty well. We had respect for our par- ents, teachers and elders, which seems to be lacking in this day and time. Our classes were small and the high school had around 150-180 students, so we knew most people in the school. --Jean (Rosprin) Robertson Project HOLD File: Early Education Memories, 2004. In the 1940s, the school building was still new, having been transferred from the A. & M. campus about 1940. School buses ran to the rural communities of Wellborn, Peach Creek and Providence to transport students to the new A&M Con- solidated School. Having little taxable property, the income was very low and the needs were greater than the income to pay for them. When the teachers volunteered, or were drafted, to serve in World War II there were only two men at the school: Mr. W.D. Bunting was the superinten- dent and Mr. Dean Beal, from Wellborn, was his only male helper. Every time the doors were opened at the school these two men were there and stayed until the doors were closed. The parents and the business community supported the school in every way possible. The Mother’s and Dad’s Club sponsored a community supper each year to raise money for the school. The fathers worked at the school on Saturdays to build sidewalks to con- nect the various buildings and to do other things the school could not afford to have done. Both mothers and fathers worked on landscaping and other needs of the new school. The school was truly a com- munity project. When peace was declared in 1945, the men returned from serving their country to join the predominantly all-female fac- ulty. Things improved for everybody. One of my fondest memories of the 1940 school year was working with the Future Homemakers of America. One year, the National Organization of FHA solicited a national song. Lou Ann Smith, a local member from Wellborn, wrote a poem based on the motto and purpose of FHA. Mrs. Ford Munnerlyn, who wrote the “Twelfth Man” song for the Aggies, the school song and the Tiger Fight song, set the poem to music. It was recorded at KTAM and sent to the state organiza- tion in Austin. It was adopted as our state FHA song. We were so pleased. --Georgia Belle Landiss, Project HOLD File: Early Education Memories, 2004. n Project HOLD Historic Online Library Database http://HOLD.cstx.gov City of College Station P.O. Box 9960, 1011 Texas Avenue College Station, Texas 77842 979.764.3491 From School, p.1. Anne Boykin and her third grade teacher, Mrs. Landiss, 1958. New and Improved!