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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOral History Project~~ Oral history project By BOB SCHOBER ~ I ( ` ~~ ~. Eagle Staff Writer r ! v Bud Denton, 76, says he remembers a time when there were only two cars on the entire Texas A&M University campus. Mary Eckles, who was born on the campus in 1909, says echoing in her memory is the old campus power plant whistle -the blaring sound that called students to classes at 8 a.m., signaled ory ow people lived, what they did ~r entertainment in what was ien a very small town." Scores of senior citizens, most i to 100 years old, have come ~rth since 1994 to share anec- otes, quips and remembrances f the period from 1900 to 1949. Zany of their stories may fmd Heir way into a historical refer- nce book. The city is negotiat- zg with an author for the job, Lancaster said. The local history project is eing guided by the College Sta- ion Conference Center Advisory ;ommittee and the Parks and recreation Department's His- oric Preservation Committee. People with old connections to attempts to capture what records miss lunchtime at noon and trumpeted the end of the workday at 5 p.m. "When it didn't sound, no one knew what to do," she said, gig- gling. Eckles, Denton and 23 other long- time local residents gathered Wednesday to share their memo- ries of how life used to be in Col- lege Station. The gathering was the 11th session of Memory Lanes, the city's oral history project. "Life was so different back then, so what I'm interested in is the interesting little ways of life," said Bill Lancaster, chairman of the Historic Preservation Committee. "All the statistical stuff' is a mat- ter of record and stored some- where," he said, "but nowhere does it say what people did on Sunday afternoons, where they went on vacations, what their relationship with A&M was. We want to know Please see HISTORY, Page A12 day's session to talk about their memories of the campus. Previ- ous sessions focused on other professions or sections of the city, including old-time North- gate business owners, Southside residents and former educators. Wednesday's group of 25 peo- ple was split up into several groups of three or four. Each group had a moderator and note taker, and the sessions were videotaped. The transcriptions and tapes eventually will be stored in a fire-proof safe in the Parks and Recreation Depart- ment, according to Grace Cal- bert, supervisor of the Confer- ence Center. Calbert coordinated the oral history project. Denton and Eckles were joined by Billie Marburger Trail, 78, and Lolly Penberthy, 87, to share memories of A&M and the city. Penberthy was a bride in 1932, Walter, lived on campus in 1935- 36 while he founded the A&M Health and Kinesiology Depart- ment. He also founded the intra- mural sports program, she said. Denton enrolled at A&M in 1941 and left to fight during World War II. He returned to College Station in 1946 and even- tually took a teaching job at A&M Consolidated High School. "I used to make $3,600 for a full year," he said. "When I look back, I had more money then than when we were both work- ing," he said. Trail remembered a childhood without motorized transporta- tion and she and other children would line up alongside a road to wait for a ride, which often meant jumping into the back of a farmer's pickup. "It wasn't considered danger- ous at that time," she said.