Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutEuless School (1914-1955)000 ii r CA H t�J 0 Ul 0 H x z H H w nc� rz p v,�p:hkr�p-+cn r� y y x H o d o y Z O ��x��p`ZOd 9 x p ny� CA ZO Z td 0� ��0 O �ZZO C/' H `�xdzd�xp bd�zH� o C �r rr zz 7�rA ,�N �d���Ot7� brr ��OOG�`cnOax rn tj cn dd. xci 171 Cn Hs��,oFdr�o �ddO.� m �co zm �Obmz0br-G��y�nOH�'�� x��Z (n r 2 �c� Z r� n H C4It [n � -[I (n md H�oH 00Hrt� � m z � Z z d d � t) �> M > . z x H x r n H r O, o C4 Pd. O Z Z;pt7O�y ��mz PdHb 0 x 0 Weldon G. Cannon History Files EULESS SCHOOL In this folder donated to the City of Euless, labeled EULESS SCHOOL, are a few key documents and other materials from files donated to The University of Texas at Arlington for the Weldon G. Cannon Euless Collection in the Special Collections of the University Library. Following is a brief summary of materials in 3 folders under this subject that were donated to UTA: 1. MARKER Folder contents The application, including the historical narrative; marker inscription; correction of a mistake made in both narrative and inscription; dedication ceremony program and invitation; list of people invited; correspondence; historical statement by author of narrative. 2. BACKGROUND Folder contents Earlier histories of education in Euless; early drafts of narratives for historical markers; newspaper articles; interviews; programs of various events at Euless School; correspondence; high school graduates; photo negatives of tearing down standing remains of 1913, 1935, 1947 buildings. 3. DOCUMENTS Folder contents Public records, especially deed and commissioners court; state department of education school records; bond issue papers; poll lists; maps. [Also see another folder, 19'h CENTURY EDUCATION IN EULESS] Text of Historical Marker EULESS SCHOOL IN 1913, PATRONS OF THREE AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS—EULESS AND TARRANT, IN THE EULESS DISTRICT AND EVART (CROSSROADS) IN THE EVART DISTRICT —SUCCESSFULLY PETITIONED THE EULESS COMMON SCHOOL DIS- TRICT. VOTERS ELECTED JOHN D. HUFFMAN, THOMAS P. HUFFMAN AND DR. LUTHER F. RHODES TRUSTEES AND APPROVED A $7,000 BOND ISSUE FOR A TWO- STORY BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE, WHICH OPENED FOR THE 1914-1915 SCHOOL YEAR. THE SCHOOL BUILDING ALSO BECAME A COMMUNITY CENTER, HOSTING MANY ACTIVITIES PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR RURAL FAMILIES, SUCH AS FARM AND HOME DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS, FARMERS' MEETINGS, AND CLUB WORK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. SEVERAL SOCIAL, CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND PA- TRIOTIC EVENTS WERE ALSO HELD THERE. IN 1925 EULESS VOTERS UNANI- MOUSLY INCORPORATED AS AN INDEPENDENT 7 SCHOOL DISTRICT AND ELECTED A SEVEN MEMBER BOARD OF TRUSTEES. JOSEPH T. HOUSE BECAME THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT AND ALSO TAUGHT ALONG WITH FOUR CLASS- ROOM TEACHERS. IN 1932, HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA, SPEECH AND LITERACY CLUBS ORGANIZED, AND ELECTRICITY ON THE CAMPUS MADE POSSIBLE PROPER LIGHTING AND A DEPENDABLE WATER SUPPLY FROM A NEW WELL. CITIZENS OF ADJOINING DISTRICTS MET SEVERAL TIMES IN THE 1940s TO DIS- CUSS TIE POSSIBILITY OF, MERGING AND BUILDING A CENTRAL FACILITY WITH A BROADER HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM. THE OPENING OF THE NEARBY BELL HELICOP- TER MANUFACTURING PLANT AND FORT WORTH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT BROUGHT POPULATION GROWTH, AND IN JANUARY 1955 RESIDENTS VOTED TO -MERGE THE EULESS AND HURST DISTRICTS. BEDFORD VOTERS INITIALLY REJECTED CONSOLIDA- TION BUT JOINED IN 1958, CREATING THE PRESENT HURST-EULESS-BEDFORD INDE- PENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE 1914 EULESS SCHOOL, WHICH SERVED UNTIL 1955 CONSOLIDATION, WAS RAZED IN 1970. SOUTH EULESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NOW OCCUPIES THE SITE. Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page I of 13 EULESS SCHOOL 1913-1955 CONTEXT In 19.13 patrons of three schools in two Northeast Tarrant County districts created the Euless Common School District, soon erecting one new building to provide better learning opportunities for their children. The new school fit developing early 20t" century models at national and state levels. Across the nation education goals and guidelines were being established, while in Texas small rural districts were consolidating rapidly. Reforms were debated and finally adopted, all benefiting the new district. After 42 years of service, in 1955 the Euless Independent School District consolidated with a neighboring district. In the intervening years the small, rural, relatively poor district provided a basic, adequate education for its students with the resources available.' OVERVIEW In the last half of the 19t" century at least 10 small schools were established in various parts of the 21 square miles that eventually constituted the new district. By 1913 there were only two common school districts. In the Euless district, earlier named Woodlawn, were small elementary schools in the village of Euless and the nearby railroad town of Tarrant. The adjoining Evatt district, previously named Glassco, had a small elementary school, nicknamed "Crossroads," that served a few scattered farm families.'- On June 27, 1913, Tarrant County Commissioners' Court, responding to a petition from Euless and Evatt trustees, officially merged the districts. Voters in the new district soon elected three trustees, each representing one of the schools John D. Huffiiian of Euless, Dr. Luther F. Rhodes of Tarrant, and Thomas P. Huffman of Evatt—and on July ••A Euless School / Historical Marker Application / Page 2 of 13 22 approved a $7,000 bond issue to finance a new building. The cornerstone of the two- story, dark red brick building was laid on December 18, 1913. Contractors were Charles F. Nelson and Frank Thomas, well-known builders from Arlington, Texas, who completed the structure by the beginning of the school term in 1914. Erected on a four - acre tract out of the Joseph E. Whitener farm one-half mile south of the existing Euless school and one and one-half miles from Tarrant and Evatt schools, it was described as "magnificent" and "splendid" by first-time visitors. It was, indeed, an ambitious building project for the few farm families living in that part of northeastern Tarrant County. The only "white" school in the district until the 1955 consolidation, it was demolished in 1970 after extensive remodeling and many additions. On the site, now location of South Euless Elementary School, a school has operated continuously longer than at any other in the Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District.3 The new building had four classrooms and a utility room downstairs plus two classrooms and a large auditorium upstairs. However magnificent, it lacked most modern conveniences. Kerosene lamps furnished light at night and coal-fired stoves provided heat. Water was piped from a nearby farm, and outdoor toilets stood on the back side of the property.4 In addition to use as a school, the building immediately became a community center, hosting a wide variety of events. Many activities were particularly useful for rural families —farm and home demonstration programs, farmers' meetings, and club work for boys and girls. It was also the site of ice, cream and box supper socials, plays and musicals, lectures and picture shows, voting, political rallies, preaching, and singings. Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 3 of 13 The pace accelerated during World War I with the school becoming the focal point of many patriotic activities.5 The school also benefited from several developments in education. Texas mandated compulsory school attendance in 1915 and free text books in 1918. After 1920 districts had a freer hand in levying taxes' In 1925 the district crossed another important threshold when voters unanimously incorporated the Euless Independent School District. They also elected a seven member board of trustees which had much greater authority than the common district board in such matters as policies, taxation, and personnel. Joseph T. House (1901-1975) became the first superintendent and also taught along with four classroom teachers. He served as superintendent until 1931 and again from 1934 to 1939.' A high school probably was established about the same time. Brief newspaper references to a high school appeared in June and August, 1915, before the beginning of the second year in the new school. No other references have been found, however, until January, 1927, followed regularly by numerous references. A high school probably meant no more that the addition of one or two grades to the eight -grade elementary school. By 1932 it was a two -grade high school and by 1934 another grade had been added but still was not accredited as late as 1938. Nevertheless, students who chose could stay in the community and get a bit more schooling. Others continued their education at accredited high schools in nearby Arlington, Grapevine, Birdville, Irving, or even Fort Worth or Dallas. Even after accreditation some students still attended other schools to receive a more comprehensive education.' Euless School /Historical Marker Application / Page 4 of 13 Although Euless High School never fielded a football team, it excelled in basketball and competed well in softball, volleyball and track. Even though the school had no gymnasium until 1948 and teams practiced outdoors on hard, red, clay courts and fields, both boys and girls often won competitions with larger nearby schools and sometimes competed successfully in tournaments in Fort Worth and elsewhere.9 Extensive remodeling and building programs in the 1930s changed the appearance of the campus. By the late 1920s the 1913/1914 building became unstable and the second floor had to be removed. A new free standing wood frame auditorium, seating 300, was built and opened in March, 1930, replacing the upstairs auditorium. Another small wood frame building was constructed nearby to house the lower grades but later housed a wood shop and science lab. In 1932 the district built a house on the campus for the superintendent and his family. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, in 1935 voters approved a bond issue for $8,000 to construct a white brick high school building that had three classrooms, a study hall/library, and a superintendent's office. The community proudly opened the new building officially on January 24, 1936.10 In addition to building programs, a flurry of other activities about the same time improved the school setting and enhanced education opportunities. In 1927 the dirt road in front of the school was graveled frgm the Euless business district, one-half mile north, to the school. Electric power lines were extended to the school in 1932 making possible not only proper lighting but a dependable water supply from a new well on campus. The same year music and speech were offered for the first time and high school drama, speech and literary clubs were organized. New physical education equipment was also added.' ' Euless School / Historical Marker Application / Page 5 of ] 3 The school continued to serve as a community center. The auditorium was the site of plays, singings, traveling movie presentations, political rallies, and other events. The school sponsored activities for student athletic teams, group trips to the state fair in Dallas or the stock show and rodeo in Fort Worth, a junior -senior banquet, class -plays, trips, dinners and parties, and a May Pole fete. Dances were forbidden.12 In the late 1930s and early 1940s several developments affected school life. At the beginning of the 1941 school year another grade was added to the school, fulfilling a mandate that all high schools be four years. The high school probably was fully accredited at that time. All grades in the school were double -promoted so there would be a twelfth grade graduating class. What had been the 10`h grade the year before became the 121h, and so forth all the way through the system. In 1943 another room was added to the elementary school building and a cafeteria was established, making hot lunches available for the first time. Better roads and highways connected Euless with nearby towns and cities, affording a broader range of work, shopping and entertainment opportunities. New families moved to Euless and their children added diversity to the school.13 World War II profoundly affected the community and school life. Most young men entered the armed services, some even cutting short their schooling. In fact, the 1945 and 1946 graduating classes were all female. Some of their parents worked in war related industries in Fort Worth and Dallas. War bond and stamp drives were conducted and the school hosted numerous patriotic programs and rallies. Students dismissed from school scoured pastures and roadways collecting scrap metal for recycling. Construction of a pilot training air field at Euless brought an additional influx of workers and families.14 Euless School / Historical Marker Application / Page 6 of 13 More changes were in store at the end of the war when a new superintendent, Oscar B. Powell (1889-1959), arrived in 1945, and the district launched the most extensive building program since 1913-14. Powell had a reputation as a builder, having supervised construction projects as superintendent at Jacksboro and Forney. In 1947 the Euless elementary and high school buildings were linked as the gap between them was filled with two additional classrooms, new superintendent's office, and for the first time, indoor rest rooms and drinking fountains, and modern science labs. The elementary school was remodeled so its appearance harmonized with the high school and the additions. A free standing gymnasium, finished in January, 1948, provided an indoor place for basketball games and other athletic competitions, plus physical education classes and a variety of school and community activities. Is Other changes enhanced the quality of education. Some elective courses were added, and in the 1947-48 school year a monthly newspaper, The Cardinal Calls, and a yearbook, The Cardinal, were published for the first time. The school mascot was the cardinal and the colors were red and white. 16 Teachers had to be versatile. During the 1947-48 school year there were six full- time teachers, besides the superintendent who also taught classes, and two part-time teachers for special classes such as music. Grades one through eight were in self- contained classrooms, two grades with one teacher for each room. High school teachers taught several subjects, some for which they had little preparation. They also supervised a myriad of activities, serving as homeroom sponsors, directing plays, interscholastic league events and publications, coaching athletics, supervising class trips, and being Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 7 of 13 counselors. Sometimes they attended graduate school or even had outside employment, such as serving as minister of a local church.17 About the same time the high school, perhaps even the school district, was threatened with extinction. Proposed state school reform legislation in 1947 would have forced consolidation or closure of most small schools. Euless and other districts vigorously protested the proposals, which were modified in the 1948 Gilmer -Aiken laws, preserving many of the schools and even increasing state funding. Euless also benefited by the addition of high school students from the adjoining Sowers School District in Dallas County in 1950. Residents of the districts discussed consolidating and building a new high school, but Sowers eventually merged with the Irving district.18 In 1950 Euless attracted attention from across the state and even beyond when African -American students from the Mosier Valley community attempted to enroll in the all -white school. The Euless district closed the Mosier Valley Elementary School in 1949 and transferred black students to Fort Worth. A federal judge ruled in June 1950 that Euless must provide a school in the district for black students, but district voters in August rejected a bond issue to build a new school for them. On September 4 black students attempted to enroll in the white school. In a tense situation, they were turned away because the Texas Constitution mandated separate schools for the races. In 1953 the Euless district built a new school for African -American students in Mosier Valley. Racial segregation did not end locally until after the Euless district had consolidated with the Hurst and Bedford districts.19 Mr. Powell retired in 1951, and Johnnie O. Edwards, high school teacher and coach, became superintendent. The number of students grew a bit, and in 1954 a free Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 8 of 13 standing cafeteria was built between the main building and the gymnasium. Still, the district struggled with old problems —an insufficient number of students to secure enough state funding and an inadequate tax base to provide enough local funding. Hence, it was not possible to offer a curriculum broad enough to meet the needs of high school students. Patrons of the Euless Independent School District and the Bedford and Hurst common school districts had met several times in the 1940s to discuss possibilities of merging and building one high school to serve the entire area. Nothing came of the discussions at the time, however.20 Nevertheless, the area grew rapidly. Euless incorporated as a municipality in 1950, assuring a dependable public water supply. In 1953 Bell Helicopter manufacturing plant near Hurst and the Fort Worth municipal airport near Euless opened. Transportation arteries through the area were significantly upgraded. Hurst quickly outpaced other communities in growth, and on December 9, 1954, voters incorporated the Hurst Independent School District. On December 22, 45 Euless petitioners and 36 Hurst petitioners asked the Tarrant County Commissioners' Court to call an election to merge the districts. Both approved the proposal on January 22, 1955—Euless 151 to 21 and Hurst 238 to 168. Hence, the Euless School District came to an end. On February 26 Bedford voters rejected a proposal to merge their district with the new Hurst -Euless Independent School District but in 1958 joined, creating the present Hurst -Euless - Bedford Independent School District." SIGNIFICANCE The Euless School District, established in 1913 with the consolidation of two districts and three schools to better meet the educational needs of their children, erected a Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 9 of 13 fine building to help achieve this goal. After numerous remodelings and expansions, parts of the building were still standing in 1955 when the Euless district consolidated with the Hurst district for the same reason it had been created. In the intervening 42 years the Euless School ably achieved its basic purpose of educating the community's children, while also serving as a community center and a focal point of local spirit and pride. DOCUMENTATION ' Frederick Eby, The Development of Modern Education In Theory, Organization, and Practice (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice -Hall, Inc., 1952), pp. 648-650, 655-659; Jim B. Pearson and Edgar Fuller, Education in the States: Historical Development and Outlook —Texas (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association of the United States, 1969), pp. 1,203-1,205; Frederick Eby, The Development of Education in Texas (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1925), pp. 220-231, 236-237; George N. Green, Hurst, Euless, and Bedford: Heart of the Metroplex, (Austin: Eakin Press, 1995), pp. 25, 69; Weldon Cannon and Sarita Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education: Euless School and South Euless Elementary School (Euless: South Euless Elementary Parent -Teachers Association, 1993), pp. 1, 5. 2 The Evatt district also maintained a school for "colored children" in the African - American community of Mosier Valley. The Texas Constitution and laws mandated that "separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provision shall be made for both." This was the so-called "separate but equal" policy approved by the United States Supreme Court until 1954. In 1913 the Mosier Valley School became part of the new Euless district. The three schools that merged into one in 1913, the subject of this marker application, were defined as "white." Glenn M. Holden, "A Partial History of Education in Tarrant County," M.A. Thesis, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, 1931, pp. 34-36; Minutes, Tarrant County Commissioners' Court, MSS, vol. 23, pp. 258-260, vol. 27, pp. 293-300, Tarrant County Court House, Fort Worth, Texas; Constitution of the State of Texas, Article VII, Sec. 7, Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide. 1954-1955 (Dallas: A. H. Belo Corporation, 1953), p. 491; Ron Tyler, Editor in Chief, The New Handbook of Texas (Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1996), vol. 2, pp. 791; Video tape interview with Willie Huffman Byers by Diana Crawford, January 5, 1993, Euless, Texas, in possession of the City of Euless Parks and Community Services Department, Euless, Texas; Official Texas Historical Marker Applications: "Elisha Adam Euless," "Bear Creek School," "Site of Glassco School," "First United Methodist Church of Euless," "Site of Mosier Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 10 of 13 Valley School," Library, Texas Historical Commission, Austin, Texas. The "Site of Glassco School" was recognized with an Official Texas Historical Marker in 1982 and the "Site of Mosier Valley School" was marked in 1983. 3 Tarrant County Deeds, MSS, vol. 475, pp. 125-129, Tarrant County Court House, Fort Worth, Texas; Cornerstone, "Euless -Tarrant School Dist. 95, Erected 1913," at South Euless Elementary School, Euless, Texas; "Poll List of a Special Election Held at Euless in Precinct No. 36 in Tarrant County, Texas, July 22, 1913", photocopy in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, PP. 1-2; The Arlington Journal, December 12, 1913, p. 1, December 26, 1913, p. 6, April 30, 1915, p. 1, June 4, 1915, p. 4; "A Tradition of Excellence," [1982], Office of Communications, Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District, Bedford, Texas; Willie Huffman Byers Interview, January 5, 1993. 4 The Arlington Journal, April 30, 1915, p. 1, October 18, 1918, p. 4; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, pp. 2, 4; Willie Huffman Byers Interview, January 5, 1993, Euless; Video tape .interviews with former students and teachers of Euless School by Diana Crawford, January 5, 1993, Euless, Texas, in possession of City of Euless Parks and Community Services Department, Euless, Texas. 5 The Arlington Journal, February 12, 1915, p. 5, April 30, 1915, p. 1, June 4, 1915, p. 4, August 13, 1915, p. 5, September 10, 1915, p. 4, October 22, 1915, p. 5, April 6, 1917, p. 5, June 22, 1917, p. 1, May 10, 1918, p. 8, September 20, 1918, p. 6, September 27, 1918, p. 3, October 4, 1918, p. 6. October 11, 1918, p. 6, October 18, 1918, p. 4, November 22, 1918, p. 2; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 2; Willie Huffman Byers Interview, January 5, 1993; Interview with Willie Huffman Byers by Weldon Cannon, August 27, 1993, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas. 6 Eby, The Development of Education in Texas, pp. 230-233; James Smallwood, "The Greatest Challenge: Education in Texas," in Donald W. Wisenhunt, ed., Texas: A Sesquicentennial Celebration, (Austin: Eakin Press, 1985), pp. 393-394; Tyler, The New Handbook of Texas, vol. 2, p. 790.] 7 Minutes, Tarrant County Commissioners' Court, vol. 27, pp. 293-300; "Public School Directory, 1925-1926," Bulletin No. 200, State Department of Education, Austin, Texas, January, 1926, p. 16; Eby, The Development of Education in Texas, pp. 206-210; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993. Euless School / Historical Marker Application / Page 11 of 13 8 Green, Hurst Euless, and Bedford, p. 44; The Arlington Journal, June 4, 1915, p. 4, August 13, 1915, p. 5, February 4, 1927, p. 8, April 22, 1927, p. 2, April 29, 1927, p. 2, June 10, 1927, p. 3, December 16, 1927, p. 1, May 30, 1930, p. 2, May 1, 1931, p. 2, March 11, 1932, p. 6, February 17, 1933, p. 4, April 28, 1933, p. 5, May 22, 1936, p. 8; "Texas Public Schools, Standards and Activities of the Division of Supervision, 1934- 35," Bulletin No. 347, State Department of Education, Austin, Texas, July, 1935, pp.123-127, 140; Interview with Margie Neeley Massey by David Massey and Betty Heideman Fuller, January 27, 2006, Euless, Texas, transcript at Euless Public Library, Euless, Texas; Interview with Margie Neeley Massey by Weldon Cannon, May 14, 2003, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Interview with Louise Cannon Griffith by Weldon Cannon, January 7, 1993, Dallas, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Interview with Jimmy Payton by Weldon Cannon, November 24, 2008, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Interview with Evelyn Whitener Himes by Weldon Cannon, February 11, 1993, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Former Euless School students and teachers interview, January 5, 1993. 9 Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 2; The Arlington Journal, January 28, 1927, p. 8, February 4, 1927, p. 8, February 25, 1927, p. 2, December 16, 1927, p. 1, September 14, 1928, p. 2, November 32, 1928, p. 6, March 8, 1929, p. 6, June 7, 1929, p. 4, April 4, 1930, p. 7, January 31, 1936, pp. 3, 4, March 4, 1938, p. 7, April 1, 1938, p. 5; Green, Hurst Euless, and Bedford, p. 49; Interviews with Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Willie Huffman Byers interview, January 5, 1993. 10 The Arlington Journal, September 27, 1929, p. 3, October 11, 1929, p. 3, February 28, 1930, p. 7, April 4, 1930, p. 7, January 31, 1936, pp. 3, 4; Fort Worth Star-Telegramrg am, Morning Edition, October 18, 1932, p. 3; "Euless Independent School District School House Bond, Series of 1935," in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Green, Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, p. 44; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 3; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993. 11 Tarrant County Deeds, vol. 1178, pp. 275-276; The Arlington Journal, August 26, 1927, p. 2, February 28, 1930, p. 7, October 5, 1934, p. 2; Fort Worth Star -Telegram, Morning Edition, September 18, 1932, p. 3.] 12 Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Willie Huffman Byers interview, January 5, 1993; Green, Hurst Euless, and Bedford, p. 49; The Arlington Journal, December 6, 1929, p. 6, February 14, 1930, p. 3, February 28, 1930, Euless School /Historical Marker Application /Page 12 of 13 p. 7, August 29, 1930, p. 8, March 20, 1931, p. 7, October 2, 1931, p. 14, October 9, 1931, p. 3, February 5, 1932, p. 5, May 19, 1933, p. 7, October 26, 1934, p. 2, March 27, 1936, p. 10, May 15, 1936, p. 8, March 18, 1938, p. 3, May 27, 1938, p. 2, June 3, 1938, p. 4, May 9, 1947, p. 7, October 31, 1947, sec. 2. p. 3 . 13 Green, Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, pp. 44, 50-51, 63; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 4; "Thirty -Second Biennial Report, State Department of Education, 1940-1941, 1941-1942," Bulletin No. 425, State Department of Education, Austin, Texas, p. 40; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Temple Daily Telegram, April 27, 1941, p. 12; The Belton Journal, June 19, 1941, Magazine Section, p. 4; Interview with Bill Byers by Weldon Cannon, April 13, 1998, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Interview with Betty Heideman Fuller by Weldon Cannon, November 15, 2008, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas. 14 Stanley Howard Scott, "The Battle of Midway Airport: The Dallas -Fort Worth Regional Airport Controversy," M.A. Thesis, Texas Christian University, 1967, p. 24; "Graduates of Euless High School, 1932-1947," compiled by Betty Heideman Fuller, Euless, Texas, photocopy in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; The Arlington Journal, October 31, 1947, p. 1; Louise Cannon Griffith interview, January 7, 1993; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, P. 4; Green, Hurst Euless, and Bedford, p. 44, 50. 15 Interview with Nancy Powell Bowen by Weldon Cannon, September 3, 2008, Garland, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; The Arlington Journal, May 9, 1947, p. 7, September 5, 1947, p. 10, September 26, 1947, sec. 2, p. 2.; The Cardinal, 1948 (n.p., n.p., 1948), p. 69; "Public School Directory, 1945-1946," Bulletin No. 460, State Department of Education, Austin, Texas, January, 1946, p. 31. 16 The Cardinal, 1948, p. 57; The Arlington Journal, October 24, 1947, sec. 2, p. 3. 17 The Cardinal, 1948, pp. 7, 15, 51-57; The Cardinal, 1949 (Kansas City, Mo.: Eaton - Cunningham Company, 1949), pp. 17, 59; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 4; The Arlington Journal, May 9, 1947, p. 7, May 30, 1947, sec. 2, p. 4, September 19, 1947, sec. 2, p. 5, September 26, 1947, sec. 2, p. 2; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; "First United Methodist Church of Euless." Euless School /Historical Marker Application / Page 13 of 13 18 Pearson and Fuller, Education in the States: Historical Development and Outlook — Texas, pp. 1,210-1,212; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 4; The Cardinal, 1951 (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1951), pp. 27, 31, 33; Betty Heideman Fuller interview, November 15, 2008; Tyler, The New Handbook of Texas, vol. 2, p. 790. 19 The New York Times, September 6, 1950, p. 34; Green, Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, pp. 66-67, 74; Fort Worth Star-Teleg am, Morning Edition, June 20, 1950, p. l ; The Dallas Morning News, September 6, 1950, sec. 1, p. 12; "Site of Mosier Valley School;" Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 5; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993. 20 "Public School Directory, 1951-1952," Bulletin # 525, Texas Education Agency. Austin, Texas, January, 1952, p. 160; Cannon and Ellis, Celebrating 80 Years of Education, p. 5; Interview with David Massey by Weldon Cannon, November 10, 2008, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Interview with Bill Byers by Weldon Cannon, August 13, 2008, Euless, Texas, transcript in possession of Weldon Cannon, Temple, Texas; Jimmy Payton interview, November 24, 2008. 21 Schmelzer, Where the West Begins, pp. 92-93; Green, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, pp. 63- 65, 67, 69; Former Euless School students and teachers interviews, January 5, 1993; Tarrant County School Records, MSS, vol. 2, pp. 50, 53, 63-64, Tarrant County Court House, Fort Worth, Texas. I SUBJECT MARKERS: 2009 Official Texas Historical Marker ication Form Valid October 15, 2008 to January 15, 2009 only This form constitutes a public request for the Texas Historical Commission (THC) to consider approval of an Official Texas Historical Marker for the topic noted in this application. The THC will review the request and make its determination based on rules and procedures of the program. Filing of the application for sponsorship is for the purpose of providing basic information to be used in the evaluation process. The final determination of eligibility and therefore approval for a state marker will be made by the THC. This form is to be used for subject marker requests only. Please see separate forms for either Historic Texas Cemeteries or Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. Proposed marker topic (Official title will be determined by the THC): Euless School 1913-1955 County: Tarrant Town (nearest county town on current state highway map): Euless Street address of marker site or directions from town noted above: 605 South Main Street, 76040 Marker Coordinates: If you know the location coordinates of the proposed marker site, enter them in one of the formats below: UTM Zone Easting Northing Lat: Long: (deg, min, sec or decimal degrees) Otherwise, give a precise verbal description here (e.g. northwest corner of 3rd and Elm, or FM 1411, 2.6 miles east of McWhorter Creek): At the front entrance to the South Euless Elementary School, 605 South Main St. Will the marker be placed at the actual site of the topic being marked? ® Yes ❑ No If the answer is no, provide the distance and directions to the actual location from the marker (i.e. 100 yards east). Subject marker definition Subject markers are educational in nature and reveal aspects of local history important to a community or region. These markers honor topics such as church congregations, schools, communities, businesses, events and individuals. Subject markers are placed at sites that have historical associations with the topics, but no legal restriction is placed on the use of the property or site, although the THC must be notified if the marker is ever to be relocated. Criteria 1. Age: Most topics marked with subject markers must date back at least 50 years, although historic events may be marked after 30 years, and historic individuals may be marked, or may be mentioned in a historical marker text, after they have been deceased 10 years. The THC may waive age requirements for topics of overwhelming state or national importance, although exceptions are rarely granted and the burden of proof for all claims and documentation is the responsibility of the narrative author. EULES S-SCHOOL-MARKER 2. Historical significance: A topic is considered to have historical significance if it had influence, effect or impact on the course of history or cultural development; age alone does not determine significance. Topics do not necessarily have to be of statewide or national significance; many historical markers deal with local history and a local level of significance. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS Any individual, group or county historical commission (CHC) may apply to the THC to request an Official Texas Historical Marker for what it deems a worthy topic. Only complete marker applications that contain all the required elements and are received via email, as required, can be accepted or processed by the THC. For subject markers, the required elements are: sponsorship application form, narrative history and documentation. No photograph is required. ■ Completed applications must be duly reviewed, verified and approved by the CHC in the county in which the marker will be placed. Paper copies of applications, whether mailed, emailed or delivered in person, cannot be accepted in lieu of the electronic version. ■ The sponsorship application form, narrative history and documentation must be in the form of Microsoft Word or Word -compatible documents and submitted via email attachments to the THC no later than January 15, 2009. ■ Required font style and type size are a Times variant and 12-point. ■ Narrative histories must be typed in a gouble-spaced (dr 1.5-spaced) format and include separate sections on context, overview, significance and documentation. ■ The narrative history must include documentation in the form of reference notes, which can be either footnotes or endnotes. Documentation associated with applications should be broad -based and demonstrate a survey of available resources, both primary and secondary. ■ Upon notification of the successful preliminary review of required elements by the THC, a non- refundable application fee of $100 is required. The fee shall be submitted to the THC within 10 working days of application receipt notification. APPROVAL BY COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION The duly appointed marker representative (chair or marker chair) noted below for the county historical commission will be the sole contact with the THC for this marker application. To ensure accuracy, consistency and efficiency, all information from and to the THC relative to the application —and throughout the review and productions processes -will be via direct communication with the CHC representative. All other inquiries (calls, emails, letters) to the THC will be referred to the CHC representative for response. By filling out the information below and filing the application with the THC, the CHC representative is providing the THC with notice that the application and documentation have been reviewed and verified by the CHC and that the material meets all current requirements of the Official Texas Historical Marker program. As chair or duly appointed marker chair, I certify the following: ❑ Representatives of the CHC have met or talked with the potential marker sponsor and discussed the marker program policies as outlined on the THC web site. CHC members have reviewed the history and documentation for accuracy and made corrections or notes as necessary.. It is the determination of the CHC that the topic, history and documentation meet criteria for eligibility. CHC comments or concerns about this application, if any: Name of CHC contact (chair or marker chair): Mailing address: City, Zip: Daytime phone (with area code): Email address (required): EULESS-SCHOOL-MARKER 2 PERMISSION OF PROPERTY OWNER FOR MARKER PLACEMENT Will the marker be placed on right-of-way maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)? ❑ Yes ® No If the answer is yes, the THC will secure the necessary permission from TxDOT, and no other information is required. If the answer is no, please provide the following information for the person or group who owns the property. Property owner: Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District; Gene Buinger, Ph.D., superintendent Address: 1849 Central Drive City, State, Zip: Bedford, Texas 76022 Phone: 817-283-4461 Email address: buingerg@hebisd.edu NOTE: The property owner will not receive copies of correspondence from the THC. All correspondence —notice of receipt, request for additional information, payment notice, inscription, shipping notice, etc. —will be sent via email to the CHC representative, who is encouraged to share the information with all interested parties as necessary. Given the large volume of applications processed annually and the need for centralized communication, all inquiries about applications in process will be referred to the CHC for response. The CHC is the sole liaison to the THC on all marker application matters. SPONSORSHIP PAYMENT INFORMATION Prospective sponsors please note payment must be received in full within 45 days of the official approval notice and be accompanied by the THC payment form. The THC is unable to process partial payments or to delay payment due to processing procedures of the sponsor. Applications not paid in the time frame required may, at the sole discretion of the THC, be cancelled or postponed. ■ Payment does not constitute ownership of a marker; Official Texas Historical Markers are the property of the State of Texas. ■ If, at any time during the marker process, sponsorship is withdrawn, a refund can be processed, but the THC will retain the application fee of $100. ■ The Official Texas Historical Marker Program provides no means of recognizing sponsors through marker text, incising or supplemental plaques. Marker sponsor (may be individual or organization): City of Euless Contact person (if applicable): Mayor Mary Lib Saleh, c/o Susan Crim, city secretary Mailing address: 204 North Ector Drive Euless, Texas 76039 Phone: 817-685-1422 Email address (required): scrim(i�ci.euless.tx.us (Susan Crim, city secretary) EULES S-SCHOOL-MARKER SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS If the proposed marker site is on TxDOT right-of-way, the marker will be shipped directly to the district highway engineer for placement, with consultation from the CHC. If the marker will go on property other than TxDOT right-of-way, provide full information in the space below. In order to facilitate delivery of the marker, neither post office box numbers nor rural route numbers can be accepted. To avoid additional shipping charges or delays, use a business street address (open 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday). Name: South Euless Elementary School, Carma Schellhorn, principal Street address: 605 South Main Street Euless, Texas 76040 Daytime phone (required): 817-399-3933 Email (required): schellhc@hebisd.edu TYPE AND SIZE OF SUBJECT MARKER As part of its review process, the THC will determine the appropriate size of the marker and provide options, if any, for the approved topic based on its own review criteria, including, but not exclusive of, historical significance, replication of information in other THC markers, relevance to the Statewide Preservation Plan and the amount of available documented information provided in the application narrative. In making its determination, however, the THC will also take into account the preference of the CHC, as noted below. The sponsor/CHC prefers the following size marker: ® 27" x 42" subject marker with post ($1,500) ❑ 27" x 42" subject marker without post*($1,500) ❑ 18" x 28" subject marker with post ($1,000) ❑ 18" x 28" subject marker without post* ($1,000) *For markers without posts, the CHC must receive prior approval from the THC for the planned placement. Such prior approval is based on the following: ■ Submittal of a detailed plan for where the marker will be mounted, including the surface to which it will be placed (masonry, metal, wood); and ■ A statement of why a marker with a post is not feasible or preferred. SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION (via email required) When the CHC has determined the application is complete, the history has been verified and the topic meets the requirements of the Official Texas Historical Marker Program, the materials should be forwarded to the THC via email at the following address: marl:erapplicationCcithc.state.tx.us. ■ The CHC or marker chair should send an email containing the following attachments (see attachment function under file menu or toolbox on your computer): 13 This application form The subject history (including documentation) RECORDS RETENTION BY CHC: The CHC must retain hard copies of the application, as well as an online version, at least for the duration of the marker process. The THC is not responsible for lost applications, incomplete applications or applications not properly filed according to the program requirements. For additional information about any aspect of the Official Texas Historical Marker Program, visit the Markers page on the THC web site (IlLtp://www.the.state.tx.us/markerdesigs/madiiiark-.Iltmi). EULESS-SCHOOL-MARKER 4 CORRECTION EULESS SCHOOL HISTORICAL MARKER In writing the historical narrative for the 2008 application for a Texas Historical Marker for the Euless School, I made a mistake. The mistake was repeated in the inscription on the marker erected at, the site of the school and dedicated in 2010. One of the three trustees elected in 1913 for the newly formed Euless School District is inscribed on the cornerstone and listed in most public records as J. D. Huffman. In attempting to fully identify the trustees, I concluded that the name was John D. Huffman, which I wrote into the narrative and is in the inscription on the marker. In fact, the trustee was Joseph D. Huffman (1866-1954), a son of John W. Huffman (1823-1907) who was also father of another of the three trustees, Thomas P. Huffman (1869-1928). John W. Huffman, with his wife and children, migrated from Coffee County, TN, to Euless, TX, before 1880, along with several other families. He became a highly respected citizen of his new community, owner of considerable acreage, and a leader in the Euless Methodist Church. In 1896 he donated land for a new church building. The congregation still worships at the site. Joseph D. Huffman moved from Euless to Arlington soon after serving his term as school trustee. John W. Huffman and Thomas P. Huffman lived the remainder of their lives in Euless. All three are buried in Calloway Cemetery, Euless. Weldon G. Cannon January, 2019 EULESS SCHOOL Another note about BEGINNING DATE OF EULESS HIGH SCHOOL According to Evelyn Whitener (Mrs.Andrew) Himes in an interview I had with her February 11, 1993, the graduating class of Euless High School for the first time in 1934 received state issued diplomas. She was in that class. I should have incorporated this in the narratives I wrote. Weldon G. Cannon January, 2019 EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 35 Historical statement by Weldon G. Cannon at the Dedication of the Texas Historical Marker forthe Euless School Euless, Texas October 24, 2b10 EULESS SCHOOL MARKER DEDICATION October 24, 2010 In 1913, three schools in two small school districts consolidated for one basic reason —to provide a better education for their children. In 1955, the district that had been created in 1913 consolidated with another district for one basic reason —to provide a better education for their children. Between those dates-1913 and 1955—the Euless School educated its young people as best it could. In 1913, the two common school districts were, first, Euless which had two schools, one in the village of Euless, % mile north of here, and the new railroad town of Tarrant, 1 miles south. The other district was Evatt, where the school, commonly called Crossroads, stood at the southwest corner of present Airport Freeway and Industrial Blvd. There was another school in the Evatt district in the African -American community of Mosier Valley. But those were the days of rigid racial segregation. The Texas Constitution and laws mandated, with the blessings of the United States Supreme Court, that schools be racially segregated. The site of the Mosier Valley School was awarded an Official Texas Historical Marker in 1980. The result of the merger was a new entity, officially named the "Euless School District." Trustees elected were John D. Huffman of Euless, Dr. Luther F. Rhodes of Tarrant, and Thomas P. Huffman of Evatt. Joseph E. Whitener and his family donated four acres of his farm, where we stand now, as a site for a new school. Voters approved a bond issue for $7,000, and the cornerstone for a new building was laid in December 1913. It was finished in time for opening of the new school year in September 1914. For a few years, it was commonly called the "Euless -Tarrant School," as reflected in the wording on the cornerstone. It was by far the most ambitious building project ever undertaken in the Euless, Bedford, Hurst area up until that time. It even predated the Old Bedford School that still stands. The new Euless school had seven classrooms and a large auditorium. Without electricity, nighttime lighting was furnished by kerosene lamps; water came from the Euless Nurseries of Arch Cannon across the unpaved dirt road by an underground pipe; coal -burning stoves furnished heat; outdoor toilets were located on the back side of the grounds. By 1915, with the addition of another grade or two to the traditional eight -grade elementary school, Euless High School was recognized. In addition to traditional school activities, it immediately became a community center. It was the site of area gatherings and a voting place. All manner of activities, such as plays, shows, singings, revival meetings, and during war -time patriotic events, were held in the auditorium. In 1925, voters incorporated the Euless Independent School District, establishing much more local autonomy. In 1927 the dirt road to the Euless business center, 1/2 mile north, was graveled. In 1932, electricity was brought from the business district to the school, enabling better lighting and drilling of a water well on the school properties. A new free-standing auditorium and more classrooms were built in 1930 and the second story removed. A separate high school building was erected in 1935, while In 1941 a twelfth grade was added to the school and it became fully accredited. In 1943, natural gas furnished heat and a hot -meal cafeteria was established. More classrooms were added in 1947, a gymnasium constructed, and indoor toilets finally incorporated into the buildings for the first time. Euless High School never had a football team —the Trinity Trojans are more than making up for that deficiency —but basketball and softball teams competed favorably against larger schools in area leagues and tournaments. The education experience was enhanced in many ways —with speech, drama, music activities A Yearbook and newspaper were published. The school colors were red and white, the mascot a cardinal. Although Euless grew some in the 1940s and 1950s, it never had enough students or sufficient tax base to support a high school capable of providing an education for a rapidly changing world. In the 1940s, patrons of Euless, Bedford, and Hurst school districts met occasionally to talk about the possibility of creating one school district with a good high school, but nothing came of it —until 1955. That year, the Euless and Hurst Independent school districts consolidated, joined in 1958 by Bedford, thus creating the Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District. In 1913, the Euless School district was created through consolidation to provide a better education for its children. In 1955, it came to an end though consolidation for the same reason. Between 1914 and 1955, on this site, the Euless School provided the best education that it could for its children. And I assure you that on this same site, the South Euless Elementary School still does exactly the same, only much better. In fact, for the last two years this school has achieved an Exemplary rating according to the Texas Education Agency, the highest rating for a school. From my place across the street I witness many school activities. I have been into the classrooms in session, into the cafeteria at lunch time, in the principal's office. I confidently tell you that this is a great school, that the good work that began on this site nearly a century ago, continues today. We can be proud! Following is a slightly different version of my Historical Statement. I don't remember which I used--WGC EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 36 EULESS SCHOOL MARKER DEDICATION October 24, 2010 In 1913, three schools in two small school districts consolidated for one basic reason —to provide a better education for their children. In 1955, the district that had been created in 1913 consolidated with another district for one basic reason —to provide a better education for their children. Between those dates-1913 and 1955—the Euless School educated its young people as best it could. In 1913, the two common school districts were, first, Euless which had two schools, one in the village of Euless, % mile north of here, and the new railroad town of Tarrant, 1 miles south. The other district was Evatt, where the school, commonly called Crossroads, stood at the southwest corner of present Airport Freeway and Industrial Blvd. There was another school in the Evatt district in the African -American community of Mosier Valley. But those were the days of rigid racial segregation. The Texas Constitution and laws mandated, with the blessings of the United States Supreme Court, that schools be racially segregated. The site of the Mosier Valley School was awarded an Official Texas Historical Marker in 1980. The result of the merger was a new entity, officially named the "Euless School District." Trustees elected were John D. Huffman of Euless, Dr. Luther F. Rhodes of Tarrant, and Thomas P. Huffman of Evatt. Joseph E. Whitener and his family donated four acres of his farm, where we stand now, as a site for a new school. Voters approved a bond issue for $7,000, and the cornerstone for a new building was laid in December 1913. It was finished in time for opening of the new school year in September 1914. For a few years, it was commonly called the "Euless -Tarrant School," as reflected in the wording on the cornerstone. It was by far the most ambitious building project ever undertaken in the Euless, Bedford, Hurst area up until that time. It even predated the Old Bedford School that still stands. The new Euless school had seven classrooms and a large auditorium. Without electricity, nighttime lighting was furnished by kerosene lamps; water came from the Euless Nurseries of Arch Cannon across the unpaved dirt road by an underground pipe; coal -burning stoves furnished heat; outdoor toilets were located on the back side of the grounds. By 1915, with the addition of another grade or two to the traditional eight -grade elementary school, Euless High School was recognized. In addition to traditional school activities, it immediately became a community center. It was the site of area gatherings and a voting place. All manner of activities, such as plays, shows, singings, revival meetings, and during war -time patriotic events, were held in the auditorium. In 1925, voters incorporated the Euless Independent School District, establishing much more local autonomy. Between 1930 and 1947 many building projects and other initiatives enhanced learning opportunities. In 19Vthe dirt road to the Euless business center, one/half mile north, was graveled. In 1932, electricity was brought from the business district to the school, enabling better lighting and drilling of a water well on the school properties. In 1941, a twelfth grade was added to the school and it became fully accredited. A new free-standing auditorium, more classrooms were built in 1930. In 1935, a high school building was erected. and a gymnasium were built. In 1943, natural gas furnished heat and a hot -meal cafeteria was established. In 1947, more classrooms were added, a gymnasium constructed, and indoor toilets were finally incorporated into the buildings for the first time. Euless High School never had a football team —the Trinity Trojans are more than making up for that deficiency —but basketball and softball teams competed favorably against larger schools in area leagues and tournaments. Although Euless grew some in the 1940s and 1950s, it never had enough students or sufficient tax base to support a high school that could provide an education for a rapidly changing world. In the 1940s, patrons of Euless, Bedford, and Hurst school districts met occasionally to talk about the possibility of creating one school district with a good high school, but nothing came of it —until 1955. That year, the Euless and Hurst Independent school districts consolidated, joined in 1958 by Bedford, thus creating the Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District. In 1913, the Euless School district was created through consolidation to provide a better education for its children. In 1955, it came to an end though consolidation for one primary reason, to provide a better education for its children. Between 1914 and 1955, on this site, the Euless School provided the best education that it could for its children. We can be pleased that on this same site, the South Euless Elementary School still does exactly the same. I have been into the cl;assrooms and witnessed numerous activities here. I can assure you that the good work that began on this site in 1914 continues today. We who attended the Euless School are profoundly grateful — to the City of Euless for sponsoring the marker (that means the City paid for it), especially Mayor Saleh and the other City Council Members, numerous city staff for working diligently to make this day possible, and the City Historical Preservation Committee for its encouragement and support; to the Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District, especially Superintendent Dr. Buinger, for allowing us to place the marker on school property; to the Tarrant County Historical Commission for approving the marker application; to the South Elementary School, Principal Belcher, faculty, staff, students, PTA, for being such gracious hosts and making us feel so welcome. Thank you. EULESS SCHOOL HISTORY Beginnings to 1950 This is a narrative history of the Euless School from its 19'h beginnings until the opening of the school term in September 1950. It includes an unsuccessful attempt by black students to enroll at the white school at the beginning of the 1950-1951 school year. It does not include 1950-1955 years of Euless School and has nothing about South Euless Elementary School, which, after 1955, occupied the site of the Euless School, 1913-1955. Much, if not all, of this narrative has been incorporated into 2 Texas Historical Marker applications. One is for "19th Century Euless Schools," which was approved by the Texas Historical Commission, but was not funded. The other is "Euless School 1913-1955," which was approved and funded and received a marker that is at the South Euless Elementary School. There might be some information in this narrative that is not in either of the applications that were approved. I wrote this well before the application for "Nineteenth -Century Education in Euless" in 2015 and,probably before the application for "Euless School 1913-1955" in 2008. I probably wrote it with the intention of applying for a marker for the general subject "Education in Euless." I decided the subject was too broad and broke it into 2 parts. Weldon G. Cannon January 2019 EULESS SCHOOL Weldon Cannon 702 West Nugent Avenue Temple, Texas 76501 EULESS SCHOOL and SOUTH EULESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (817) 778-6068 When the new red -brick Euless School building opened its doors to school children in 1913, people called it magnificent and credited the combined efforts of three neighboring communities to make it possible. The Euless School was the result of cooperation from three east Tarrant County farming settlements, whose residents realized that they would have to work together to educate their children. Three existing schools from the settlements of Euless, Evatt and Tarrant were consolidated to create the new institution and to build the new school. The imposing two-story structure, wide enough to fit two rooms and a hall, caught the eye of many passersby. The downstairs had four classrooms and a storage room; upstairs were two more classrooms and an auditorium. The architecture was simple, with no flourishes or frills. The bricks were deep red with gray -black speckles, which blended into a dark cast overall. White concrete slabs topped the window frames. Children, entering under a small portico held up by two matching brick columns, passed through the double doors. The portico was trimmed with a wrought iron railing. The new Euless School was an imposing structure on the landscape compared to the nearby simple wood -frame farmhouses. The Arlington Journal in 1915 described it as "Euless' splendid two-story school house." The original Euless School traces its origins to around 1881, when Elisha Adam Euless erected a community building. Euless, after whom the town is named, migrated from Bedford County, Tennessee, in 1867 and purchased 250 acres of land in eastern Tarrant County to farm cotton. He erected a cotton gin on the north side of the present Huffinan Drive. On the west side EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 17 of the present North Main Street, he constructed another building that housed a Presbyterian Church and probably a Grange Hall, a meeting hall for farmers. According to tradition, a community school began about 1881. The school was an informal institution created by neighbors. Community schools were a common system throughout rural Texas between 1876 and 1885. Local citizens followed the custom of the times. Like schools in other Texas rural areas, Euless' school had no defined district boundaries, no trustees and no tax base. Children usually attended for only a few months out of the year. Classes were scheduled on a year-to-year basis as the local inhabitants wished. A small village grew around Euless' gin. In 1886, a post office opened, but it was mistakenly identified in the United States postal records as "Enless." This probably occurred when a clerk confused handwritten letters "u" and "n." This area just north of the Trinity River and immediately west of the Dallas County line, was also known as "Woodlawn." In fact, when Tarrant County school districts were first officially created in 1885, the earliest records identify the local school as Woodlawn. By 1894, the school was designated as Euless School and administered by a board composed of W.J. Blessing, Joseph E. Whitener and R.E. Ferris. School trustees that year bought a tract of land on the south side of the present East Euless Boulevard from W.N. Mood Fuller and his wife, Sarah M. Fuller. Most students attended classes in a new one -room building that was later enlarged. Older students attended classes in the nearby Methodist Church building, which had been erected about 1891 on the east side of present North Main Street and facing the Presbyterian Church. A 1903 school census indicates that about 100 students attended the Euless School. Many teachers served the school and its young students -- some known, others long forgotten. Among them was John W. Calhoun, who eventually became president of the University of Texas at Austin in 1937. Calhoun moved from Coffee County, Tennessee, to Euless at the invitation of his distant cousin, trustee Joseph E. Whitener. Many Euless residents EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 18 had migrated from Bedford and Coffee counties between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century. Calhoun, thus, was kin to many residents. Calhoun later recalled that relocating to Texas meant he would double his $25 monthly salary in Tennessee. He taught for six months from November 1897 to May 1898. Voters in the spring election pledged new trustees to employ him for another year. He had 40 students, ranging from 6 to 19 years old; subjects spanning elementary subjects to algebra and plane geometry. "I swept the house, made the fires, kept the school building and its equipment in order, kept the students in such order as I could and did my best to teach them something," he wrote in his autobiography. At the same time Euless students attended their classes, other youngsters were attending the Evatt School, located about one mile west of the Euless School. Evatt School first appeared in Tarrant County records about 1891, identified as Glascow School or the Crossroads School. After William H. Evatt donated an acre of land in 1897 at the southwest corner of the present Airport Freeway and Industrial Boulevard, the school was officially renamed in his honor. Within the bounds of the Evatt district lay the Mosier Valley community, the residence of former slaves. In the early 1900s, the black citizenry elected trustees from their community in the Evatt District and helped to manage the school, called the Mosier Valley School, which functioned separately from the all -white schools. The third neighboring community, Tarrant, was established in 1903 as the Rock Island Railroad linked,Dallas and Fort Worth with a new line north of the Trinity River and about one and a half miles south of Euless. Originally named Candon, Tarrant was officially platted as a town in 1904 with blocks, lots and streets, which neither Euless nor Evatt had. The railway company awarded Tarrant the largest depot between Dallas and Fort Worth, expecting it to become the most important town between the two cities. It briefly grew to be an important business center and transportation hub for east -central Tarrant County. Smaller depots at the other new towns of Irving and Hurst were also erected. EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 19 The Tarrant Post Office opened in 1905, and a new school was built in the town's northeastern section. Official county records do not reveal the existence of an entity called the Tarrant School District although the school was still in operation. Thus, the school was technically in the Euless District. Nevertheless, Tarrant residents were fiercely proud of their new town and school. What was it like to attend school at Evatt, Tarrant or Euless before 1913? The wooden school houses, usually one room, were often ramshackle but blessed with many windows that were kept open to catch cooling breezes in hot weather. In cold weather, potbellied stoves were fired by coal or with wood probably brought by the students themselves. One teacher -- either a man or woman -- was employed to teach all subjects and grades to about the 30 or 40 children who attended. Sometimes hardly older than their advanced students, teachers had very little training for their jobs. Salary ranged from $45 to $50 monthly. Teachers frequently boarded with nearby families for about $15 monthly. School terms began in November, when cotton picking season was over, and lasted until about May or when the school's money ran out. The last day of class each year was special. Student programs packed with singing, readings and recitations filled the afternoon. No doubt a teacher had to be well organized to accomplish anything. Older students took on added responsibilities of helping to teach the younger ones, in addition to finishing their own lessons. Discipline was rigid and severe, sometimes even harsh. Whippings were common. Students wore whatever clothes they had. Dresses and shirts were made by hand out of cotton sacks. Boys wore overalls. Youngsters brought their lunches from home, often in tin buckets. The victuals were whatever came from their home kitchens -- biscuits, cornbread, sweet potatoes, sausages. Electricity and indoor plumbing were unheard of. Toilets were crudely built shacks located in back of the school house. Water was brought each morning, usually from a neighbor's well, and ladled from a bucket or drinking keg. Hanging on wall pegs were tin drinking cups with each student's'name. EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 20 Children still had time to frolic apart from the chores and schoolwork. A favorite boys' game was "Shinny," a team sport played with sticks shaped like golf clubs or hockey sticks. Two boys, one from each side, stood over a tin can or wooden puck. They hit their sticks together three times in the air, then struck at the puck. Each team tried to get it across a goal line defended by the opposing side. When a team scored, the players hit their opponents on the shins with their sticks. These schools also served their communities beyond educating children. They evolved into centers for community meetings, political speeches and rallies, box suppers, socials and regular "singings." The schools were also on the circuits of traveling performers who brought entertainment to rural residents. Among the amusements was a new device called the "talking machine," which played recordings of jokes. Another machine, not terribly successful, projected slide pictures on a screen via the light of a kerosene lamp. In June 1913, trustees for the Euless and Evatt common school districts asked Tarrant County officials to consolidate the areas into a new school district. The new name was the Euless Common School District. The new district's trustees were J.D. Huffman, a former Euless trustee; his brother, T.P. Huffman, former Evatt trustee; and Dr. L.F. Rhodes, a Tarrant resident who was a Euless trustee. The following July, voters approved a $7,000 bond issue to erect a new school building and undertook a 20-cent tax per $100 valuation to pay for it. The district's total property valuation was $293,085. That September, trustees bought four acres from Joseph E. Whitener, a widower, and his children for $133.33. The Whiteners had grown cotton on this northwest corner of the farm, which stretched for one-half mile along the east side of present Main Street to Pipeline Road. This four -acre tract is the present school site. Charles F. Nelson and Frank Thomas, well-known Arlington contractors, constructed the impressive two-story school building. When the cornerstone was laid on December 18, 1913, local citizens, students from Euless and Tarrant schools and numerous out-of-town visitors flocked to the ceremony. The cornerstone was inscribed: "Euless Tarrant, School Dist. 95, EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 21 Erected 1913"; the trustees' and builders' names were inscribed below. Water for the school was supplied by Arch N. Cannon and his wife, Della, daughter of Joseph E. Whitener. The Cannons owned a hundred -acre farm and nursery across from the school on the present Main Street. Youngsters who moved from their old schools to the new schoolhouse in 1913 were impressed with the building. Former students Warren Fuller, Ruth Fuller Millican, Ginny Fuller Payton and Willie Huffman Byers remember their excitement when they started classes there. All recall how very different the routine was from their old one -room schoolhouses. Especially awesome to them was the second -floor auditorium. The typical day began early for school children back then. Most had chores on their family farms -- milking cows, feeding chickens and hogs and chopping firewood -- usually beginning at about 5:30 a.m. The chores completed, they walked up to two miles to school, lugging their lunch pails with them. The school day began with singing songs and occasionally a prayer. Each Friday, they gathered in the auditorium for an all -school assembly, called chapel. A hand bell summoned the children from the play yard, and they lined up politely to file in the auditorium. After classes, the children trekked home. They often stayed up at night, gathering flickering kerosene lamps on the kitchen tables to study for their next day's lessons. Euless School evolved into a community center, a focal point for the citizenry where they could vote, attend political rallies, hear speeches, produce plays, hold box suppers and carnivals and conduct fifth -Sunday gospel singings. Special attraction at the musical events was Willie Huffman Byers, always in demand for her piano expertise although she never had formal lessons and could not read music. She began playing as a child for school assemblies. Even after she graduated, she was much in demand as an accompanist for school programs. Also of special interest were the traveling promoters who brought motion picture project equipment and giant outdoor screens. Everyone brought lawn chairs and settled on the playground for an evening of motion pictures and socializing. EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 22 Sports -- especially basketball -- built esprit de corps among the townspeople. Although Euless School had no gymnasium, the boys' and girls' basketball teams were nearly always outstanding, besting even top Fort Worth teams. Squads practiced on an outdoor dirt court. A long-standing tradition that continued through the 1940s was fall school trips to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. In the 1920s, Lee Byers loaded all the school youngsters in the back of his farm truck. They traveled along narrow two-lane country roads to Dallas as the children stood -- and sometimes wrestled -- in the back. Sam Mills and other men with big trucks continued the tradition. Following the practice with Texas' common school districts, the new school was administered by the Tarrant County school board and superintendent with advice from three local trustees. However, in 1925, 47 voters petitioned the Tarrant County commissioners to call an election to create an independent school district. In June, 33 voters unanimously approved the proposition that created a seven -member board authorized to appoint its own superintendent. Elected trustees for the new Euless Independent School District were G.E. Himes, T.E. Whitener, J.T. Fuller, H.F. Ferris, George Degenhart, C.W. Simmons and W.J. Eden. The petition asserted that the "town" of Euless comprised 700 citizens, in fact, the approximate population of the entire school district. Euless flourished in population as Dallas and Fort Worth grew and commuting became an accepted practice. Most residents, however, remained farmers; the dairy business also grew prominent. School enrollment, likewise, expanded and soon more space was needed. By the late 1920s or early 1930s, a new wooden auditorium was erected just north of the existing building. A small frame building for first and second graders was constructed between the auditorium and the original two-story school. This small building eventually became the wood shop and science lab. Alumni all agree on one incident that could have had a tragic outcome, but emerged into a benefit for the school district. The story begins when the new auditorium was under construction in about 1930. The wooden structure was held up during construction by flimsy EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 23 supports. Workmen and some school trustees were on the roof when someone tossed a large bundle of shingles topside. The weight was too much. The entire structure collapsed like a house of cards. The men on top rode the building down without injury. The school district collected insurance and rebuilt a more substantial structure which withstood children and weather for more than 30 years. The Euless School reached another milestone in 1932 with additional construction and the inauguration of cultural and extra -curricular activities. A "teacherage," costing $600, was built on the north end of the school property, facing Main Street, as a home for the superintendent and his family. A deep well was dug to assure a dependable supply of water on the school grounds. Electric power lines were extended from the Euless business district, one- half mile north, to provide power for the well pump and to light the buildings and grounds. A parent -teacher association was established, along with a glee club, a literary society and a drama club. The physical education classes received new equipment. Additional teachers were hired to manage the expanded activities. Women from the community volunteered countless hours to support the school, to conduct fund-raisers, to help with extracurricular activities, to decorate for holidays and to provide moral support. The curriculum was also improved to conform with state guidelines. Hence, Euless High School awarded its 1934 graduating class state -issued diplomas for the first time. School trustees enthusiastically led the way for these improvements. They were T.E. Whitener, president; and members S.W. Mills, L.O. Wommack, J.N. Pierce, J.E. Fuller, Ross Cannon and C.W. Ferris. Superintendent was W.B. Love. The county school superintendent's report reflected this development. In 1935, the annual report showed that Euless had the third largest increase in students. Birdville and Arlington rank first and second, respectively. Neighboring Grapevine lost students. Despite the numerical gains, Euless' parents, children and trustees were dismayed to learn that the second floor of the splendid 1913 building was unsafe. Condemned as a hazard, it had to be removed, but that meant the school would loose much -needed classroom space. Trustees EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 24 called an $8,000 bond issue in June 1935 to renovate the existing building, to remove the second floor and to construct a new white -brick, four -room high school. Voters concurred, and the bond issue passed. State -mandated changes also affected the Euless School. When the Legislature decreed that the number of grades be raised from 11 to 12, Tarrant County in 1940 ordered that high schools in its districts be raised accordingly. In order to have a 12th-grade graduating class for the 1941-42 school year, all Euless School students were double -promoted in 1941 so that they moved up two grades at the end of the year instead of one. World War 11 affected the school profoundly. So many young men from the community joined the armed forces that the graduating classes in 1945 and 1946 were all women. All of the teachers were either women or old men. Students were dismissed from classes to scour pastures and roadside for scrap metal to be used in the war effort. The addition of the school lunchroom in 1943 was another important development. A kitchen was built on the northeast corner of the elementary school. Mrs. Ernest (Ruth) Millican managed the operation, ably assisted by Mrs. Abe (Ginny) Payton, Mrs. T.L. (Jessie) Cannon, Mrs. Johnny (Kate) Neely and Mrs. W.L. (Willie) Byers. Mrs. Marshall (May) Tillery was hired later. For the first time, students no longer brought their lunches to school; they bought a wholesome meal for a modest price. Most were members of the Methodist Church. Wednesdays were usually frantic. They rushed to serve lunch and wash dishes in time for the Methodist missionary society's afternoon meeting, always held across the street in Della Cannon's home. Two other unsung heroes who kept the school operating efficiently through the 1930s to the 1950s were custodians Ocea Arnett and Jackson Himes. Mr. Arnett kept hogs at the back of the school property near the boys' outdoor toilet. The porkers dined daily on scraps from the school lunchroom. Three school superintendents served after W.B. Love: J.T. House, C.E. Lyles and Hale Riddle. At the end of World War I1, O.B. Powell was named the new superintendent. Guiding the district from 1945 to 1952, he successfully supervised a major building program and handled EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 25 several intense crises. During his tenure, the school's appearance changed dramatically. In 1947, the separate high school and elementary buildings were linked with an addition containing more classrooms, offices and, for the first time, indoor restrooms and drinking fountains. Up until then, the adults and children used outhouses and outdoor fountains. The district also built its first gymnasium. Although the school had long had an outstanding basketball team, the athletic programs were hindered because the school had no gymnasium. Trustees serving in 1947 were S.W. Mills, president; L.T. Cannon, secretary; and members, E.V. Anderson, Ernest Millican, T.L. Pope and J.A. Horton. The school faced a crisis in 1947, when the Legislature proposed to upgrade the state's inadequate public education system. Under the original proposal, Euless and many other small district would have suffered economically or would have been forced to close. Through intense lobbying by officials from Euless and similar school districts, some changes were made before the landmark Gilmer -Aiken Law was enacted in 1949. In the end, Euless benefitted from more adequate funding and better qualified teachers who received higher salaries. Another local crisis in September 1950 briefly propelled Euless into the national spotlight. At the close of the 1948-1949 school year, the school board closed the all -black Mosier Valley School, part of the Euless Independent School District. The Mosier Valley School had remained an all -black school after the Evatt and Euless districts' merger in 1913. After 1949, Mosier Valley students in all seven grades were transported to Fort Worth as well as the upper - level students, who had always attended Fort Worth schools. Black citizens sued the Euless district, claiming a violation of their civil rights under the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court's separate -but -equal rulings. In June 1950, a federal district court judge ruled in favor of the black plaintiffs. Legal authorities often called it a test case that could have affected as many as 1,100 districts throughout the South. Euless trustees called a bond election to repair and reopen Mosier Valley School, but voters defeated the measure. Nevertheless, some repairs were made, and the school was readied to be opened. That September, however, black parents brought 35 students to be enrolled in the EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 26 all -white Euless School. Tension mounted as a crowd of whites assembled, some carrying guns. The stand-off was resolved without major violence, and black children enrolled in Mosier Valley. The Fort Worth Star -Telegram commended Superintendent Powell for his negotiating the end to the crisis. The Star -Telegram awarded him one of its "Fort Worthy" awards for "his tact and diplomacy." An appellate court soon reversed the district court's decision on a technicality, not on the merits of the case. The school year proceeded without further problems. ==END OF NARRATIVE== EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 27 Another Narrative of Euless School 1913-1955 This is another narrative of the Euless School 1913-1955, without references or bibliography, that is slightly different from the official application for a Texas Historical marker in 2008. The story is basically the same. It does not follow the exact organization required by the Texas Historical Commission. Also, there are a few additions and corrections that make it slightly different from the official application. For example, J. D. Huffman is correctly identified as Joseph D. Huffman, not John D. Huffman. The section about the origin of Euless High School has some additions. By Weldon Cannon January, 2019 EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 8 EULESS SCHOOL 1913-1955 By Weldon Cannon In 1913, patrons of three schools in two Northeast Tarrant County districts created the Euless Common School District and built one school to provide better learning opportunities for their school children. The new school fit a developing early twentieth century model at both national and state levels. Across the nation, education goals and guidelines were being established. In Texas, small rural districts were consolidating at a rapid rate. Proposed reforms were debated and finally adopted, all benefiting the new district. After 42 years of service, in 1955 the Euless Independent School District consolidated with a neighboring district for the same reason it had been established. In the intervening years, the small, rural, relatively poor district provided a basic, adequate education for its students with the resources available. . In the last half of the 19th century, as many as 10 small schools had been established in various parts of the 21 square miles that eventually constituted the new district. By 1913, there were small elementary schools in the village of Euless and the town of Tarrant in a school district originally named Woodlawn in 1884 when the county first created districts but later renamed Euless, reflecting the identity of the community. The nearby Evatt School, in a district bearing that name, served a few scattered farm families. It was nicknamed "Crossroads School." [footnote --The Evatt district also maintained a school for "colored children" in the African -American community of Mosier Valley. The Texas Constitution and laws mandated that "separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provision shall be made for both." This was the "separate but equal' doctrine approved by the U.S. Supreme Court until 1954. In 1913, the Mosier Valley School became part of the new Euless district. It was recognized with a Texas Historical Commission marker in 1983. The three schools that merged into one in 1913, the subject of this marker application, were defined as "white."]. Voters in the new Euless district elected three trustees representing each of the schools — Joseph D. Huffman of Euless, Dr. Luther F. Rhodes of Tarrant, and Thomas P. Huffman of Evatt--who supervised construction of a new two-story, brick building. The cornerstone was laid in December, 1913, and the building completed by the beginning of the school term in 1914. Erected on a four -acre tract one-half mile south of Euless and one and one-half miles from Tarrant and Evatt, it was described as "magnificent" and "splendid" by visitors when they first saw it. It was the most ambitious building project undertaken up until that time in the Euless, Bedford, and Hurst area. The only "white" school in the district until the 1955 consolidation, it was demolished in 1970 after extensive remodeling and many additions. The property is now - location of South Euless Elementary School. A school has operated continuously on the site longer that at any other place in the Hurst -Euless -Bedford Independent School District. The new building had four classrooms downstairs plus two upstairs along with a large auditorium. However magnificent, it lacked most modern conveniences. Kerosene lamps furnished light at night and coal-fired stoves provided heat. Water was piped from a nearby farm and outdoor toilets stood on the back side of the property. -EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 9 The new building had four classrooms downstairs plus two upstairs along with a large auditorium. However magnificent, it lacked most modern conveniences. Kerosene lamps furnished light at night and coal-fired stoves provided heat. Water was piped from a nearby farm and outdoor toilets stood on the back side of the property. In addition to use as a school, the building immediately became a community center, hosting a wide variety of events. Many activities were particularly useful for rural families — farm and home demonstration programs, farmers' meetings, and club work for boys and girls. It was also the site of ice cream and box supper socials, plays and musicals, lectures and picture shows, political rallies; preaching, and singings. The pace accelerated during World War I with the school becoming the focal point of many patriotic activities. The Euless school was the beneficiary of several developments in education. Texas mandated compulsory school attendance in 1915 and free text books in 1918. After 1920, districts had a freer hand in levying taxes. In 1925, Euless reached another milestone when voters incorporated the Euless Independent School District. At the request of 47 petitioners, Tarrant County Commissioners' Court called an election in which 33 voters unanimously approved the incorporation on June 13. Voters also elected a seven member board of trustees which had much greater authority than the three common school district trustees in such matters as personnel, policies, and taxation. Joseph T. House (1901-1975), the first superintendent, also taught along with four classroom teachers. He served as superintendent until 1931, and again from 1934 to 1939. Euless High School might have been established at the same time. In a Bulletin of the State Department of Education, "Public School Directory, 1925-1926," January, 1926, Euless High School is listed, during the district's first year as an Independent School District. Numerous varied sources thereafter mention Euless High School. But even before 1925-1926 there were hints of something called Euless High School. According to an Arlington newspaper article on August 13, 1915, shortly before the beginning of the second year in the new building, "The trustees of the Euless school went to Fort Worth last Monday and succeed[ed] in getting our school in the High School class." On a fly leaf of a textbook, now in the City of Euless Museum, is a handwritten list, dated 1918, of 23 students, ages 15 to 20, of "Euless & Tarrant High School." A high school probably meant no more than the addition of one, maybe two grades, to the eight -grade elementary school. According to one local account the first graduating class of Euless High School was in 1934. The high school was not accredited, however, as late as 1938, when it was a three-year high school. Nevertheless, the students who chose could stay in the community and get a bit more schooling. Others continued their education at accredited high schools in nearby Arlington, Grapevine, Irving, Birdville, or even Fort Worth or Dallas. After Euless High School was accredited, some students still attended other schools to receive a more comprehensive education. Although Euless High School never fielded a football team, it excelled in basketball and competed well in softball, volleyball, and track. Even though the school had no gymnasium until 1947 and teams practiced outdoors on hard, red clay courts and fields, both boys and girls often EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 10 February, 1930, replacing the upstairs auditorium. Another small wood frame building was constructed nearby to house the lower grades. Two years later the district built a house on the campus for the superintendent and his family. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, in 1935 voters approved a bond issue for $8,000 to construct a white brick high school building that had three classrooms, a study hall/library, and a superintendent's office. In addition to building programs, a flurry of other activities about the same time enhanced the school setting and education opportunities. In 1927, the dirt road in front of the school was graveled from the Euless business district, one-half mile north, to the school. Electric power lines were extended to the school in 1932 making possible not only proper lighting but a dependable water supply from a new well on campus. The same year music and speech were offered for the first time and high school drama, speech and literary clubs organized. New physical education equipment was also added. The school continued to serve as a community center. The auditorium was the site of plays, singings, traveling movie presentations, political rallies, and other events. The school sponsored activities for student athletic teams, group trips to the state fair in Dallas or the stock show and rodeo in Fort Worth, a junior -senior banquet, class plays, trips, dinners and parties, and a May Pole fete. Dances were forbidden. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, several developments affected school life. At the beginning of the 1941 school year, a twelfth grade was added, and all grades were double - promoted so there would be a twelfth grade graduating class. This probably is when the high school was accredited. In 1943, another room was added to the elementary school building and a cafeteria was established, making hot lunches available for the first time. Better roads and highways connected Euless with nearby towns and cities, affording a broader range of work, shopping, and entertainment opportunities. New families moved to Euless and their children added diversity to the school. World War II profoundly affected the community and school life. Most young men entered the armed services, some even cutting sort their schooling. In fact, the 1945 and 1946 graduating classes were all female. Some of their parents worked in war related industries in Fort Worth and Dallas. War bond and stamp drives were conducted and the school hosted numerous patriotic programs and rallies. Students dismissed from school scoured pastures and roadways collecting scrap metal for recycling. Construction of a pilot training air field at Euless brought an additional influx of workers and families. More changes were in store at the end of the war when a new superintendent, Oscar B. Powell (1889-1959), arrived in 1945, and the district launched the most extensive building program since 1913-14. Powell had a reputation as a builder, having supervised construction projects as superintendent at Jacksboro and Forney. In 1947, the Euless elementary and high school buildings were linked as the gap between them was filled with two additional classrooms, a new superintendent's office, and for the first time, indoor rest rooms, drinking fountains, and modern science labs. A free standing gymnasium was built near the high school building, providing an indoor place for basketball games and other athletic competitions for the first time, EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 11 plus physical education classes and a variety of school and community activities. The elementary school was remodeled so its appearance harmonized with the high school and the additions. Other changes enhanced the quality of education. Some elective courses were added and in the 1947-48 school year, for the first time a monthly newspaper, "The Cardinal Calls," and a yearbook, "The Cardinal," were published. The school mascot was the cardinal and the colors red and white. Teachers had to be versatile. For the 1947-48 school there were six full-time teachers, besides the superintendent who also taught classes, and two part-time teachers for special classes such as music. Grades one through eight were in self-contained classrooms, two grades and one teacher for each room. High school teachers taught several subjects, some for which they had little preparation. They also supervised a myriad of activities —serving as homeroom sponsors, directing plays, interscholastic league events and publications, coaching athletics, supervising class trips, and being counselors. Sometimes they attended graduate school or even had outside employment, such as serving as minister at a local church. About the same time, the high school, perhaps even the school district, were threatened with extinction. Proposed school reform legislation in 1947 would have forced consolidation or closure of most small schools. Euless and other small districts vigorously protested the proposals, which were modified in the 1948 Gilmer -Aiken laws, preserving many of the schools and even increasing state funding. Euless also benefited with the addition of high school students from the adjoining Sowers School District in Dallas County in 1949. There was considerable talk of consolidating the districts and building a high school between the communities, but Sowers eventually consolidated with the Irving district. In 1950, Euless attracted attention from across the state and even beyond when African - American students from the Mosier Valley community attempted to enroll in the all -white school. The Euless district closed the Mosier Valley Elementary School in.1949 and transferred black students to Fort Worth. A federal judge ruled in June, 1950, that Euless must provide a school in the district for black students, but district voters in August rejected a bond issue to build a new school for them. On September 4, black students attempted to enroll in the white school. In a tense situation, they were turned away because at the time the Texas Constitution and laws, with the approval of U. S. Courts, required separate schools. In 1953 the Euless district built a new school for African -American students in Mosier Valley. Racial segregation did not end until after the Euless district had consolidated with the Hurst and Bedford districts. Mr. Powell retired in 1951, and Johnnie O. Edwards, high school teacher and coach, became superintendent. The number of students grew a bit, and in 1954 a new free standing cafeteria was built between the main building and the gymnasium. Still, the district struggled with old problems —insufficient number of students to secure enough state funding and an inadequate tax base to provide enough local funding. Hence, it was not possible to offer a curriculum broad enough to meet the needs of high school students. Patrons of the Euless Independent School District and the Bedford and Hurst Common School Districts had met several times in the 1940s to discuss possibilities of merging and building one high school to serve the entire area. Nothing came of the discussions at the time, however. EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 12 Nevertheless, the population grew rapidly. Euless incorporated as a municipality in 1950, assuring a dependable municipal water supply. In 1953, Bell Helicopter manufacturing plant in Hurst and the Fort Worth municipal airport near Euless both opened. Transportation arteries through the area were significantly upgraded. Hurst quickly outpaced other area communities in growth, and on December 9, 1954, voters incorporated the Hurst Independent School District. On December 22, 1954, 45 Euless petitioners and 36 Hurst petitioners, asked the Tarrant County Commissioners' Court to call an election to merge the districts. Both districts approved the proposal on January 22, 1955--Euless, 151 to 21, and Hurst, 238 tol68. Hence, the Euless School District came to an end. On February, 26 Bedford voters rejected a proposal to merge their district with the new Hurst -Euless Independent School District, but then in 1958 joined, creating the present Hurst -Euless -Bedford School District. The Euless school district, established in 1913 by the consolidation of two districts and three schools to better meet the educational needs of their children, erected a fine building to help accomplish their goal. After numerous remodelings and expansions, parts of the building were still standing in 1955 when the Euless district consolidated with the Hurst district for the same reason that it had been established, to provide a better education for the school children. In the intervening years, the Euless School served its purpose well. EULESS SCHOOL / PAGE 13 "fi E ,P,v ta.� a M A S `i .3 EULESS SCHOOL, 1993 From notes made by Weldon G. Cannon On January 5, 1993, about 14 former students, teachers, and their relatives, gathered at South Euless Elementary School, site of Euless School, 1914-1955, plus members of City of Euless Historical Preservation Committee, City officials, current teachers, and a newspaper reporter. The gathering was held to video tape reminiscences of former students and teachers about the school, arranged by the Committee, part of the City Parks and Leisure Services Department. According to a representative of the Department on February 15, 2019, no one knows what happened to the tape and no transcription has been found. I, Weldon G. Cannon, made notes of the meeting at the time [or listened to the tapes later and made notes] and now transcribe the notes as a narrative in case the tape is never found. I know, from contemporary sources, that some statements are not correct or need to be annotated, and will attempt to correct or annotate, in brackets. This is a continuation of another tape about the school made earlier in the day with Willie Huffman Byers, another former student, who apparently was unable to attend the general meeting. The Byers interview is preserved separately from this one. Diana Crawford, Chairman of the Euless Historical Preservation Committee, moderated the school meeting and sometimes asked leading questions to jog memories, but for the most part it was a freewheeling series of recollections of those present with discussions and even arguments about what happened and when, and who did and said what. Sometimes more than one person talked at the same time. Notes of other interviews that I did with Willie, Steve Huffman, Warren Fuller, Ross Cannon and several others supplement this January 5 tape. In attendance were former students —Warren Fuller, Ginny [Jenny] Fuller Payton, Ruth Fuller Millican, Horace Booher, Oneas Weatherly Booher, Helen Cannon Gleghorn (also a former teacher), Willie May Tillery, Reta Millican Ray, Jean Whitener (wife of former student, Leon Whitener), Weldon Cannon, Betty Anderson Henderson, Betty Heideman Fuller, and Joe Cannon. [Willie Huffman Byers might have attended, but I don't think she did.] Also attending were former teacher and principal, Bill Gay; Committee Chairman, Diana Crawford; City Mayor Pro Tern, Mary Lib Saleh and her husband, Ray Saleh; Parks Department representative, Nina Winters; newspaper reporter, Patsy Riddle; and some current teachers. This transcript does not necessarily follow the chronological order of the comments but has been put in order by topics in some places. Following is my transcription of my notes of this meeting. Here begins the transcription: Dr. [L. F.] Rhodes of Tarrant [and Euless] delivered most babies in the area. He came on nearly the first train though Tarrant [he was a line physician for the Rock island RR when it built through in 1903]. T. P. and J. D. Huffman were brothers. The Crossroads School [nickname for Evatt School] started in 1908 [it was really much older than that]. The old Euless School [on south side current East Euless Blvd.] had one room where all students and one teacher met. Someone else said there were 2 rooms and 2 teachers [maybe at a later date]. Ruth Millican went there one year; she remembers the old toilet, the outhouse out back by the creek, made of just boards, no roof, no toilet tissue. Ruth and Jessie Cannon [her future sister-in-law] sometimes twisted each other's hair in class; the teacher, catching them once, made them stand on a stage in the classroom and do it to each other in view of whole class. The 7-year itch was common. It was highly communicable via text books that were used year after year, according to Warren. The common treatment was grease and sulfur, which created a terrible stink, especially in winter when the building was closed up with no ventilation and a hot wood burning stove was going. He remembered the first year at the new school [built 1913-1914 on current South Euless Main St.; school opened there in the fall of 19141, but doesn't remember any details about the first day. No one else remembered exact detail about the first day. A Mr. Conn was principal. A centerpiece of the new school was an auditorium on the second floor. It was called a "pretty thing." There were also 2 classrooms upstairs. It was more than just a school. It became a community center, especially the auditorium. Politicians and others came to speak; religious revivals were held; there were box suppers; etc. Ginny remembered one very hot day at the new school. For some reason, water was not coming from the Arch Cannon place across the road [he had a deep artesian well that usually supplied water to the school through a pipe laid under the road]. On this occasion students had to get buckets to go get water for the school. Ginny was so thirsty that she rushed to get a drink. This made the principal unhappy, so he made her go to the end of the line to get a drink. In the 1920s and 1930s there were typically 35-40 students in each classroom. According to Warren, there was at least one person who did not like the location of the new school —Jessie Cannon [Arch and Della Cannon's daughter, later Mrs. Warren Fuller]. Since she lived across the road from the school, she now had to go home for lunch instead of taking her lunch to school and eating with her school mates. School began each fall, sometimes after cotton picking. It ran about 7 months or until money ran out. The usual school day began with singing a song and sometimes and prayer [apparently in each classroom since] a general assembly was held as chapel service each Friday morning. The school was very quiet during class sessions; discipline was strict. Almost everyone brought their lunch. Students came to school wearing whatever clothes they had, very limited variety. There were many flour sack dresses and shirts. Families were large, sometimes with as many as 8 to 10 children. Students got up early to take care of family chores before going to school. They fed chickens and hogs, milked cows. They chopped kindling wood to take to school to help start stove fires. Students usually had homework taken home from school. They studied around the kitchen table, by kerosene lamp when darkness came. All manner of personal affairs came up that needed attention. Ginny dropped out of school for a while to stay home and take care of her sick mother. World War I was especially exciting. They celebrated at school and elsewhere. Some went to Fort Worth by horse and buggy or trucks and cars. An annual event was a trip to Dallas to the State Fair for a day. Sam Mills and others took students in trucks. They did the same to Fort Worth for the Stock Show. There was no air conditioning, so rooms could be very hot, but no one seemed to care because that is all they knew. Large coal -burning iron stoves in the corners of the rooms provided heat. A large load of coal was delivered each year and dumped on the ground behind the building. Then Warren began talking about the September, 1950, opening of school when black students from Mosier Valley attempted to enroll in the "white" school. A very tense situation quickly developed as word spread around Euless. At least 2 men, Luther Morelock and [????] Spencer, brought guns and sat in pickups nearby watching developments. It was the first day of work for Bill Gay, a new, young teacher, who almost quit that day. [Mosier Valley was a nearby predominantly black community in the Euless School District, where a "colored" school had operated many years. In 1949 the district closed the school and bused students to Fort Worth schools. Blacks protested that they didn't want their elementary age children being sent out of district to attend school. This was 4 years before the U.S. Supreme Court declared the "separate but equal" laws, segregation, for educating children, was unconstitutional. School Supt. O. B. Powell and others defused the situation, the black students left, and the white school opened the semester. The terms "colored" and "white" were embedded in the Texas Constitution and laws.] The "teacherage" [an on -campus house for the school superintendent and his family] was built in 1932. It was provided as part of the pay for the superintendent. Mr. and Mrs. [????] House were the first to live in the new house. Most teachers boarded in community homes. Typical rent before 1940 was $13 per month. Warren and Jessie were among families who boarded teachers. One especially he remembers, sometime after 1940, was Nadine Womack. There was considerable discussion about when the new, detached wood frame auditorium was built. Everyone agreed that it was after the second floor of the 1913/1914, which included an auditorium, became unstable and unfit for occupancy, necessitating its removal and construction of a new auditorium and classrooms. [According to one widely circulated story, a giant boulder that could not be removed when the building was erected was the cause of the destabilization as the building settled.] A new free standing wood frame auditorium [seating 300-400] was built then north of the original building. Between them a new wood frame classroom building was erected. The auditorium cost $750, built by men working a 10-hour day for a dollar [?] a day. When it was nearly finished, being shingled, it fell down, just caved in, during a whirlwind. [No one was injured as it came down slowly] Insurance paid for reconstruction. Some said it was built about 1932/1933. Oneas Booher said she was sure it was 1935 the year she came to Euless. She especially remembers singings being held there then. Warren was a school trustee for 1928-1929. He said there were 3 trustees then, and the county school superintendent came occasionally to advise about running the school. [In fact, after the district was incorporated as an Independent School District in 1925, it had a 7 member board.] The second floor was removed in 1929, according to Warren. But later, in response to Diana Crawford's comment that the second floor was removed and the new auditorium built in 1935, Warren said, "That's right." Someone suggested that it was in 1935 when bonds were approved to build a new high school building. In answer to another question, "Was the new auditorium build before the second floor was removed," the answer was, "Yes." There had to be a new place for chapel and assemblies quickly. Helen and Willie Mae say they think it was in 1935 because they started school in the wooden classroom building [about 19361 that was built along with the auditorium. Helen thinks the auditorium, separate classroom building, and the new brick high school were all built in 1935 at the same time. [The conversation degenerated into chaos as all expressed opinions about the date. In fact, the new auditorium was built in 1929-1930 according to the Arlington newspaper. As early as April, 1930, finishing touches were being put in place. There are numerous references in the newspaper through the rest of 1930 about finishing the work and the uses for the auditorium.] The wood frame building between the old school and the new auditorium was used for several purposes —as additional classroom space, wood working shop, chemistry and science lab, and for special education classes —according to various people. In 1935 the school district erected a new high school building about 200 feet south of the old 1913 building. Between the buildings stood an old concrete drinking fountain with 2 or 3 outlets. Water came from the Euless Nurseries of Arch Cannon across the road, from a large overhead storage tank filled from a deep well and pumped by windmill until 1932 when that part of the community got electric power and the school drilled its own well. The landmark fountain was taken out in 1947 when the school underwent extensive renovation and expansion. The gap between the old elementary school building and the high school building was filled with additional classrooms, labs, offices and, for the first time, indoor restrooms. Also for the first time a gymnasium was built at the school. Warren also said he remembered depression days when cattle were driven past the school [or through the Euless business district] south toward the river bottom where they were slaughtered to keep the price up [for beef or dairy products]. He was in the grocery business in Euless by 1929. [See another interview I did with him when he expounded on this subject.] Another question that came up was how World War II affected Euless, especially the school. With most able bodied men going off to war, most teachers were women or older men, one being a Mr. Hutchinson. Even most male students volunteered or were drafted when they were old enough. There no male graduates in 1945, only 9 females, or 1946, only 10 females, according to Willie Mae. In 1941 a 12th grade was to the 11 grade Euless School, so everyone already in school was double -promoted. Weldon recalled that he had started school in 1940 and really liked his first grade teacher, Mrs. Marie Horton, who taught the first and second grades in one classroom. He looked forward to Marie being his second grade teacher, but being promoted to the third grade, was terribly disappointed. Furthermore, he did not like the third and fourth grade teacher, Mrs. White. In the middle of one day Weldon went home [across the road from the school], announcing to his mother that he had quit school. She talked with Mrs. Horton, who then talked Weldon into going back to her second grade and soon convinced him that he should move on to the third grade so he would be in the same class with others his age. The school underwent a vast remodeling and expansion in 1947-1948 [under the leadership of school superintendent O. B. Powell]. The steeply pitched roof over the red brick elementary building was replace with a flat roof, the front fagade was covered with cream brick matching the high school building, and the gap between the two was filled with classrooms, labs, offices, and indoor toilets. The old landmark outdoor drinking fountain was removed. About 200-300 feet south of the high school building a brick gym was erected. An elementary school room was renovated for a hot lunch room and an addition added for a kitchen [or maybe that was done in 1943]. A new free standing cafeteria was built between the high school and the gym sometime between about 1953 and 1958. Euless never had a football team, but had a very good basketball team and good softball team. It competed well with teams ranked in divisions above it. In 1956, the Euless and Hurst School Districts consolidated, and all students attended Hurst -Euless High School in Hurst, until L. D. Bell High School was built between the towns, but in the Euless City Limits. End EULESS SCHOOL 1993 By Weldon Cannon This is a transcription of my notes from different papers than the preceding but of the same session moderated by Diana Crawford on January 5, 1993, with a group of Euless residents who attended the Euless School. These notes seem to add some materials or amend some comments slightly. I do not know why there are 2 sets of notes. The above are hastily, randomly scribbled notes; the transcription is more carefully crafted into sentences and paragraphs. They both seem to cover this same subjects. Here begins the transcription: These people remembered moving from the old Euless School [on the south side of East Euless Blvd.] to the new school [on present South Euless Main St.] in 1914: Willie Huffman Byers [maybe], Warren Fuller, Ginny Fuller Payton, Ruth Fuller Millican. They recall how impressed they were with the new building, a real contrast with the old one. In place of the old one -room wood frame building, they were now in a large two-story brick building with several rooms. They were especially impressed by the beautiful, spacious auditorium. It was overwhelming. Each day began with singing some songs, and occasionally a prayer. Each Friday morning was an all -school assembly in the auditorium, sometimes called "chapel" for many years. Each teacher had a hand bell he or she would ring to summon students to class or assembly. Students would line up and march in very orderly. Most students in the rural community had household chores before and after school — milking cows, feeding chickens and hogs, chopping firewood. Yet, each night they would gather around the kitchen table to study lessons and read for the next school day by kerosene lamps. Everyone walked to and from school, some as much as 2 miles from home. The school was a real community center, a community focal point. It was a voting place; political candidates, preachers, and many others spoke there; political rallies were held; plays in the auditorium; box suppers; a Halloween carnival; traveling motion picture showings either in the auditorium or out on the school grounds. People brought their own chairs for outside events. The auditorium was on the rotating Tarrant County "Fifth Sunday" gospel singing schedule. There were appearances by singing groups such as the Stamps -Baxter Quartet. Not everyone was pleased with the move to the new school. Warren Fuller recalled that Jessie Cannon, his future wife who lived across the road from the school, had to go home for lunch instead of taking her lunch to school and eating with her school mates. There was always a demand for a piano player for assemblies, any school performance or other special occasion that called for music. Willie Huffman Byers usually filled this function. Although she had no formal music training, really knew nothing about the theory of music, never had a piano lesson, she could play a "mean piano" of anything by ear. Euless basketball teams were nearly always outstanding, taking on far larger and better trained and equipped teams, even though Euless had no gym. They practiced on hard clay outdoor courts. And in the 'teens and twenties the girls basketball teams competed with great success against the best Fort Worth schools could offer. A body of folklore, many stories and tales, grew around a pivotal event —removing the second story of the 1914 school and building a large wood frame detached auditorium. These include the date, reason for doing it, constructing the new building, finishing out the interior, its appearance, and the great variety of events subsequently held there, etc. [For details see other interviews and the Arlington newspaper for 1930 and following years.] Numerous other stories emerged from reminiscences by for former students. Mr. Arnett, school custodian for many years, kept hogs across the back school ground fence in the Whitener pasture. He took the school kitchen scraps to feed them every day. There were also long standing traditions, such as taking truck loads of students to Dallas to the State Fair and to Fort Worth for the Stock Show. Lee Byers, Sam Mills and others loaded students in trucks and transported them for the day. The drinking fountain between the elementary and high school buildings was a notable landmark and a gathering place for students and the source of many tales and pranks. During World War II most teachers were women and the entire graduating classes for 1945 and 1946 were girls. Students went around the community, up and down roads, across pastures, through dump grounds looking for metal to turn in for the war effort. Some boys once tried setting fire to one of the school buildings. Some activities were really dangerous. Boys would bring bullets and shotgun shells from home and at noon or recess or after school go into a deep canyon (maybe 10-12 feet deep, created by a creek eroding deep sand) just off the campus in a pasture, build fire a fire, throw in the ammunition, then step back and wait for explosions. Others feats were less dangerous, but nevertheless daring. Boys' and girls' toilets were at the back side of the school grounds at opposite ends of the campus. They were neatly whitewashed on the front facing the school and the entrances were from the back. About the most daring thing a boy could do was race around behind the girl's toilet while his friends watched from a distance. Another student decided to see how long it would take a plastic ruler to melt on top of a hot coal burning stove. The room had to be evacuated and the windows opened' for a long time on a cold winter day while the acrid smell dissipated. While most Shakespeare and fine poetry might be forgotten, scatological lines written on toilet walls are unforgettable. I will spare the reader details. Another entertaining exercise for students was standing outside on school grounds with a small mirror, flashing sunlight into the face of the teacher trying to conduct class inside. End 0 1 vq, C11- )JI) JA AO t L -xo A _ I —�- {�-i.4'e t�i � �+�,r �� C?y�.� �m��.�i�--I PrY .,�. � t� f•'i -4+, � � /��w".I ,�,--�� ,f, t? % � ,, c, vE', '� � �.-ci • ��r;:l`s2�. ��r� L- ll, � �:k�f �_ �- ! > �, - <'l-- 1 f� �i- �.r l � - r ; i - 1 ;1 I, 1 I — t j pp 71 L I G P I" __12- — _ ME sat (Vol toil L C', COVN Hg OTSs OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NATL'R� OUNOFCCHO �aerpts from � � C CARE'ER OF ONE J. Y. CALHOVA, sCA00L TSE►CH� TXZ TM PR09AI V. Calhoun was born at Reddens s Chapel, Coffee CouatT, 7enaessee, {John In 1937 He came to Mess, Texas, in 1897, to t8acaiad 1947. He in lan. of . exas, an he bee"9 President of the University covied by Weldon Csnnon- he a his Autobiographical Notes in_`l9g9. y tha Reds, tirro llveb in the coamt- sGrandfather Calboun Fried Rax' IIeet her I do not know, for they pity Where l wax born. flog he name to a long " apart. thlrly miles or Bore --about the same distance � a livedlace. I a8eume that she �rssto Coffee to the moon in thzt time lea place. mountains and moving to the Red - part responsible for his leaving was on land belonging known as Redden county yhe church In this 'COmmunity community Vag dens end wsa called Redden' a Chapel. The or Neighborhood. *1 knov as little of the Reddens as ° Chapel Community I gathered . From eei�hborhood talc that I heard as a bOthe �thpdj-st the CSli3oun S. . dao then, xae that suncle Joe Redden, a brother of my gran the biggest er3,ntendent, Board of stewards of the class leader, gunday school sup the bn-dest worker, kethodiet Church at Redden e still, in trat part of the world' As s ; eater, and the best whiskey +e ant in a rest camp meeting worker and was described as being gi prayer. +" FaGe 5 m pr. J. g. asks me if I would be inter - rant e� •ime about Oct. 10, 1897, I recieved a letter „ame Texas, -ihitener of Euless#Te�sTarto teach 1hs village school far�n�-b8I prompt - if at Z pr°npt- ested in c four or Siva raon.. sent. about Iiov el.�berya.nd running mu interested in such IIn arI.rangement' eras - ly replied that I would be Qthe people of his community T� Whiteners tXr. 'Whitener, ailed=bY and had Married a cansin of }fl8. Tennessee about about t.x age of my earl child��d but bad left ie� ess; had been. Our neighbors �.n ' _ 'Uncle Joe' Vas a trustee Cattl�od d 13 to make_A._:b=e in £Mesa. Ding my an - - earned U it--j�-3adgone into teaci'�no of Tenn*ssee to early youth there i3ad been a grIs eat eyous from our Part whiteners, lera, Bartons, Or uimes, der'�i .s, BlackffioQeI went by Texas. The Ful . -le early the point ,od�,es and a lot vt others from six toveightgweek' to reach Dallas. d other covered wagons taking for t¢hiCh they all aimed. Later emiEr4nts sold t'.zesr 7,anessee and horses and came by train- Rr-ny of them came bacgo�°sore round tz`ips property , The greater number stayed, others stuck to "1`�a s ich places o staff• before making up their minds which P vt ' childhood friend$ and finally took rout in "'ems• As s° �y tales sboudt theform statstate acquaintances were inla Texas bad aand IIdesch irett dseeathe stathee� Vim' rm Go d csma back to us. I ha g h I do not think it ever ti.rst-land, Opinions about it,tl-° erraanent w$Y•'_ a 52 to me that ; might bdcane s resident in a p �, a religious places that prayer meeting --the one s. saw. was oneofiereattcraesdoutltc Pray d,ul of the old and Z ever. saw. It eQ g is I--ft to a ran m Miller, inaod! s Institution that altaost dnlversat was J _. faithful. 'the cr:ief performer at prever�meeting there. �_e pray oldest son a sat► in the early sorties �se_en I was • + oPta.*jer and more vociferously& muytoa ou e�; 'CesLiZY longer, shoat amen anybody in the county, I am ours. On one occasion he E y 2 and st the ens of M eon -able 1cTe old lady .in bition• � Te ns more' IDot� �• had � ;,inhl t snb�ect of mothers and Sol God for first of words shouted, no �'oa, a brother Jim vas asking the congregation W" 1Bt��h��hatn�bSi Jia an an equal ncuaber of &rose and said %bat sh nest it uld not be a baa ides to reQ - more ma's° a ' fathers. p ov ember 1897an esa beginning e t tiz months at Sul nerd satisfaotlon, for I is Y of 1898. l suppose gave ge ring of 1898 the voters to pains closing nett term. . when trustees were elected is thelo me for the to algebra t© pledge the nowfromt demo 19 and in grade from primer etas t the rouse, . &ads the Sire$, kept h o sc}oos students ranging I P and plan® geometry. kept the students in such order as building and Its eql eat t in order, _ g and dSd m9 best to teach them something -a - e 76 � a � I could _ of being own coming' to Teaas was due to d oho adtbecome 6 hoo $�eaand the 1880 s eaed to remember vbo bad come .to fie=s � rant County. _ � haP� for a One -room scho45 ol .inU27.9. - s and teach is their schaol page 1 wrote inviting me to -, George �lbOun, oun's father waA eorgen an t a . John � illiam t�a1h scattered excerpts: grandparents were JObn V• uncles, Job and his gr en . He had two r�dia that s a • Redden, a sister of doe Redden. yArtha Fatal John C. Calhoun and 'alboun died C Calhosn and William Calhouia the Civil Var.. Villiers► a Frontea John W. Calrflun, wets killed ��� $ In Vag .ari 3obn 3iilliam Cal 4lasgow and Labeth ..�° soon after the war• arenas jMre _jobn Wesley ter ' lea ter, and'!Y�i.s grandp hill vjf_.e and si= �►� - �so -n �r • John ;4eeleY Clasgov. left return from the Civil far• 'Mood Fuller, after .._ for ..,. •.:�=: �_ :. . ybrothers :were Jiffi ��D ��� m�rie ���o�. - -.John Vllliam Calhflun' s a doctor. in �?allaa,._and his $ 9ter, �atau&t $ch°ol at Tom;' rl�a ;.bsadme. _::.. eeh grave, Tennessee.: to Tsxa$.�='- At StepheMP n "sad lives he B8 �t Studeatg, the girls sat oa den'& e1' and elsevahere in Tennessee before �mga and he w�ss Redhe had forty to eighty each oth..ra redden` a Cr„agala w�x'e on the right, Zacing the left side and the boys for a normal.term of three months. paid about �25 per =nth salary � cold 1 18�? Burin train at k,rlht ton NOV.at �uless �,a ived wi !Uncle Mood r s arrived by ears he taught at _trl?r's s moo er nort�:�r. `�ae0 •y ad g'u�ler was a brother of3'-randma• miller". He says. one else as g . a after 'his return from tale Civil:az'• and th8 ta3aan whI1t b�.er a�.e:trau anyone grandfather -GlasgowT s helped . ni an- taho name to_Texas in ti�eH$geall d�him a � ntierof Texas• other people. at an a uc itiohof th�y ge al so mentions many Uncle good sense and hip principles** �-- Barton,ar.t._`Tom tfeSt, Alen JeE. yooPe �3 le , Feat J_r l John p.uckaloo, and H. B• Arling- J�o_ee_ , Grapevine in e Bated Blacon, Aunt eclsy C $�So t3 "hut g©1 at rapist reviv n .- dart at Methodist F.r. err n describes the a �� work, woman a work,. ton end Benbrook. Ea also the Civil far at the second table terrible conditions during Yaitin6 leoe os clearing land, sc?�b2 and church selder ate the last P - bhile tr_a circuit rider ana the presiding other thin►Bs• chickQn at the first table, and Many -..•. *�