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ATHENS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL1914-2008

A SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE SECTION ON ATHENS’ FIRST BRICK SCHOOL BUILDING

ATHENS DAILY REVIEWMARCH 2, 2008

2 Athens Daily Review Sunday, March 2, 2008

Dr. Fred HayesSuperintendent

Athens Independent School District

Fred Samuel Hayes is a 1983 graduate of Bullard High School, Bullard, Texas. He re-ceived his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Texas in Tyler, and earned his Doctoral degree in Educational Administration from Baylor University.

He began his career in education with the Jacksonville Independent School District where he served as coach, teacher, and then as Prin-cipal of Jacksonville High School. He later had distinguished Principal positions at Tyler’s Rob-

ert E. Lee High School and then at Clear Creek High School.The Athens Independent School District named Dr. Hayes as its new Superintendent in

September 2006, and he assumed the position in October 2006, and he has been busy since that time preparing the AISD for change, refi nement, and continued growth. His intent is to make the AISD one of the best school districts in the state.

He and his family have become a part of the Athens community. He loves being an educator and believes that education is the great hope for this nation and for the future of our freedom.

Nelda Reynolds, ChairHenderson County Historical

Commission

Nelda Reynolds, Chair of the Henderson County Historical Commission, is a native of Henderson County. She grew up in Payne Springs, married her high school sweetheart, attended and received a degree from Henderson County Junior College (now TVCC), and then got her degrees from East Texas State University.

She taught at Henderson County Junior College for 18 years at its Palestine Campus where she had opened the Business Department in 1973. She retired from there in 1991. When she retired she made a plan to give a year back to the communities

around her since she had not been able to be actively involved as a volunteer while teaching. Her year of giving back has turned into well over 15 years.

She became a member of the Henderson County Historical Commission shortly after her retirement, served as Vice Chair of the Commission for several years and became Chair in 2003.

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 3

Throughout most of the period from 1850 to the early 1900’s, education in Athens and Henderson County was primarily offered by a large number of private schools – largely conducted in large homes occupied by the superin-tendent or principal or head master. Some schools were housed in buildings such as Masonic Lodges or in churches.

As the 1800’s came to a close, there was greater interest in providing a system of public education. Athens was growing, and its growth was expected to continue. A public school was organized and a two-story wooden structure was built on the front of the property where the current AISD Administration Building is located.

Two SchoolsIn about 1902, the Athens school system also purchased the former Bruce

Academy structure – also a two story, wooden building. Now Athens had two schools, located in different parts of the town, and both served students in all grades that were taught at that time – eleven. The students who resided in north Athens attended classes in the building located on what is now Hawn Street. Those who lived in the south part of town attended classes in the for-mer Bruce Academy building located where Bruce Field is now located.

Athens did continue to grow and before long community discussions be-gan to center on constructing a permanent school where all students would attend from all parts of the city and certain rural areas around the city. The building was to be brick and was to be substantial – able to serve the needs of the town for years to come.

These discussions reached the stage of activity by 1911 when both current school buildings were fi lled to capacity. Parents and other interested citizens began to talk about calling a bond election to raise the necessary funds to build a new school – and discussions centered on somewhere around $30 - $40,000.

Athens’ First School Bond ElectionA petition calling for a bond election was drawn up and circulated

throughout the town in November 1912. Suffi cient certifi ed signatures were collected, and a bond election in the amount of $40,000.00 was called for by the School Board on December 3, 1912. If the issue passed, it would provide funds for the fi rst permanent, brick school building for Athens. And it did pass – overwhelmingly – by a vote of 192 to 11 in an election held in January 1913.

Bids were requested for the building’s construction; several bids were re-ceived, but the winning bid was submitted by W. O. England and C. H. Hawn – Athens contractors. They were awarded a contract to build the new school in the amount of $32,500.00.

One provision of the contract stated that if the contractors spent more than $32,500, they had to pay the difference themselves. On the other hand, if they were able to fi nish the construction for less than the budgeted amount,

A Brief Look Back

ATHENS GRAMMAR SCHOOL: 1914 – 2008

Bruce Academy located in the eastern side of Athens. It was a private academy for a short time around 1900 before becoming Athens Public School - South

Athens Public School - North


they could only bill the school district for the actual cost of construction.Another contract for plumbing in the amount of $4,450.00 was awarded

to another fi rm.Total construction cost: $36,950.00!

The New SchoolThe plans for the building called for:

• A basement to accommodate a boiler room and storage.• A ground level fl oor to have a total of 2 large rooms for other than classroom purposes and 6 classrooms plus restrooms.• A main fl oor that would have 7 classrooms, a library, an offi ce, and one other room.• A third fl oor that would have 6 classrooms, an auditorium, teachers’ room, an offi ce, and restrooms.

Athens Masonic Lodge No. 165 laid the new building’s cornerstone in 1913, and many Athens’ citizens contributed items to be placed in a container behind the cornerstone and to be opened by future generations in 50 or 100 years.

The completed building was occupied in January 1914 and offi cially was named Athens High School/Athens Grammar School.

All 11 grades were taught in the building. However, rapid growth, an-nexation of some rural areas, and a growing reputation for good education soon fi lled the school and presented overcrowded conditions.

To alleviate this, a 6 room wooden structure was built to house the 5th, 6th and 7th grades. It was located on this same property. It was built around 1917 – 1918.

Separating High School and Grammar SchoolBy 1921, all facilities, including the wooden structure, were fi lled and

overcrowded. Parents and concerned citizens began to discuss another bond election for the purpose of building a new, completely separate High School.

The bond election was held and passed. Construction started in 1921 on a piece of property now bordered by East College and South Carroll Streets.

The new Athens High School was occupied in 1922 and the former Ath-ens High School/Athens Grammar School became Athens Grammar School only. This was a momentous occasion for the school district and the com-munity.

New SuperintendentAnother momentous occurrence also took place in 1922 – after several

school superintendents who stayed for short periods of time, the school board hired S. R. LeMay as the new superintendent. Mr. LeMay brought higher standards, greater professionalism, greater expectations, a greater variety of subjects to be taught, and major accomplishments to the Athens School Dis-trict, and he stayed for 24 years. According to reports, he was as well-loved and respected when he left in 1946 as he was in his early years.

Superintendent LeMay joined forces with Mrs. A. W. Sides, the Athens Grammar School Principal, to create a Grammar School that was dedicated to providing a sound education – one that prepared students for the next step. The school was also staffed by a group of teachers that were well-qualifi ed and highly dedicated – and many of them stayed with the school system for decades.

East side view of Athens Grammar School building a few years after its con-struction. The Cornerstone can be seen on the north end of the building.

Cornerstone of Athens fi rst brick school building laid by Athens Masonic Lodge No. 165 in 1913. This cornerstone has been placed in temporary custody of the Henderson County Historical Commission for display until such time as the cornerstone wall memorial is constructed.

School Superintendent S. R. LeMay

Mrs. A. W. Sides


With the move of the High School to its new building, there was some extra room in the Athens Grammar School. Plans were made to convert the two larger rooms on the ground level into a school cafeteria or hot lunch room as it was often called. Over the next few decades, little else was done to the building except routine painting and maintenance to keep it in shape and to protect it from deterioration.

WPA Builds Stone Fence/Stone Tree BarriersIn the late 1930’s, the Athens Independent School District worked with

the WPA – Works Progress Administration – of the federal government to bring about some changes to the property on which the Grammar School sat. The WPA built a stone fence around much of the property. The stone was hauled in from outlying farms surrounding Athens – including the Hendry Farm to the south of Athens. The WPA also used this same stone to erect barriers around many of the trees on the school grounds. These barriers were topped with concrete slabs for sitting, lying down, or playing. They were often used as “bases” in a baseball game. Steps and sidewalks were also built by the WPA.

The fence was removed in the 1950’s, and most of the tree barriers have also been removed over the years.

After 24 Years – A New SuperintendentSuperintendent LeMay resigned in 1946 to join the administrative staff of

Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He was replaced in that year by Su-perintendent J. R. Lowe who went on to serve as Superintendent for 28 years until his retirement in 1968. During Mr. Lowe’s tenure, the Athens Grammar School underwent minor renovations – primarily in the fi rst fl oor area where the cafeteria or lunch room was converted into two classrooms and a nurses offi ce and examination room.

The cafeteria itself was relocated to a wooden structure located to the northwest of the Grammar School – a wooden structure that had been fash-ioned in a T-shape from the combination of two army surplus barracks se-cured from the federal government. One end of the T was used as classroom space when needed, and it was also used for a band rehearsal hall and, on occasion, for the administration of standardized tests.

New Athens Elementary SchoolIn 1949 Grades 1 – 6 were housed in the Athens Grammar School, but

it was a crowded situation. Under the leadership of Superintendent Lowe, the School Board began discussing the building of a new elementary school; plans were made, a bond election called and passed and a contract awarded in 1950; the new Athens Elementary School building completed and grades 1, 2, 3 & 6 moved in – in 1952. The 4th and 5th grades remained in the older building.

In 1951 Mastin Stover became Principal of the Elementary school, which included both buildings. A. R. Pollard soon joined him as Assistant Princi-pal.

Also, in 1952 Mrs. A, W. Sides retired after a 45 year career with the Athens Public Schools – a career that saw her function as a teacher, teacher supervisor, assistant principal, and principal.

The last of the Mohicans - The last remaining rock enclosure around trees on the grounds of Athens Elementary School that were constructed by Works Progress Administration crews around 1940.

The Athens Elementary School constructed in 1952 to replace the old grammar school building.


Athens High School DestroyedTwo years later a disaster struck the Athens school system with the burn-

ing and complete destruction of Athens High School – the building that had been opened in 1922. For a period of nearly two years, Athens High and Ju-nior High classes were scattered all over town – at the junior college, the high school annex building, AHS Gymnasium, and the Athens Grammar School building – which was used for 7th and 8th grade classes along with some elementary classes.

Over the next 30 plus years, the Athens Independent School District con-tinued to grow. New buildings became necessary and were built – including a new Athens High School and Junior High, new elementary schools, and others. During this time, the Athens Grammar School building continued to be used for classroom instruction, special services, offi ces, resource centers, and eventually for storage. The last regular classes were taught in the build-ing in 1985.

For the past decade or so, the building has largely sat empty and unused – boarded up, vandalized, and not maintained or protected very well from the elements.

Athens Grammar School To Be DemolishedWhich brings us to today – a few weeks before the Athens Grammar

School is scheduled to be demolished – and ending a major presence in the educational and community life of Athens that began in 1914?

Thousands of students have walked its hallways, sat in its classrooms, slid down its banisters, and learned from hundreds of teachers, many princi-pals, and superintendents.

The people of Athens have benefi ted in so many ways from its very exis-tence. The near west end of Athens will never look the same – never be quite the same!!!

Back in 1914 the editor of the Athens Review wrote, upon visiting the yet unoccupied building: “The new High School/Grammar School is going to be a very pretty building and a very substantial one. It will serve the community for many years to come.”

He was right!!!

Our beloved high school was destroyed by fi re in the fall of 1954 and with its destruction, we not only lost a grand landmark building but also a proud trophy case full of remarkable achievements in interscholastic activities.

RememberingATHENS GRAMMAR SCHOOL

1947 - 1953

AHS CLASS OF 195950TH Reunion of the Athens High School Class of 1959 is being anticipated for 2009. To assist in planning, we need contact information for all Class Members, and we need up-to-date status information for all Class of ’59 Members.

If you were a member of the AHS Class of 1959, e-mail your current contact in-formation to:

Peggy Kinsey Halbert [email protected] orTom Selman [email protected]

Please send: e-mail address, mailing address, home phone number, cell number, fax number

If you know the status of any other member of the AHS Class of 1959, e-mail Peggy or Tom.

Please send information regarding deaths, place of residence, or any contact in-formation noted above.

If you do not use e-mail, please phone Peggy Kinsey Halbert or Tom Selman with the information:

Peggy: 903/675-2406Tom: 972/788-2069 or 214/803-6335


Henderson County Historical SocietyPost Offi ce Box 943Athens, Texas 75751

(903) 677-3611

Our Purpose

The purpose of the Society is to bring together persons who are interested in the history of Henderson County, to foster, stimulate and share ideas, information, methods and practices of preserving the history of the county with special emphasis on acquiring and maintaining a museum and other historic buildings.

Membership is open to anyone interested in subscribing to the purpose of the Society, whether living in Henderson County or elsewhere. Dues are $10.00 per year.

The Henderson County Historical Museum 217 N. Prairieville Street Athens, Texas 75751 (903) 677-3611 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Sponsored and Maintained by the Henderson County Historical Society

The Museum currently features a special exhibition of Political Buttons and related Political Memorabilia on loan from the collection of Dr. Thomas Selman.

Among the items that can be purchased at the Museum are • J. J. Faulk’s History of Henderson County • Ron Hendry’s Athens’ Day In The Sun • Estelle Corder’s cookbook Best Of The Bench • Replica of Henderson County Courthouse • Replica of old First Methodist Church


Mrs. Maggie AblesMr. G.M. AdamsMiss Hueola AlphinMrs. Minnie Armstrong

Mrs. Bennye BaccariniMrs. Florence BallardMrs. Tennie Mae BallowMrs. Wilma BennettMrs. Jackie BiggsMrs. E.B. (Norene) BishopMrs. J.F. BishopMrs. Marcia BlackmonMiss Annie BooneMiss Jennie BooneMiss Mary BooneMrs. A.D. BoydMrs. Kay BoylesMrs. Doris BrewerMrs. Thelma BrewerMrs. D.T. BroomMrs. Bobby Jean BryceMrs. Evangeline Byrnes

Mrs. Jackie CaldwellMrs. Louise CalvinMrs. Nubel CannonMrs. Lenna CarlisleMr. Jerry CarpenterMr. Randy CarterMrs. Shirley CarterMrs. Jo ChristopherMr. John ClaytonMrs. Frances ClineMrs. Bonita CokerMrs. Sharon CollinsMrs. Ruth CookMrs. Leah Ann CostlowMrs. A.B. CulbertsonMrs. Margaret Cummings

Mrs. Brenda DavisMrs. Lola DavisMrs. June DennisMrs. Darleen Jones DeupreeMrs. Sharon DewsMrs. Mamie DowningMrs. Espanola DrumgooleMelvin Dunn (Principal)Mrs. Bettye Dunnington

Mrs. Esther Reynolds EdwardsMrs. Annie B. EllisMrs. Elizabeth ElmoreMarion EmmonsMrs. Maude EstesMrs. George (Elizabeth) EvansMrs. Pat Evans

Mrs. Rachel Young FaulkMrs. Retha FarringtonMrs. Kathleen FelpsMrs. Kaye FitzgeraldMrs. Margaret FomanMrs. Berniece FrancisMrs. Ruby FrancisMr. Jim FreemanMrs. Jo Gamble

Mrs. Aubrey (Pauline) GandyMr. B.H. Gibson (Principal)Mr. George Glaspie (Principal)Mrs. Gloria GlaspieMrs. Paralee GlassMrs. JoAnn GloverMr. William GreenMrs. Lana Gunn

Miss Jennie Mae HallMrs. Joyce Williams HallMrs. Elizabeth HallumMrs. T.C. HamiltonMrs. Mary Edith HamrickMr. Andrew HansonMrs. Ora (Ellie) HartMrs. Joyce HasleyMrs. Charles (Ollie Jo) HawnMrs. Laveda HerringMrs. Elizabeth HerringtonMrs. Sybil HicksMrs. J.L. HilerMrs. Zeffi e HillMiss Ethel HollyMrs. Marguerite HolleyMrs. Betty HollowellMrs. Corrine HollowellMrs. Alice HolmanMrs. Mary HortonMrs. Faye HounselMrs. Jo Christopher Hounsel Mrs. Louis (Letha) Hounsel

Mrs. Dale JamesMr. Lonnie JamesMrs. Cecil JohnsonMrs. Irene JohnsonMrs. Patti JonesMrs. Alice Jordan

Mrs. Alva Gober KinabrewMrs. Evelyn KindredMiss Kathy KillingsworthMrs. Dosha KingMr. Billy Krenz

Mrs. Joe (Bernie Lee) LambMrs. Flarra LarkinMrs. Lee Ann LenoreMrs. Hazel LewisMr. Kenneth Lewis (Principal)Mrs. Bertha LoperMrs. Tarlton (Leland) LoughridgeMrs. Jane Westfahl LuncefordMrs. Barbara Lundeen

Mrs. Ruth MartinMrs. Pauline MassengaleMr. Lonnie MasseyMrs. Ray MattinglyMrs. Pamela MaysMrs. LaWanda McCowanMrs. Maxine McDowellMrs. Florence McElhaneyMrs. W.C. McGuffeyMrs. B.L. McLaughlinMrs. William MilesMrs. Joyce Mills

Mrs. A.J. MillerMiss Hattie MitchellMrs. Betty MoellerMr. Joe MurrayMr. J.E. (Sonny) MusickMrs. Patsy MusickMrs. Ruby Myers

Mr. J.T. Nelson (Principal)Mrs. Odie Mae Norwood

Mrs. Joe (Faye) OwenMrs. LaVerne OwenMrs. T.B. Owen

Miss Harriet PaceMrs. Nellie PalmerMrs. Glenda ParkMrs. Mildred ParkMrs. Harriet ParkerMr. George Peacock (Principal)Mrs. Mildred PennellMrs. Pauline PerkinsMrs. Sue PetersMrs. Constance PhillipsMrs. Frankie PickensMiss Emma John PinkertonMr. Guy PirtleMrs. Guy (Eileen) PirtleMr. A.R. Pollard (Assistant Principal)Mrs. Martha PristerMrs. Annette PulleyMiss Patricia Elliott Pugh

Mrs. Kathleen RayMrs. Ruby ReiersonMrs. R.L. (Iola) RobertsonMrs. Trina RobinsonMrs. Alene RoseMrs. Vera Jo RowellMrs. W.B. Rumbo (School Nurse)Mrs. Dora Royal Russell

Mrs. Claude (Faye Colton) ScirrattMrs. Janelle SeabourneMr. Robert ScottMrs. Sara Alice ScottMrs. Carolyn ShackelfordMr. Ben ShewMrs. Pauline Buford ShinnMiss Beth ShireyMrs. Juanita SholarsMrs. A.W. (Macca) Sides (Teacher & Principal)Mrs. Lois SimpsonMrs. Joyce SimmonsMrs. Teresa SinesMrs. Melinda SkeltonMrs. Mattie SkinnerMiss Agnes SmithMrs. Alice SmithMrs. B.P. SmithMrs. Fran McGee SmithMr. Jessie SnowdenMrs. Jacqueline SolomonMr. Bill StampsMrs. Mary Elizabeth StampsMr. Eddie StaplesMrs. Barbara StegallMrs. Doris Stone

Miss Faye StoneMrs. Mack (Bertha) StoverMr. Mastin Stover (Principal)Mrs. Jennifer SullivanMrs. Lou Sutton

Mrs. Mildred TankersleyMrs. Diane ThomasMrs. W.R. ThomasMr. Danny Tinney (Principal)Mr. Clay TompkinsMrs. J.C. (Elizabeth) TownleyMiss Terry TownleyMrs. Annette TrammellMrs. Judy TrammellMrs. J.E. TuckerMrs. Lanetta TuckerMrs. Nancy TuckerMiss Inez TurnerMrs. R.D. (Jeanne) Tyner

Mr. Rex Underwood

Mrs. Janice Vonner

Mrs. Ann Davis WadeMrs. Thelma WalkerMrs. Virginia WarholMiss Flora WeeklyMrs. Darlene Westbrook (Principal)Mrs. Annie WhitesidesMrs. Nola WhitesidesMrs. Christine WilbanksMrs. Peggy WilliamsMrs. Cleo WorthamMrs. Lois WrightMrs. Mary Alice Wood

Mrs. Helena Yantis

TEACHERS WHO TAUGHT AT THE OLD ATHENS GRAMMAR/ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (ALSO KNOWN AS WEST ATHENS ELEMENTARY)

Did We Forget Someone?

Although we tried to make the list as inclusive and complete as possible, we may have unintentionally omitted some names. We would like to know if we did. Please email Tom Selman at [email protected] and let him know of the omission. Give name and approximate years taught if known. We’ll supplement this in-formation to our electronic version posted on the HCHC website.


Mrs. A. W. SIDES (1951 photo)

Mrs. A. W. (Maaca) Sides is probably as-sociated with the Athens Grammar School more than any other single personality – principal, teacher, or student. She began as a teacher in the new Athens High School/Athens Grammar School upon its opening in 1914, and she continued working in the school until her retirement in 1952. During this time she worked with several superin-tendents, several principals, hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students.

Mrs. Sides had actually started as a teach-er with the Athens School System in 1910 after teaching for several years in other Hen-derson County schools. She started teach-ing before she married A. W. Sides as Miss Maaca Patterson. She graduated from Sam Houston State Teachers College at Hunts-ville in 1907, and she later attended a teach-ers college in Greeley, Colorado, and got her B. S. degree from North Texas State College in Denton in 1937.

Mrs. Sides was quickly recognized for her personal strength and leadership quali-ties and was made a teacher supervisor, then assistant principal, and fi nally, principal of Athens Grammar School – positions normal-ly occupied by men in that day and time. She is credited, along with long time Superinten-dent S. R. LeMay , with improving the pro-fessionalism of the Athens Grammar School faculty by choosing and employing teachers with degrees, even advanced degrees, and a high level of dedication to students and education. She saw the value in tenure and encouraged teachers to stay with the Athens system for years.

Although Mrs. Sides was known for her formal demeanor, stern discipline, reputa-

tion for enforcing the rules, and willingness to punish those who strayed, she was also known as a wonderful, caring teacher who was always willing and able to help students, parents, and other teachers. In spite of per-sistent rumors, she never had an electric pad-dle. More often than not, her instrument of punishment was a symbolic wooden ruler.

Along with her husband, Mrs. Sides op-erated the famous Sides Store located across from the school on Hawn Street. It was a favorite stop for students for a couple of de-cades. Mrs. Sides was also known as a poet and many of her poems were published over the years.

Mrs. A. W. Sides retired from the Athens Grammar School and the Athens Indepen-dent School District in May 1952. On the occasion of her retirement, Superintendent Ray Lowe said “Mrs. Sides is one of the fi n-est teachers I have ever worked with, and we certainly regret losing her from the Athens school system. She will be missed for a long time to come.”

MISS ANNIE BOONE

Annie Bingham Boone, “Miss Annie” as she was known for 44 years in the Athens Public School System, was another one of those wonderful teachers that students for several generations came to admire, respect, and love. She was a “fi xture” at the Ath-ens Grammar School, Athens Elementary School, and South Athens Elementary for 44 of her 46 year teaching career. For most of her career, she taught in the third grade.

She and her sisters, all teachers, were daughters of a prominent pioneering fam-ily. She attended college at Trinity Univer-sity, which was then located in Waxahachie, earned her Bachelors degree from Southern Methodist in Dallas, and graduated from Co-lumbia University Teachers College in New

York City with a Masters degree. In addition to her love of teaching, Miss Annie loved music and reading. She often provided mu-sical entertainment for student functions as well as for church and civic groups.

Miss Annie, along with her sisters, loved to travel and then share her experiences with students. She and Mss Jennie spent parts of many summers with their sister Mary Boone Quesnel in New York. She would return to Athens and share their many experiences with students – the fi rst many heard about such things as the Statue of Liberty, the Em-pire State Building, and other famous and historical sites.

Miss Annie died in Athens in 1994 at the age of 85. She had been retired for a number of years and had enjoyed a new home built with and shared by her sisters. Previously she had lived in the historic family home for more than 58 years. Even in retirement, she remained active and involved in her com-munity, its civic organizations, and the First Presbyterian Church. She always enjoyed former students dropping by to visit or just say hello. She was truly an inspiring teacher and devoted most of her life to education.

MISS JENNIE BOONE(1929 photo)

The very personifi cation of a sweet, lov-ing, caring, and gentle teacher was Miss Jennie Boone – one of the “famous” Boone sisters of Athens: Mary, Jennie, and Annie. Miss Jennie, as she was affectionately called by generations of Athens Grammar and El-ementary School students, taught for a total of 47 years – nearly every day spent with the Athens School system. She was a daughter of one of the true pioneer families of Athens and Henderson County.

Miss Jennie died in 1996 at the age of 90; her life had been full of education, trav-el, and community involvement. She was a lifelong active member of the First Presby-terian Church of Athens, and was active in numerous civic clubs and organizations. But most of all, she was a great teacher – one who inspired, who challenged, and taught by example as well as word. She loved music and started the music program of the Athens

School system. She would often play the piano at school functions including plays, pageants, assemblies, and PTA meetings.

For most of her career, Miss Jennie taught the 6th Grade – at Athens Grammar School, Athens Elementary School, and in her last years of teaching at South Athens Elemen-tary. She had graduated from Athens High School as the class valedictorian and went on to earn a Bachelors degree from Southern Methodist University and a Masters degree from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City.

PAULINE BUFORD SHINN

Pauline Buford was born and grew up in the Bethel Community north of Athens on Highway 19. She attended the Bethel Schools until her junior year in high school. At that time, she came to Athens. The next year she went to live with a sister in Rock-wall where she fi nished high school.

Miss Buford taught in the Bethel schools for 4 years beginning in 1934. She left the Bethel Schools to return to North Texas State Teachers College to complete her de-gree. After obtaining her college education, she came back to live in her parent’s house and got a teaching job. To help pay for her “keep” on the farm, she had to milk fi ve cows every morning before leaving for her teaching job and then milk them again when she returned in the evening.

She returned to teach in Athens in 1944. She taught fourth grade her fi rst year in Ath-ens. She married Richard Shinn in 1945 and became the Mrs. Shinn that was loved by so many fi rst grade students over the years. Mrs. Shinn retired after teaching for 39 years.

Richard Shinn was a football star with the 1928 Athens Hornets and also one of the nine members of the 1929 Athens Hornets National Basketball Champions.

In refl ecting on her career, Mrs. Shinn remembered one woman commenting on her teaching fi rst grade. The woman said “I guess it would be easy for anyone to teach fi rst grade.” Mrs. Shinn remembers that it was not easy because students didn’t come to school until age six and most of them, in the early years, didn’t know their letters, how

Grammar School Teacher Profi les


to properly hold a pencil or their colors. Kin-dergarten changed that later, but fi rst grade teachers had a huge responsibility to make sure students received the basics necessary to succeed throughout their school years.

One humorous story that Mrs. Shinn re-lated came as the result of one boy celebrat-ing his birthday. The class had gone to music class where the class had sung Happy Birth-day to the boy and mentioned his age. On returning, one of the girls put her arm around Mrs. Shinn’s shoulder and asked her how old she was. Mrs. Shinn was in her late 40’s, but she told the girl she was 67 - just for fun. The young girl looked at her and said, “That was just the right age for a school teacher.”

Another story Mrs. Shinn remembered was of a small boy in another fi rst grade classroom. He was tiny for 6 years old. When Mrs. Shinn had playground duty, the boy would come and hold her hand. One day, he kissed her hand and said, “I love you.” She replied, “I’m glad you do because I love you.” He had a training patch over one eye. He looked up at her and said, “Mrs. Shinn, you are my goodest friend.”

Mrs. Shinn noted the differences in edu-cation today. Today, the state tests drive what is taught. In her day, teachers taught the stu-dents what they needed to know and showed them lots of love along the way.

Pauline Buford Shinn still resides in Ath-ens.

JOYCE WILLIAMS HALL It was August, 1949 when Joyce Williams

was fi rst employed as a teacher in the Athens School District. Luckily, she had just turned 20 that August, or Superintendent J.R. Lowe could not have hired her to teach. Miss Wil-liams had attended East Texas State College in Commerce.

Her tenure in Athens schools spanned 39 years. Her fi rst teaching assignment in 1949 was as a fourth grade teacher. All the young boys in Athens Grammar School were thrilled about this young, attractive teacher,

and many of the girls liked her fashion sense and her hair. But, at the end of her fi rst year of teaching, “Miss Williams” got married and ended the dreams of some of the little boys. Miss Williams was now Mrs. Hall.

She then began teaching second grade. In 1955, another teacher, Mrs. Evans, was teaching sixth grade, but she wanted to change grade levels. Mrs. Hall agreed to switch grade levels with Mrs. Evans and she began teaching sixth grade for the 1955-56 school term; she continued to teach sixth grade in the old Grammar School building until all classes were moved. She moved to Bel Air Elementary at that time. At Bel Air, Mrs. Hall taught English and Math to fourth, fi fth, and sixth grade students. She was al-ways a popular teacher among students and well liked and respected by them.

Teaching in the early years was much different than it is today, according to Mrs. Hall... The schools didn’t have the disobedi-ence that is sometimes seen in the schools today. Also, teachers were not as restricted when deciding on a means of discipline. The building had steam heat, and Mr. Brown (the custodian) kept the building well heat-ed. Windows were open and everyone was exposed to the street and train noise as well as the pollen of spring.

Mrs. Hall often had the band students which meant she had her conference/plan-ning period fi rst thing in the morning. This made for a very long afternoon.

The trains that rolled past each day were an integral part of the school day. Just about the time she thought she had made her point, another train would come by. Mrs. Hall re-fl ects that she had many wonderful years teaching in the old grammar school build-ing.

.LELAND LOUGHRIDGEOne of the Athens Grammar School

teachers that every student wanted “to get” prior to the beginning of a new school year

was Leland Loughridge - “to get” mean-ing to get her as a teacher. Mrs. Loughridge was a much loved 5th Grade teacher in the Athens Grammar School for over three de-cades. Students considered her to be kind and considerate but many students also liked her became she kept the class busy with new and innovative approaches to education. She encouraged friendly competition within her class, and she also encouraged friendly com-petition with other classes.

She also encouraged friendly cooperation among the 5th grade classes – whether it was in publishing a student newspaper, putting on a play in the auditorium, participating in the various special events and festivals, or getting involved in community projects

Mrs. Loughridge began her teaching ca-reer, not as an elementary or grammar school teacher, but as a high school journalism teacher at Athens High School. Journalism had been her major while pursuing her col-lege degree. The Loughridge family moved away from Athens during the years of World War II when Mr. Loughridge accepted em-ployment with the Hughes Tool Company in Houston as part of the war effort. The fam-ily returned to Athens after the war, and Mrs. Loughridge became a grade school teacher in the Athens Grammar School; she soon be-came a 5th grade teacher and continued to teach the 5th grade for the remainder of her career. She also chose to remain in the Old Grammar School building rather than move her class into the new Athens Elementary School when it was built.

Mr. and Mrs. Loughridge had two chil-dren, Michael and Linda, who attended Ath-ens Grammar School and graduated from Athens High School. Leland Loughridge resides today in Arc City, Kansas, - near her daughter Linda and her husband. She resides in a healthcare center. She is now 96 years of age, and she still remembers some things about her teaching career, the Athens Gram-mar School building, and does, from time to time, reminisce with her daughter about those years.

JANELLE SEABORNEI began student teaching in the building

under Jennie Mae Hall in 1961. I was hired full time in Sept., 1962. I taught 34 years and retired in 1996. Favorite memory: A child brought a squirrel to school for show and tell. The squirrel got loose. Wow, what excitement trying to retrieve it.

J. R. LOWE

(retirement years photo)

J. R. (Ray) Lowe became Superintendent of the Athens Independent School District in 1946 following the 22 year tenure of Dr. S. R. Le May. He came to Athens following his service in World War II with the United States Navy. Prior to that he had worked as a teacher and administrator in the pub-lic school systems of Rattan, Cooper, and Greenville after earning his Bachelors de-gree from East Texas State Teachers Col-lege in 1933. Superintendent Lowe often recalled that after completing college, he found few employment opportunities. The nation was in the midst of the Great Depres-sion and little hiring was being done in any fi eld. He remembered coming home and hoeing cotton to earn some money; he also remembered getting so frustrated about the lack of opportunity in his chosen occupation that he literally threw his framed college di-ploma against the wall in complete and utter disgust.

Superintendent Lowe easily took up the reins left by Dr. Le May and soon made the Superintendency his own. He was hard working, friendly, and innovative. He was faced with numerous major problems rang-ing from post war fi nances to court-ordered integration to the transformation of a school system in order to face the major econom-ic, social, and political upheavals that the school system would face over the next few years. Superintendent Lowe was determined to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision on integration in a caring, compassionate, and considerate manner, and he and his school system succeeded. The Athens Independent School District, under the leadership of Ray Lowe was the fi rst East Texas school system to completely integrate and to do so without confl ict.

Ray Lowe was very involved in the Ath-ens community including the Athens Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Junior Chamber of

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 11 Commerce as well as the Chamber of Com-merce. He was widely recognized for his accomplishments with the Athens Indepen-dent School District and was the recipient of numerous honors and awards over the years.

Superintendent Lowe resigned as Super-intendent of the Athens Independent School District in 1974 to devote time to his farm and his family. He had, by this time, served 28 years as Superintendent of Schools – one of the longest tenures for that position in the State. Ray Lowe died on January 12, 2006; he was 5 years short of his 100th birth date.

MASTIN STOVER

Mastin Stover had a successful career as a teacher, with the U. S. Army Air Corps, and as a school administrator – all stretching over a period of 43 years, including nearly 40 years in the fi eld of education. Mr. Sto-ver began his education career as Principal of the Martins Mill High School in 1929. He joined the Athens School System in 1930 as a teacher of chemistry and physics; then he left his career and joined the United States Army.

After his military service he returned to the Athens Independent School District as Principal of the Junior High, then Athens High School Principal, District Curriculum Director, and fi nally the position where he stayed the longest – Principal of Athens Elementary School – later West Athens El-ementary.

Mr. Stover was highly regarded by stu-dent, teacher, and parent alike. He was per-sonable, straight forward, honest, and very friendly. He was an imposing fi gure to the young school children because of his stat-ure and his prominent white hair, but he was also widely respected and loved.

Mastin Stover, who had come to Ath-ens as a youngster, graduated from Athens High School, married an Athens girl, Caro-lyn Craig, raised a family in the city, died

in Athens in March 1972 at the age of 62. He accomplished a lot as a teacher and ad-ministrator, but he was proud of his role in establishing a special education program in the Athens School System.

Principal Mastin Stover’s Rules of Student Conduct courtesy of Fredia Daniel Burns

I ACCEPT MY RESPONSIBILITYas a good citizen to get a good foundationin READINGWRITING and SPELLING, andARITHMETIC;AND TO BEReverent to God and patriotic to my country;Respectful to my parents, my teachers, and all properAuthority, and respectful to myself and the rights andProperty of others;Responsible for my own property and assignments and Helping to take care of public property, andResponsible for speaking the truth and being honestAnd fair in my actions;And to Always BeCareful, Courteous, Clean in body and mind.

What a joy it was to go through every page of your book--- Dr. Robert W. Strain, AHS class of 1942

A can’t put down quick page turner for anyone from Athens and Hen-derson County. This book is not just about basketball but also full of hundreds of tibits of history concerning Athens and Henderson County during the 1920’s and 1930’s and since. Many sidebars on the people and characters from the area are discussed. Jack Keeble, AHS class of 1959

Available locally for $24.95 at the HCHS Museum in Athens and Wag-onwheel Antique Mall in Murchison or order a signed copy by mail by contacting Ron Hendry at 214-343-7448 or [email protected].

Athens’ Day In The Sun by Ron Hendry is a 400 page historical account of the grand times that occurred during the 1920s and 1930s in Athens and Henderson County. It centers around an eight year basketball sports dynasty of Athens High School and captures the life and times in the process.

A POPULAR STORE by Ms. A. W. Sides

The store across the street is a popular place.To get there fi rst the children race.They get to the door and stop for breathThen they look for the candy that they like best.There are lolly-pops, gum drops, and many kinds moreIn the big candy case just inside the door.Then you go down the aisle to the drinks at the backAs you pass by the cookies all neat on a rack.The drinks yellow, red, green, and purple, too.And an ice-cream box all come into view.Now what will you spend your nickel forDrinks, cookies, ice-cream, or a candy bar?

MR. BROWN by Ms. A. W. Sides

We’ve left the old building and Mr. Brown, too.He kept the old building and helped the teachers, too.Whether at work or whether at playWe called on Mr. Brown every day.Do this, do that for us right quick.He was never too busy and never got sick.He made a Mother Goose shoe to use in our playFor us he kept things ready and smoothed the way.So now that we’ve moved across the yardWe hope things for Mr. Brown will not be so hard.We would thank him and express appreciation trueFor the many things he was always ready to do.

poems courtesy of Fredia Daniel Burns

Which former students of Athens fi rst brick school building had the most unusual and or distinguished life experiences? This writer’s can-didates are

• William Wayne Justice - His long tenure as Federal District Judge and the diffi cult legal matters he has ad-dressed have brought him national prominence

• Mary Katherine Underwood and Jerry Jane Wynne were on the Brit-ish Liner Athenia when it was tor-pedoed and sunk two days after the start of World War II in September 1939. The Athenia was the fi rst ship sunk in the war.

• Franklin Wofford Denius - One of the most decorated WWII war he-roes. Some have said his medals for heroic conduct were second in num-ber only to Audie Murphy.


QUICK GLIMPSES OF TEACHERS WHO HAD A LONG CAREER AS-SOCIATED WITH ATHENS GRAMMAR SCHOOLBy Tom Selman

Over the decades the Athens Independent School District has produced a large number of teachers who have gone on to teach and make their mark upon thousands of school students all over Texas and the United States and even in other nations of the world. Some have even returned to spend some or all of their teaching careers in Athens and Henderson County. These Athens produced teachers taught in elemen-tary schools, junior highs and intermediate schools, high schools, and colleges/uni-versities. Did you ever wonder why Athens produced so many teachers, and why these teachers went on to wonderful teaching careers?

My guess is because of the infl uence of so many wonderful, dedicated teachers who, by personal example and personal conduct, showed what great teachers were and what they could accomplish in life as a teacher. Wouldn’t you want to be a teacher if you had the profound infl uence and example of Mrs. Ora Hart, Mrs. Le-tha Hounsel, Miss Hueola Alphin, Mrs. Maude Estes? Or Mrs. Lois Simpson, Mrs. Bertha Loper, Miss Jennie Mae Hall, Mrs. Mack Stover, Mrs. W. C. Scirratt, Mrs. Bernie Lee Lamb, and Mrs. Vera Jo Rowell? And all the others who are profi led on these pages or listed on these pages?

I could go on and on, and I feel badly that I don’t have the time or space to name them all. I have been so impressed with the memories and recollections of Athens’ special teachers on the lives of their students – memories passed along in person, in writing, through e-mails, or through the recollection of a particular time or event. As a student of the Athens Independent School District for my entire elementary and secondary career, I was always infl uenced by the teachers I had – and I can truth-fully say that I never had a poor teacher; never had a teacher that I didn’t know cared about me and all my fellow students. However, I was also greatly infl uenced by all those teachers I never had because we always seemed to get to know them all and they got to know us.

In this column I am going to give just a quick glimpse of a few teachers that spent many of their years in the Athens Grammar School Building; after all, it is probably because of them that we remember the Old School so warmly and fondly. Again, I wish I could tell something about all of them – they all deserve it. We did attempt to include everyone in the List of Teachers that you fi nd on these pages. They all deserve to be remembered, and I am certain they are – by dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of students.

MRS. ROY (BERTHA) LOPER

Bertha Loper was born and raised in Henderson County and lived in the county most of her life. The last 30 years or so in Athens. She had taught school in some of the rural area around Athens prior to joining the Athens School System in the 1940’s as a teacher in Athens High School. In 1951 she made the move to the Athens Grammar (Elementary) School and became a teacher in the 5th grade. During the summer months before school started, the rumors really got started. You didn’t want to get Mrs. Loper; at Athens High School she was known to be a really strict teacher who often threw books or bottles of ink at students!! Upon reporting to school the fi rst day, those assigned to her class could easily believe those stories because here was a tall, sturdy woman with a “big” hairdo. However, they soon found out that she didn’t throw bottles of ink or dusty erasers; she didn’t scream or yell at students. She did, however, expect that students would pay attention and become involved in the learning process. She was very innovative in her teaching approach; she encour-aged leadership development and she encouraged her students to learn by competing with each other and students in other classes. She brought to the elementary grades the idea of a student council, class offi cers, a student newspaper (along with Mrs. Loughridge), and all types of competitions that encouraged learning and the devel-opment of other skills. She was, as they soon found out, a caring, loving teacher who

worked hard and expected them to work hard as well. Students loved her as well and appreciated all that she did for them. Mrs. Loper died in July 1967 after a brief illness.

MRS. MAUDE ESTES

A sweet, charming lady who loved teaching, who loved her daughters, Nell and Mildred, and who always had a wonderful smile to greet everyone....this was Mrs. Maude Estes. She was a native of Athens and loved the city and its people and lived in Athens until she moved to Arlington in 1961. All but her last four years of teaching were spent in Athens. She believed in making sure all her students gained the necessary foundation to be successful in all the grades that followed. She was a great believer in spelling and vocabulary and reading. She encouraged her students to use the public library and to read, read, read....For many students, Mrs. Estes class was the fi rst time they were exposed to a lot of geography. She used a lot of maps and encouraged students to draw maps, fi ll in outline maps, and to make maps out of clay, salt and fl our, and other such materials. She enjoyed a good time and had her classes very involved in the annual pageants where students participated in square dancing and wore colorful costumes made for the occasion by their mothers. Mrs. Estes died in 1965 following several years of declining health.

MRS. LOUIS (LETHA) HOUNSEL

Mrs. Letha Hounsel was a long time teach-er not only in Athens but in many of the rural schools of Henderson County. She was one of the founders, director, and early teachers in one of Athens’ fi rst pre-school programs. She taught in the public schools for more than 35 years and came out of retirement to direct the new private preschool program for several years. Mrs. Letha Hounsel was born in 1891 and died in 1962. She was famous for her gentleness and her discipline. She encouraged students to always tell the truth and to use proper, clean words. She often said “I’m going to have to wash your mouth out with soap!” She taught many grades but her favorite was fi rst grade.

MRS. HARRIS (TENNIE MAE) BALLOW

Born, raised, and lived her entire life in Henderson County and primarily in Athens. She taught classes intermittently over the years while raising a family, but returned to full time teaching around 1952 when she accepted an assignment as a 6th grade teacher in the newly completed Athens Elementary School. She was a very popular teacher and loved by the students who came to appreciate her gentleness, her affection, and her sense of humor. She had an infectious smile and always inquired about how one’s family was doing health wise. She expected good attitudes, good listening skills, and good discipline; in return she was patient and understanding and helpful in every way possible. Tennie Mae Shelton Ballow died in Athens in Sep-tember 2003 at the age of 91.

MRS.VERA JO ROWELL

Long time 5th grade teacher who taught in the public schools of Athens and Henderson County for more than 25 years. She was born, raised, and lived her entire life in Henderson County. She was loved and appreciated by her many students over the years, and she encouraged them in their development – educationally, spiritu-

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 13 ally, and socially. Her 3rd fl oor classroom was always a sight to behold on special holidays, and her classes were always spirited competitors with the other 5th grade classes. Mrs. Rowell died in Athens in May 1989 at the age of 88.

MRS. ORA (ELLIE) HART ( photo in 1925 and 1948)

Another famous, top notch fi rst grade teacher was Mrs. Ora Hart. She taught for more than 35 years in the Athens System – nearly all of it as a fi rst grade teacher.

But she did more than teach. In 1925, she was was in charge of the East Tex-as Cotton Palace opening pageant which featured an opening day parade from the grammar school to the fair grounds with all schools in the county participating. This was followed on opening night with children from all county schools presenting a fi ve act play on the history of the county.

She was a tall woman – at least she appeared so to a fi rst grader! She was like a second Mother to her many students, and she took care of their needs – educational and personal while under her care. She did everything she could to encourage a student to try something until they succeeded – not giving up. She went out of her way to make sure that no individual student was ever “picked on” or embarrassed for any reason. She was a disciplinarian, but a loving and caring one. She began her teaching career in Athens in the very early 1920’s and continued until her sud-den death in 1955. Mrs. Hart loved fl owers and trees and encouraged her students to love nature as well.

MRS. JOE (BERNIE LEE) LAMB

An infectious smile, a caring attitude, and a sincere love of her students – that was Mrs. Lamb, Athens Grammar/Athens Elementary School teacher for more than 30 years. She was generally a 4th grade teacher but did teach other grades over the years. She had taught 13 years outside the Athens System for a total teaching career that spanned 43 years. Mrs. Lamb died in Athens in February 1993 at the age of 81. She was born and raised in Athens and got her college degrees from the University of Houston and East Texas State.

MISS HUEOLA ALPHIN

Started her teaching career at age 16 and taught in the public schools of Texas for over 50 years. Miss Alphin came to Athens as a second grade teacher in the mid-1940’s and retired from the Athens system in the mid-1960’s. Miss Alphin loved teaching, and her students loved her. She really enjoyed teaching writing skills, and there are many former students today who owe their penmanship abilities to Miss Alphin. She was one of the fi rst teachers to use the writing tablets with the “invisible line” to help students form letters properly and in the proper relationship to other

letters. In the Grammar School Building, her room was on the ground level or fi rst fl oor – immediately across from the Cafeteria before it was moved to the barracks. Miss Alphin was born on September 23, 1900, and died 13 days short of her 100th birthday on September 10, 1999. She had a wonderful sense of humor and she always made certain that every student got their share of Valentine cards, or Christ-mas cards, or whatever – when students would distribute to other students.

MRS. LOIS HENDERSON SIMPSON (1951 photo)

A member of a long time prominent family of Athens and Henderson County – the Hender-sons. A relative of the fi rst Governor of Texas and the man for whom Henderson County was named – J. Pinckney Henderson. Mrs. Simpson had a teaching career that spanned 35 years, and 31 of them were spent with the Athens School System – fi rst at the Athens Grammar School and ending at South Athens Elementary. She was a very attractive, petite woman with a won-derful sense of humor and a ready laugh that could be heard down the 2nd Floor Hallway of the Grammar School. She was an avid reader and encouraged her students to read; she also encouraged them to participate in various social activities to improve their social and interaction skills. Lois Simpson enjoyed teaching and her students loved and appreciated her. She also

doted on her only child, Bobby. Mrs. Simpson died at the age of 65 in July 1976.

MRS. W. C. (FAYE) SCIRRATT

Mrs. W. C. Scirratt was born and raised in Athens and lived in the city her entire life. She had a long teaching career in the Athens Public Schools as a grade school teacher – primarily the 5th and 6th grade over the years. Her career was well over 30 years in duration. She was one of those teachers that students didn’t necessar-ily want “to get” each year, but once they were in her class, they loved and appreciated her as a person and as a teacher. Mrs. Scirratt once told this writer that she had the misfortune of having a last name with the word “rat” in it, and those students then associated her with something un-pleasant. However, she was an excellent teach-er and a very dedicated one; her students found

themselves, year after year, well prepared to go onto the next step – Junior High. Mrs. Scirratt died in July 1984 at the age of 84 after a lengthy illness.

MRS. MACK (BERTHA) STOVER

Bertha Stover was known for her smile, her pleasant attitude, and her hair style! She was a teacher for a total of nearly 40 years – 35 spent in the Athens School System. She was primarily known as a 5th grade teacher although she taught other grades over the years. Mrs. Stover was born in Mississippi in 1899 but resided in Athens most of her life. She had also taught for a period of time in Athens High School. Mrs. Stover died in Malakoff in November 1983 at the age of 84.


I’d RATHER BE A FIRST GRADE TEACHER By Thelma Brewer

I’d rather be a fi rst grade teacher Than a queen upon a throneFor the joy we share in the classroom Is greater than kings have known.The love and devotion of my pupils No eartly throne can compareGod’s breath of innocence and tenderness Is still with them when placed in my care.

I’d rather be a fi rst grade teacher Than to have much silver and goldFor God trusts me each day with his treasures To love, train, and mold.Earth’s gold will perish with using And silver doesn’t always bring fameBut I feel a satisfi ed happiness With the word “Teacher” attached to my name.

THELMA INEZ BREWER

Thelma Brewer came from a family of teach-ers; her father and three of her brothers were teachers – all in the Henderson County, Athens area; she, too, became a teacher and remained an active member of the profession for 45 years – well over half of it in the Athens and Henderson County area she loved so much and had been a part of most of her life. She taught in LaPoynor, Malakoff, Bethel, Orange, Athens, Pecos, and Richardson. She spent 21 years in the Athens Independent School District and many of those years were spent teaching in the Athens Gram-mar School Building.

For most of her career, Mrs. Brewer taught in the fi rst, second, or third grades, and she enjoyed

and was proud of being known as a First Grade Teacher. Her last years as a teach-er were spent in the Richardson School District where she developed and directed “Plan A” – a diagnostic program to differentiate learning disabled students from mentally disabled students so the schools could better tailor an appropriate curricu-lum. Although she had success wherever she taught, Mrs. Brewer’s favorite school was Athens Grammar School/Athens Elementary School – after all it was home. She taught with Principals Sides, Anderson, Dunn, Gibson, Stover, and Pollard.

Mrs. Brewer’s fi rst 8 years were spent teaching in the Athens Grammar School; she moved over to the new Athens Elementary School when it opened in 1952. She often marveled at how many individual students had entered and walked the hallways and stairs of the “Old Building” in its lifetime and how many good teach-ers she had worked with in that building. Mrs. Brewer was an innovative teacher who encouraged her students to know what was going on about them; her family, in 1952, even arranged to buy their fi rst television set so that she would have it in time to have her entire class over to her home to witness the inauguration of the new President, Dwight Eisenhower. This was something new for students, and some students remembered that occasion for years to come.

Thelma Brewer died at the age of 80 in 1995; she left a legacy of thousands of students who benefi ted from her teaching, her personal guidance and devotion, and her poetry.

Mrs. Guy Pirtle

Mr. Ben Shew

COMMENTARY

Time and space preclude additional glimpses; perhaps another time will al-low us to recognize other teachers – particularly those who began their career with the Athens System in the late 1950’s and through the following decades. They, too, have continued the record of dedication and excellence that was set forth by those mentioned above and many dozens more.

Working on this project has clearly demonstrated to this writer that we need to do a better job of preserving our educational history – with regard to teachers, principals, superintendents, buildings, activities, and events. Ideally, the various school systems in our county, including Athens, could identify someone to be responsible for collecting, identifying, assembling and cataloging information on all of those items mentioned and have it in a central repository for access and use by those who need information. Current and former teachers can donate to appropriate preservation sources information about them and their careers – scrapbooks, yearbooks, photos, etc. Teachers and schools are among our most valuable resources and deserve as much in the way of preservation as do build-ings and sites.

Our teachers for whom we have found photos

Mrs. Florence McElhaney

Odds and Ends According to local brick and

clay expert, Johnny Morrison, the Grammar School brick exterior was dry pressed solid core brick and was made by Athens Brick Company.

Ershie Lehr said that W. O. Eng-land, contractor for the Grammar School, was a well known local area contractor and had also built the old and ornate Presbyterian Church.

The Grammar School, Presby-terian Church and Cain Building were believed to all be constructed out of the same brick.


Editor’s note: Over 60 responded to our calls for memories and some editing was done so that all could be printed.

First Grade Class of 1914

2008 photo of Alice Coker Ward

(Note: the following account was based on an interview by Tom Selman)

Alice Coker Ward will turn a young 100 years of age on March 21. She is as en-thusiastic about life, family, and friends as she was when she entered the new Athens Grammar School back in January 1914 as a fi rst grade student. She and her schoolmates in the eleven grades were the very fi rst to attend classes in Athens’ fi rst brick school building.

She remembered that the dining room was located on the fi rst fl oor in the south-east corner of the building. Water fountains were located in front of the dining room in the hallway. Toilets were located on two fl oors (1st and 3rd), but the stalls were not permitted to have doors on them for any measure of privacy. Alice Coker Ward said this didn’t go over well with any of the stu-dents but particularly with the female stu-dents.

Students often ate lunch at the benches located under the trees at the northeast cor-ner of the school building – especially dur-ing nice weather. When it was cold or rainy, there was little choice but to eat in the Din-ing Room. Students often traded food with each other; some students would trade a dill pickle for a fried pie or vice versa. Still oth-ers brought homemade biscuits and syrup processed in their own syrup mill. Several of the students lived in close proximity to

the school and would go home for lunch.Among the teachers were Zeffi e Hill (1st

grade), Sara Dorbandt Scott (3rd grade), and Sara Miles (6th grade). She remem-bered attending classes in the new brick building only through the third grade. The school had become crowded so quickly, that the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades were moved to wooden buildings constructed in front of the new building – along what is now Hawn Street. She says the students “affection-ately” referred to these wooden buildings as the “Shacks.”

Once you reached the 7th grade or high-er, you attended classes in the new brick school building along with the fi rst three grades.

Alice Ward clearly remembers the South-ern Pacifi c trains that traveled the tracks that ran along the northern and part of the western boundaries of the school property. The trains made a lot of noise and often in-terrupted classes and teacher presentations, but she remembers with fondness the trains that came by loaded with American soldiers on their way to or from the various military bases in Texas and nearby states.

She stated that the people of Athens would gather near the tracks on the school ground and distribute mittens to the sol-diers. She also remembers the celebration of the signing of the Armistice Agreement that ended World War I. It was a proud and happy occasion for everyone, including the school students.

Alice remembered that the school prop-erty had a tennis court, and sometimes the court had a net. Plays and festivals (like the Maypole) were popular student activities.

She recalled that W. O. Smith was the Superintendent at the time she entered the school, but he left at the end of the year and was replaced by A. W. Eddins, whom she described as a “huge man.” She also remem-bers Mrs. A. W. Sides as both a teacher and a principal. She described Mrs. Sides as a tiny woman, but a strong and smart one.

By the time Alice had completed her fi rst six grades, the new Athens High School had been completed across town, so she attend-ed that school and graduated from there.

Alice Coker Ward stated that she really hated to see “that old building torn down.” “I was at the ceremony, you know, and I wished that I had been able to say a few words.” When told that had the Ceremony organizers known she was there, and that she had been a member of the very earliest class, she certainly would have been recog-nized and invited to speak.

First grade class of 1921

Earl’s family didn’t have a car so most of the time he walked about 2-1/2 miles to and from school down the deep sandy wag-on ruts of Bunny Rabbit Road. Once his younger sister, Thelma, started school, Earl would at times be allowed to take a horse

to school with his sister riding behind the saddle. The horse would be tethered on the grounds all day while they attended school. Young Earl’s fi rst or second grade class photo shows him with a soda pop stuck to his shirt. Back then, the boys would pull the cork from the bottle cap and place the cap on the outside of the shirt and the cork on the inside and press both together. A story his mother told about young Earl was that once after school when he was probably in the fi rst grade, they treated the kids to ice cream. Young Earl was so taken aback by his fi rst taste of ice cream that once he fi nished his scoop, he asked for a second one. Upon getting it, young Earl then ran all the way home with the scoop of ice cream and gave it to his younger sister Thelma. Earl Hendry (1914-2005) by Ron Hendry


Mrs. Odie May Norwood was my fi rst grade teacher. Subsequent teachers for my grades two through fi ve were Mrs. White-sides, Mrs. B. P. Smith, Miss Faye Colton, and Miss Jennie Boone.

Mrs. B. P. Smith was a large woman while her husband was quite small in com-parison and he was principal at one time.

Once a friend and I slipped across the street to get some sweets at Mr. Sides’ store.

Former Student Memories

First grade class or 1921 in fi fth grade class photo - Names on back of photo as written and without locations for students areJohn Lynn Watson, Arthur Hawn, Abra Johnson, Rupert Craig, Hester Kimbrough, Ona Shelton, Jessie Mae Birchfi eld, Frances Edwards, Evelyn Hooper, Patti McCandless, Jim Henry, Eva Dewberry, Annie Lea Dougherty, Eliza Jane Richardson, Clara Bruce Perry, Mildred Stephens, Groce Jorden, Alton Mundy, Leonard Davis, Jess Pace, Les-pa George, Charlcie Knight, Emma Sue Blythe, Jane Fer-rell. Note - One or more has been cut off of right side of photo. First four names are thought to correspond to front row. Leonard Davis is third from left inside row of boys. Lespa George is fourth from left back row. Jane Ferrell is seventh from left back row.


Upon coming back, Mrs. Sides stopped us and asked in a stern voice where we had been and then proceeded to give us a strong talking to. Back then you weren’t allowed to leave the school grounds unless your had permission to go home for lunch.

After my father bought our fi rst car, a Model T, in 1926, on occasion mother would drive us to school. However, she would usu-ally let us walk the two plus miles home down Bunny Rabbit road. In bad weather, mother would take us to school in the horse buggy as the roads would be so bad that our car couldn’t get through.

During the school year “playtime” was at recesses during the morning and afternoon and also at noon after lunch. The boys and girls played on opposite sides of the school yard. On cold rainy days, the students played in the basement.

Many students brought sack lunches from home. Others bought lunches at the school cafeteria operated by Mrs. Hamilton. I usually brought my lunch and most often it was a biscuit and sausage which was left-over from breakfast.

The building’s big windows ventilated the classrooms and were painted green to close out the sun’s rays. The desks were at-tached by wooden runners to form rows.

Each Monday morning began with an assembly in the Auditorium on the second fl oor to sing songs and hear announcements. Back then there was no intercom system. If Ms. Sides needed to make an announcement during the week, she would go to each room and make the announcement.

Mrs. Raymond Robbins was President of the PTA for a long time. Marie Hendry Kell

I started fi rst grade in 1925. The grammar school teachers I remember are Ms. Sides, the Boone sisters, Ms. Odie Mae Norwood, and Ms. Hart. I can still hear Ms. Sides out in the hall saying “First grade rise, (then after a short pause) pass.”

My father, Oscar Browning, had a dairy farm about ½ mile east of town. He provid-ed fresh bottled milk to many in the town including businesses such as Paul’s Café which was located on the west side of the courthouse square. My brother, Joe, was 4 years older than me and everyday at lunch-time he and I would walk over to Paul’s Café

and have lunch.Some teachers like Ms. Sides were very

stern. However, Ms. Jennie Boone had a much softer approach. Whenever you would do something out of line, she would softly say “Ms. Jennie wouldn’t like for you to do that.” Muriel Browning Green


The star performer in the grammar school was Mrs. A.W. Sides, its principal. She spent her entire 45-year career from 1907 to 1952

in that grammar school, initially as a teacher and later as its principal. Her home today remains on West College Street, just across the street from and the closest house to, the present administration building. The home was shared with her husband, a grocer of 40 years with a store on the east side of the Square. They were childless and enjoyed a fi ne reputation in Athens through the years.

The other star in the Athens school sys-tem was S.R. LeMay, hired in 1922 as the superintendent of the entire system. He be-gan to hire teachers with college degrees, increasing the number of subjects being taught, which complied with state standards and earned for the Athens school high marks, permitting its graduates to enter colleges easily. Shortly thereafter, he saw the need for bussing students into Athens from the many rural one-room school houses, which produced enormous benefi ts for all parties. I can well remember during 1938-1942, my four years in high school, that half the stu-dent body was bussed in from rural areas.

Dr. LeMay, which he became later in the Forties, supported Mrs. Sides fully, and they became an effective team of accomplishment. Athens was fortunate during those years and its many graduates since then represent “the proof in the pudding,” if you will.

Robert W. Strain


I attended Athens Grammar School through the 6th grade. The school was called the Grammar School because the term “el-ementary school” didn’t come into use until

1932 Grammar School May Queen Coronation - From left to right - Jim Tom Meredith, Richard Webb, Laurise Prince, Phil Thomas, Bernice Young, Tom B. (Buddie) Wofford, Billie Birt Trotte, Dorcas (Dot) Owen Dean, John Frank Gilmore, Betty Ross Moseley, Bobby Strain, Temple Pyle, Jacquelyn Holland (The Queen), Ed Carroll (Ershie) Lehr, Franklin Denius, Jean Holland, Marquerite Barnes, John Albert Jones, Florene Wofford, Wiley Pennell, Mary Ellen Cook, E. E. (Pete) Cornelius, Jr., Rosemary Denton, James B. (Jimmy) Cain, Jane Ballard. Photo was taken in back yard of Judge Sam Holland’s impressive colonial style residence on East Tyler Street which has been preserved by Attorney Jeff Weinstein and currently serves as his law offi ces.

Ms. Odie May Norwood’s fi rst grade class of 1925 - back row L to R - Mae Elizabeth Payne, Mary Lou Adrien, ?, Florene Baker, Unis Featherstone, Edwina Lewis, Jane Holland, ?, Callie Bess Speer, Flory Hallum, Muriel Browning - Middle row - Marie Hendry, Beatrice Statlter, ?, Jozelle Speer, ?, ?, Sybil Dowell, ?, Preston Gott, Meyer Dewberry, ?, ?, ? - Front row - Billy Cox, ?, ?, ?, ?, Ben Roberts Kee, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Ernest Shelton

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 17 around the end of World War II in the mid 1940’s. The teachers in the school, all ladies, were usually addressed as “Miss” - they in-cluded Misses Odie Mae, Ora, Dora Mae, and the famous Boone Sisters, Jennie and Annie.

There was a sidewalk that ran from the front door to the street. The boys’ play-ground was on the northside of the walk and the girls’ was on the southside. I was a “Tom Boy” and frequently sneaked over to the boys’ side to shoot marbles with them. I guess I was rather good at this sport because by the end of the 5th grade I had a nice col-lection of marbles that I had won from the boys.

But all this was very much against the rules so when I got caught I was sent to the Principal’s Offi ce for punishment. The Prin-cipal was a tiny little lady named Mrs. Sides. She wore her hair in a little “bun” and wore old fashioned clothes. I thought she was probably 90! She kept law and order with a little 6” wooden ruler.

When one got caught carving their initials in the wooden school desk tops or playing on the wrong side of the sidewalk, Mrs. Sides would wack you on the palm of your hand. I thought it was worth every sting! I would just look at the portrait of George Washing-ton on her wall while she was whacking my hand and think of my growing collection of marbles.

In the third grade it was announced to all that now we would be in the 4th grade. The public schools of Texas, by law, were increased to twelve grades. If you were al-ready in school, you were promoted an extra grade to keep you on the path to graduation.

There was a cafeteria in the basement run by Mrs. England. We could walk home for lunch if we wanted to, and I did a lot so I could save my lunch money – partly because I wanted to buy one of Mrs. England’s sour pickles from a big jar – a half pickle for a nickel! I have never had better pickles in the 66 years since.

There was also a small library in the basement of the school; I was put in charge of it at the end of the school day; that meant getting the books back in order using the Dewey Decimal System. I felt very impor-tant – I had a job to do!! Mary Ann LaRue Perryman


Mrs. Ellie Hart was my fi rst grade teach-er and she taught me the basics.

However, it was my third grade teacher, Miss Dora Mae Royall (she later married Kenneth Russell), who gave me direction in life. She said we were facing North in her classroom and that anytime we were facing North, the Sun would always come up on

our right side and always set on our left side. I have never forgotten this instruction.

In the second grade we had a rhythm band composed of those who played Sym-bols, Tonnettes, and Castanet’s. Tonnettes were a poor man’s clarinet, and Castanet’s were a small container partially fi lled with beans that the kids would shake.

Whenever an argument arose, the kids would settle it behind Sides Store after school. Word would get around and we would rush over there after school to see the fi sticuffs.

The story got around that Ms. Sides had an electric paddle. I never saw that but I can verify that she had a wooden paddle that had an electrifying effect.

About the fourth grade or about 1943, we were all summoned to the auditorium and each one of us was fi ngerprinted. This was part of some national effort and may have been war related.

Jimmy Mitchell


My fi rst grade teacher (1941-42) was Mrs. Elizabeth Herrington. Everyone was a little scared to go to school in such a big building. We had already heard that Mrs. Sides, principal, had an electric paddle and had put nails on the banisters to keep the kids from sliding down.

We learned to read by sight rather than phonics and each room had Big Books on an easel where we read about Dick, Jane, Baby Sally, Spot and Puff. Arithmetic and Pen-

manship were very important. We learned cursive writing in the fi rst grade also. At re-cess we played Drop the Handkerchief, Red Rover, Blind Man’s Bluff and Hop Scotch. We loved our school programs, parties and picnics. This was the year Pearl Harbor was bombed. We all became very patriotic through the next few years. Everyone learned to sing all verses of The Star Spangled Banner and say the Pledge of Allegiance. A favorite of mine was learning the theme songs of the armed forces, such as “Anchors Away,” I can remember them today. We went to the audi-torium weekly for programs and singing. We all stood as we sang and had a special feel-ing of pride as we faced the American Flag and paid tribute to our servicemen. We were learning much more than academics.

At the end of fi rst grade some of the stu-dents were double promoted to third grade. I was one of them, therefore, I never attended second grade and spent only fi ve years in grammar school.

Mrs. Joe Lamb was my third grade teach-er, Mrs. Kenneth Russell, fourth; and Miss Jennie Boone, fi fth. We were departmen-talized in the sixth grade and my teachers were: Mrs. W.C. Scirratt, Mrs. J.L. Hiler, Mildred Pennell, Miss Jennie Mae Hall, and Miss Jennie Boone. We all took Spanish that year.

We were very much aware of the war dur-ing these grammar school years, but I don’t recall being afraid. We were so busy with our “Victory” projects and being patriotic. For example, every Friday we would buy a ten cent defense stamp if we could. We saved our money instead of buying candy at

Mr. Sides Grocery Store. The stamps were saved in a book until we had $17.75, I think. Then we could go to the post offi ce and pur-chase a war bond.

Martha Lynn Laney’s 4th grade report card

We collected tin foil, cans, and paper and brought the items to school. It seems we had contests to see which room collected the most. We were learning the meaning of rationing and recycling. I remember vividly that we did not see bubble gum, balloons or

Mrs. Scirratt’s fi fth grade class 1945 - Back, L to R - Nolan Myers, Richard Kendrick, Hamp Manning, Gwyn Brown, James Baker, Jim Loveless, Mrs. Scirratt, Leon McGlaun, Roger McCulley, Roy Morgan, Bruce Dingler, Charles Harwell: Middle, L to R - Jean McCain, Jeanneen Thornton, Evelyn McElhaney, Phyllis Lawson, Martha Lynn Laney, Delores Newbill, Allene Mitchell, Bondell Johnson, Mary Ruth Loden, Melba Motes, Iris Mezell: Front, L to R - Horace Ayers, Stanley Hooper, Jesse Donahoo, Lonnie Norman, Donald Harris, Billy Dan Knight, Barney Jack Hicks, Weldon McClure, C. M. Crawford


bicycles until after the war. Our mothers’ did not have nylon hose either. Families used ra-tion stamps to purchase gasoline, sugar and other necessities. Some of us had victory gardens and wrote the servicemen letters. We were learning very important lessons that remain with us today.

I am thankful for my formative years spent in Athens Grammar School and the impact these experiences made in my life. Martha Lynn Laney Shaver

I attended Athens Elementary School in the fi rst grade class of Mrs. Hart. I enjoyed it very much . . . especially the terrarium. We had a turtle. I also remember Mrs. Sides waiting for my brother who was sliding down the banister. In 1970, I began my days as an aide in the Special Education Trainable Class. My niece, Peggy O’Neal, escaped onto the fi re escape. Annette Wilson Trammell

The building should not be torn down! Keep it for history!! Royce Glenn Donnell


When I was in the second grade (1944-45), a large group of us boys meandered east toward home each day after school, stopping at various points along the way to enjoy the landscape. On the corner of Pinkerton and W. Corsicana Streets, the Christian church was being torn down. All that was left was the lower fl oor rooms, which were about three feet below ground level, covered with arsenals of broken pieces of plaster and mor-tar, ideal for “chunking.” One day a dozen or so of us boys divided up into groups, picked our room to use as our base of operation, and threw chunks of plaster at the other groups. After a few minutes of free-for-all warfare, just as I moved my head up to take aim at any-one else who might be peeping out, a plaster bullet hit me solidly on the forehead. I didn’t feel any pain, but the blood started gushing. The battle came to an abrupt halt, and my brother and I headed for a little frame-build-ing clinic about halfway back toward the school, where I received three stitches and a bandage that encircled my head.

I don’t know how Mrs. Sides, the princi-pal, learned about our escapade or how she got the name of every person involved, but as soon as the roll had been checked the next morning, we were all sent to her offi ce. We were spared Mrs. Sides legendary “electric paddle,” but we spent the entire morning sitting on the fl oor in the hall across from her offi ce writing over and over, “I will not throw rocks after school.” Not very creative on Mrs. Sides part, but it did the trick.

The scar disappeared years ago, but I still carry a dent in my forehead where the piece

of plaster hit. The only names I remember of those involved was my brother, Edgar, a fi rst grader then, and Damon Douglas, a class-mate who lived down the street from us on E. Corsicana. Who doesn’t know Damon?

All six years that I attended the old gram-mar school, we had a totally open campus. During lunch time some students walked to town during lunch, and some even ate in the “lunchroom,” but a large contingency crossed the street east of the school to buy lunch at the store that belonged to Mr. Sides, the principal’s husband. We would sit on the ground between his store and the service sta-tion which faced W. Corsicana St. to eat.

One of the favorite meals was peanuts poured into a bottle of RC Cola (12 ounces for a nickel). The peanuts came in a cylin-drical box and cost a nickel. Every once in great while, someone would fi nd a quarter, or less often, even a dollar bill in their box of peanuts. When this happened, word spread quickly and everyone who had a nickel left headed in to buy more peanuts. I don’t re-member, however, ever hearing of two peo-ple fi nding money in their peanuts on the same day.

One of my favorite games at Athens Grammar School was what we called sim-ply “marbles.” The technical term is “ringer” because it was played in a ring drawn in the sand. All one had to have to play marbles was a few glass marbles, costing only ten or fi fteen cents; and they came with a draw-string bag to keep them in.

The rules could get pretty complicated, but simply put, the object was to knock more marbles out of the ring than anyone else did. Everyone would put the same number of marbles in the ring and each would hold a marble, called a “shooter,” between his thumb knuckle and his forefi nger and would “knuckle down” his fi st to the ground and fl ip the shooter to knock marbles out of the ring. The person knocking the most marbles out of the ring was the winner; and at the end of the game, the marbles were returned to the owners.

Except in the case of what was called “keeps.” In “keeps” the players kept the marbles they ended up with. A good marble player could amass quite a collection of marbles by playing keeps. We were forbid-den to play keeps because it was considered gambling, but there was no way to enforce the rule.

I didn’t care to play keeps because I didn’t want to take a chance on losing my marbles, and I didn’t want to make someone else feel bad if he lost his. The one time I played keeps was when a boy named George asked me to play keeps with him. I had seen George play before, and I felt confi dent that I could beat him. He had seen me play too, which is probably why he decided to chal-lenge me.

George was a quiet, well-mannered, kind

boy. He was the true country boy type, wear-ing a long sleeve shirt every day of the year, with the collar always buttoned. He was not very athletically inclined, even in the game of marbles.

I was at my best that day and won all of George’s marbles. George probably didn’t have the money to buy more marbles, but he didn’t get angry or even ask that I return his marbles. What he did had a much stron-ger impact on me. He cried. I couldn’t stand that; I gave all his marbles back. The lesson to me was this: to lose is to lose and to win is to break even. I never played keeps again. Melvis Benton

Queen Carla - 1949 photo

I attended Mrs. Hart’s fi rst grade class on the middle fl oor, fi rst door on the left. Mrs. Sides was the principal, and I had been told by my older brother, Delwin, about Mrs. Sides and her electric paddle. On the very fi rst day when we were dismissed for lunch

I agreed with several other fi rst grade class-mates that we go out and eat our lunches at one of the picnic tables on the grounds -- the one we selected was closest to the College Street rock fence where we also wanted to play. I also shared with them the story Del-win had told me about Mrs. Sides’ electric paddle. No sooner had we got our food from our paper sacks did Mrs. Sides appear and informed us we were not allowed to eat on the grounds, and we must return to the caf-eteria. Needless to say, we were “scared” speechless, each knowing we were in deep trouble and would surely be punished with the “electric paddle.” Needless to say, no one ever saw an electric paddle!!

I was in Miss Hall’s fi fth grade class when I broke my right arm early in the school year. Even though I was right-handed, I still was expected to take my turn at the chalk board for math battles using my left hand. I actu-ally won a battle once when Miss Hall could read my answer!

The most memorable event occurred when I was in the sixth grade. I believe it was in the spring of 1949 and I won the elec-tion for the Queen of the Grammar School. My King was Roland Lambert, and we were presented and crowned at a ceremony at the High School Gym. It was a magical event for me and I felt I was on cloud nine the en-tire time. What a high note and a wonderful way to leave Grammar School. Carla Morton Owen

What halcyon days those were! Mrs. Lamb, Mrs. Norwood, Mrs. Shinn, Mrs. Hall, and others. When we moved there in 1946 when my dad was Superintendent-elect, a boy named Pillow (30 pounds heavi-er and a foot taller) was pounding my face, pushing my face in the sand, over a slight of

1949 May Queen Coronation - Queen Carla Morton with King Roland Lambert. Others in the photo are unidentifi ed. The Queen was voted on by the students and she selected her King.

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 19 some sort. My dad walked by, and saw my plight as I looked pleadingly for help in his direction. He glanced at me and said,”Hope you get out of that scrape you got yourself in, son’, and calmly walked in to Mr. Dunn’s offi ce, the guy with the purported electric paddle. Good lesson in self reliance. Re-member the spelling bees, arithmetic races at the blackboard (and how Doretha McGee beat us all), John Merchan’s uncanny marble shooting, Carla Morton’s beautiful face, Pat Beckham’s tough athleticism, crushes on Peggy Sweeten, Bill Davis’s tossing candy bars for us peons to scramble after, Mrs. Lamb reading the post lunch story of Dan-iel Boone, attending the High School games with stars like Red Forehand, Turner Gauntt, Roland Hallmark, Charlie Hamill, Jerry Tid-more, Delwin Morton, and Sonny Mitchell. George Lowe

This ole school brings back fond memo-ries to me..the mention of the teacher, Mrs. Lamb, makes me recall what a pretty lady she was. One of my biggest memories was when we were playing an outside game on the school ground and I broke my leg. Billy Bruce pumped me home on my bicycle and I was on crutches for a few weeks after that. Dan Chaney


I have mixed feelings when I think about the old elementary school building coming down... When I received the message from one of my classmates (class of 57) I won-dered how it could still be standing. It was over 60 years ago when the picture I have of my fi rst grade class under Mrs. Hounsel was taken. Nancy Henry and Lesley Smith are the kids I remember most often. I can’t remember one bad time from those six years at Athens Grammar School, but there a lot of good memories with that old building.

It is sad to think that the old building offers no more useful purpose. It brings to mind one of our favorite songs we used to sing in the school during music class: “When The Work’s All Done This Fall.” The song told a story of a cowboy working on the farm and over the years he grew old and fi nally realized after many seasons passed, that he would eventually pass on too. The old build-ing has lasted a lifetime. Perhaps it is time to let it pass on.

There were those Christmas projects that the teachers would help us make for our par-ents. I learned how to tie-die in the 3rd or 4th grade. That’s how we made tablecloths and napkins for our moms.

At recess plenty of fun to be had. There was baseball, marbles, spinning tops, high metal slides, swings and a lot of sand. You could take a hard fall in that sand and come up laughing. Our teachers were more like

having another mom. Remember Wild Root Hair Oil? That’s

what mom used to paste my hair down. By the end of the day and after playing on the school grounds, I would have a head of sand that wouldn’t shake out.

The Circle drive at the south entrance of the building is where I would get out of the car during a cold winter day or during bad weather. Close to the south entrance and on the lower level is where the cold drink machine was located. For a nickel you could buy an RC Cola or Orange drink. My favor-ite was a Delaware Punch.

The end of a school year usually meant a treat at the movie. We were all bussed to the theater for a solid hour or two of back-to-back cartoons. We maybe even got to see a Roy Rogers movie as well. No television in those days.

The teachers would break up fi ghts on the school grounds, but I often wondered why it was, that after a fi ght, you usually became best buddies with the guy you just fought with? Even in elementary Sonny Music was a good boxer. I moved away from Athens after the 7th grade. I always wondered if Sonny became a professional boxer.

I wonder if the live oaks still stand in front of the building. They made nice shade on a hot school day. It would be nice to put a marker out there with the names of the kids and teachers that the building served so well. There probably isn’t enough room for a marker that large. James (Jimmie) G. Miller

I could not begin to remember my years at the Old Elementary School without a fond remembrance of the Candy Store where we went to drink Grapette Soda, get the pea-nut boxes where one could actually some-times fi nd money, and the always wonderful Cracker Jack surprises. Other fond memories come tumbling through such as roller skat-ing at recess and our games of jacks, tops, and swinging from the monkey bars.

One bad memory that has stayed with me all these years is of Martha Owens swinging from the monkey bars with a sucker that had a wooden stick in her mouth, falling and jab-bing the stick down her throat.

I do not recall any teachers that I disliked although I have to say that Miss Odie Mae Norwood was my very favorite for the fi rst grade. For all of us who spent all 12 years in the Athens school system, we have a wealth of memories, do we not?

Jan Nelson Mattson

Our father attended grade school there, walking daily from Scott Street. His fi rst grade teacher was Mrs. Hart; his third grade teacher was Miss Hattie Mitchell. Originally Athens Grammar School, it changed to Ath-ens Elementary School.

Miss Annie Boone taught third grade; went to NY City every summer with Miss Jennie Boone to see their married sister, Mary, who lived in Scarsdale, near by. They toured the Queen Mary ( not the new QM II), saw Broadway shows, and Miss Annie played “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” on the piano so all her students could march into the auditorium for assembly.

Lunch was available in the the Hot Lunch Room, not “cafeteria.” Some kids paid 10 to 15 cents to eat there. Others brought lunch in a brown paper bag from home. Some chil-dren walked home for lunch.

Betty Jo Hodge’s mother parked at the curb, washed Betty Jo’s hands with a damp wash cloth, and served lunch right there!

Vegetables like potatoes, onions, and oth-ers, were stored in a room on the fi rst fl oor right next to Mrs. Brewer’s second grade class. Little Millard Lyle McBurney devel-oped allergies to onions, tomatoes, and lima beans, dust, chicken feathers, and cat dan-der—but not dogs—while in Mrs. Brewer’s class next to the vegetable storage area.

Fire drills were scheduled as often as once a month. Somebody took a metal rod and banged it against a metal rod curved into a circle. The noise went on repeatedly. We had to drop everything and march toward the playground to a spot far enough away to be safe. Then somebody clanged the metal bar twice, waited a little bit, and clanged it twice again, signaling an “all clear” and that it was safe to come back inside.

Lucky children could walk across the street from the grammar school and take a 30 minute piano lesson from Mrs. Tindle.

Luckier children could walk up to Prai-rieville Street and take dancing lessons from Miss Fannie Louise Carlton, in the after-noons after school was out.

The luckiest children took both. Nobody worried about kidnappings. The

fl ag had 48 stars in it. The school hosted a cake walk once a year.

Millard Lyle McBurney


Learning Athens is about to remove the old WPA Elementary School building sad-dens my heart. It was in the playground of the school that I met my wife. It was in 1947 and we were both in the 2nd grade.

We both have fond memories of those days. The only 1st grade teacher, Miss Hart, and 2nd grade teacher, Miss Sides, and many more. Both started teaching in the days that a teacher could not be married. Tommy and Jonna Cobb Morton


My mother (Leland Loughridge) is 96 years old and still can remember some of the things about her younger years.

Mother taught in the old school all her teaching years and chose not to leave it when the other building was built in front. She had started teaching in Athens—in Athens High – as a Journalism teacher (as her undergrad-uate degree was in journalism). Then she had time apart when we moved to Houston during the War.

When we returned to Athens, Mother began to teach in elementary grades. That is when I went to kindergarten in the house on South Prairieville where my family had lived before we moved to Houston. I often walked to school from there.

Mother taught the fi fth grade classes for most of her career. Her love of children and the written word inspired her to get her Master’s degree in the teaching of Read-ing—which she accomplished by commut-ing to Commerce to East Texas University (now A&M University) Mom was fairly ac-tive until a couple of years ago but now is needing assistance for most activities.

I’m wishing that there would be some way to save the old building as a museum but assume it would be too costly to make it usable. Linda Loughridge Pepper

Many of the children who began fi rst grade with me in 1947 were in my graduation class in 1959. It seems as if Helen Forrester, David Finley, and Jimmy Graham always sat close to me in class in every grade as most teachers seated us alphabetically. My best friend, Karen Faulk and I were usually sepa-rated into different classrooms altogether. I can’t imagine why….

I can still visualize the beautiful wood fl oors and the high ceilings of the interior of the building. All the classrooms were equipped with tall windows, chalkboards, erasers, and one-armed desks.


The playground was mostly sand and some gravel. I still have a scar on my knee which contains some of that gravel—a vi-sual reminder of a girls’ softball game at re-cess so long ago. The wooden swings which hung from tall metal structures by heavy chain links are also hard to forget. Anybody get splinters besides me?

My teachers were all wonderful, as I recall. In fi rst grade, Mrs. Hallum was my teacher; second, Mrs. McElhaney; third, Mrs. Sides; fourth, Miss Williams; fi fth, Mrs. Rowell; and sixth, Miss Jennie Boone. I have fond and special memories of each and every one of them.

Mr. Mastin Stover was our principal. He had a habit of asking students if we could spell “incomprehensibility.” Did he think we were not understandable or did he just want to know if we could spell a multi-syllabic word? I was never sure.

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Sides, and her husband owned a little grocery right across the street from school. It was always the fi rst stop for those of us who walked home after school. The favorite items to purchase in those days were tiny six packs of wax Coca Cola-shaped bottles fi lled with sweet red and green liquid and candy cigarettes. Besides those items, my favorites were a bottle of Grapette, and a peanut patty.

When my class was in sixth grade, we moved into the brand new Athens Elemen-tary School, a one-story light brick building with a gym. This new building was directly in front of the Old Athens Grammar School. It was shinny and new, but lacked the char-

acter, charm and beauty of the old building where we had begun our education.

By seventh grade we found ourselves back at our Old Athens Grammar School! One night in 1953 or 1954, I believe, Ath-ens Jr. Sr. High School burned to the ground, leaving us without classrooms. We had fi -nally made it to the “big time” and now had to return to our old school for some of our classes. It was, however, familiar ground.

The Old Athens Grammar School build-ing may disappear, but memories of old times and lifelong friends will not. The echo of many decades of children will live long in our hearts and minds. Dear old building, you served us all so well for so long. Lynda Jo Foster Johnson

I remember having Mrs. Hart in fi rst grade. I think the principal was Mr. Dunn -anyway he sat down with me and told me he was my cousin!

In Miss Alphin’s second grade class - I was going to leave during recess - we lived on South Prairieville at the time, across from Linda Loughridge, but when Billy Pool asked me where I was going, I sat down on the steps outside Miss Alphin’s room and told Billy I was just going to cover my books. Wouldn’t dare tell him I thought it was time to go home!

And one day after Miss Annie Boone’s third grade class, I fell on the door stop when going out to catch the bus (we had moved out on the Old Tyler Highway); I still have the scar on my knee!

When I was in fourth grade, Miss Wil-

liams was my teacher, and I always had to go to the nurse’s room right after lunch - conve-niently to skip Geography....which I hated at the time (now I wish I hadn’t!).

In fi fth grade I remember Mrs. Rowell commenting that she had three Lynda’s in her class - that’s when I remember that we were all labeled with our middle names at-tached - Linda Ann (Loughridge), Lynda Jo (Foster), and Lynda Lou (Seibt). Lynda Jo and I carried ours through high school and Linda Loughridge went by Linda.

In Miss Jennie Boone’s sixth grade class I remember doing a paper on Romania...don’t know why I selected that country - it was so small. Linda Lou Seibt Simons

Six wonderful and very productive years

were spent in Athens Grammar School. The infl uence of the great teachers there still af-fects me today. The friendships that were formed are still alive and very important. But I also remember some little things that were also important and had a lasting impression on me as well. For one thing, BULLIES!

You hear a lot about the bullying prob-lems in today’s schools, but we had bullies back in Athens Grammar School – not so much at school but on the way to and from school. There was a large group of us, boys and girls, who walked to and from school to-gether each day; we all lived within a block or two of each other. There were three boys, who also lived near by, but they weren’t re-ally a part of the group walking together – they constituted their own little group. These three were classmates Marcus Taylor, Jerry Cox, and David Evans.

And, they were all BULLIES! Marcus Taylor was small, but he was probably one of the toughest, scrappiest boys in gram-mar school. Every day in the fi rst and sec-ond grades, he tried and often succeeded in pushing other students into the open sewer ditch that ran along the north boundary of the school property and which our group had to cross on our way home. Jerry and David sometimes helped him or at least encouraged him in his endeavors. No one ever “told” on

the three because it was after school, and, if we did, we knew it would be even worse the next day!

Of course, the three bullies matured over the years and became friendlier. Da-vid later became a real football star in high school but was killed in a tragic accident in the 9th or 10th grade. Marcus was still with us in high school, in the Class of 1960; I’m not sure what happened to Jerry Cox! Tom Selman

My elementary school years were won-

derfully rewarding years of my life as an Athenian.

The tall, strong, large brick building was fi lled with many students, excellent teachers, plus two excellent principals, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Mastin Stover. Teachers like Mrs. Joyce Williams Hall, Miss Jennie Mae Hall, Misses Annie and Jennie Boone, Mrs. McElhaney, Leland Loughridge, Tennie May Ballow, Mrs. Lamb, Mrs. Scirratt, Mrs. Loper, Mrs. Goble, Mrs. W. B. Rumbo, school nurse, and Mr. A. R. Pollard, P.E. teacher, and others, all have places in my heart. A teacher was someone I respected the utmost. Our classes were structured and fun as well.

Air conditioning was unheard of in those days, so we did not even know we were hot in class. In winter time, our wonderful janitors, like Mr. E. H. Dyer, made sure our classes were warm when the school day be-gan. The janitors came in very early in the morning to light the boilers that supplied the radiators.

Our playground was so much fun. Around all the large trees were stone and concrete benches. Countless games were played around those shady trees.

Playground equipment was scarce, but, we made our own fun with baseball, soft-ball, Red Rover, hop scotch, playing jacks, etc. We were never bored.

The cafeteria served a good lunch with milk in small glass bottles. There was no such thing as a free lunch and breakfast was never served at school.

Back then, we had an open campus at noon. I remember my friends and I would walk to the L & L Cafe on the south side of the town square for lunch. We could buy a hamburger basket (including French fries) and a soft drink for $0.50 (no tax). We or-dered our lunch, ate, and got back to school on time always.

Our PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) was very active at school. My mother, Rena Nash, was PTA President and other offi cers during my school days along with my late little sisters, Candy Nash Speed Weath-erly, and Martha Anne Nash. My dad, Dr. Claude H. Nash, was a loyal supporter of our school.

One of the money making projects of the PTA was running the concession stand at the

Ms. Simpson’s fourth grade class of 1951 - Top L to R - Ms. Simpson, Nelda Lauderdale, Ronnie Hendry, Lucy Dee Henderson, James Arnold, Nancy Derden, Clinton Till, Linda Loughridge, Second L to R - Gary Douglas, Carolyn Sue Pagitt, Danny Hickman, Nanny Sue Hodge, Harvey Payne, Gloria ?, Leon Lambright, Betty Head, ??, Third, L to R - Bill Kittles, Mary Elizabeth Bush, Ronnie Burgamy, Othella Hampton, David Robinson, ??, Omer Benton, Helen Tillison, Bottom, L to R - Judy Barlow, James Pack, Gaye Holcomb, Bobbie Sue Hill, LaJuan Tincher, Leila Sue Beckam, Jerry Henderson, Suzanne Pruitt

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 21 Hornets’ Friday night games at Bruce Field. All the lady workers gathered at our home Friday afternoons to prepare the hot dogs to be served at the games. Those ladies worked long and hard for our school.

All kinds of programs were presented on our stage in the auditorium on the top fl oor of the building. We had Queen Coronations, talent shows, magic shows, square dancing, taught and called by Mother, (Rena Nash), plus many other things.

Very fond memories will live on in my mind and heart of the wonderful years I spent at Athens Elementary. Sharlotte Nash Holiman

I remember starting fi rst grade in a

shocking new world full of strange people of all types and I resented that it took me away from my ongoing exploration of our won-drous and huge family farm with my trusty hounddog.

My fi rst grade teacher was Ms. Louis Hounsel. I remember her as a kind hearted grandmotherly type of teacher who only got after me once when she lightly paddled me on the legs for putting my feet on the desk in front.

I remember the fi rst time the fi rst grade boys were handed out a bat and ball. A small wiry kid named Maxey grabbed the bat and ball and told the rest of us to follow him to the fi eld. I could tell that kid was a natural leader and he proved to be later on when we played football in Junior High. His given name was Glenn Smith.

In the fi rst day of second grade, my teach-er whose name escapes me, told us to grab a pencil and sheet of paper. Then she said “I want to fi nd out what you learned in the fi rst grade.” Then she told us to write down the alphabet without looking up at the alphabet on the wall above the chalk board.

Immediately I went into a panic as I couldn’t remember much of the alphabet be-yond the fi rst few letters. The paper I turned in had some omissions and misplaced letters. I do not remember if I cheated by looking at the alphabet but do remember the incident as

a wakeup call for me to start paying atten-tion in the classroom. Nowadays, some kids learn the alphabet at three or four.

In about the third grade, I got roped into some sort of a dance event. I seem to recall it was square dancing. Mother made me a red and white checkered shirt to wear in it. Dancing has never been my thing but I went along with the program and managed to get through it.

Once in the fi fth grade, I hit a softball a long ways for a home run. It obviously made a lasting impression on me and I thought at the time it even impressed Mr. Pollard who was watching us play.

Mastin Stover became our principal about my fi fth grade year. I remember his full head of solid white hair with still youth-ful looks and getting the impression we had a most distinguished looking principal.

Ron Hendry

We lived just around the corner on Friz-

zell Street, so I walked to school. I was in Mrs. Ora Hart’s fi rst grade class on the sec-ond fl oor on the SW corner where we learned all about Dick, Jane, and Spot.

I’m sure that was the fi rst time that most of us slid down the big old banister, when the coast was clear of course. That was also the time when many of us carried enough sand home in our hair to plant a turnip patch. That came from building huge piles of sand and bailing-out as we yelled “Bombs over Tokyo” or other similar battle yells.

Second Grade found me in the base-ment fl oor on the N-W corner in Mrs. Flor-ence McElhaney’s room. It had holes in the fl oor that you could drop marbles through. We had no idea what was down there at the time, but I guess it must have been the boiler room that sent us the steam to make the old radiators click and hiss to keep us warm. The big old windows opened up to keep us cool. I don’t remember it ever being hot in that old building, but we didn’t notice things like that because we didn’t know about AC yet.

Bobby Simpson’s mother had the class across the hall the best I remember. I must have really liked Mrs. McElhaney because

when she moved up the next year to the third grade I cried to stay in her room instead of going to Mrs. Gober’s class, and she was kin to me.

For the Fourth Grade we moved back up to the second fl oor, midway on the east side of the building in Miss Jennie Mae Hall’s class. It was the closest we ever were to Mr. Dunn’s offi ce where he had the feared “elec-tric” paddle. We could hear the licks all the way to our room. Talk about a deterrent!

About this time we realized we were Hor-nets, and had competition between classes and in class in such exciting things as verb conjugation bees. Learning was such fun!! All of the teachers we had were so dedicated and loved us and what they were doing. We were so lucky.

There were lots of good memories in that old building. Most of us have probably stood with our backs to the building, and looked straight up while clouds would fl oat by mak-ing it look like the building was falling on you. The design of the building made it so tempting to try to climb. The only problem the fi nger/toe grips only went up so far be-fore a wide band made it impossible to go any higher. Then you had to work your way back down. I don’t remember anybody ever getting hurt trying.

Somewhere along the way Mary Lou Knott broke an arm on the equipment that you swung from walking with your hands. It seemed SO high when we were so little.

The fi fth grade was our last year in the grand old building. I was on the top fl oor that year in the N-W corner in Mrs. Tarl-ton Loughridge’s room. The worst trouble I got into was during that year. They had dug up big piles of soil on the north side of the playground next to the underpass. It formed perfect dirt clods. The train went real close by the campus and had a regular clientel of passengers. It was just too tempting!!! SO several of us wound up writing I’ve forgot-ten how many times on the black board, “I will not throw dirt clods at the hobos.”

Cleo Hickman and I sometimes played “Annie Over” using the building as the “challenge”. We only had one baseball and never left it on the roof. And no we never left it in a classroom either. We still had such love for the old building that we would have never thought about breaking a window.

I know the old building is old and it has cracks, but hey, it had cracks on the north end on the solid west side when I went there. I bet there are probably ways that it could be renovated much like you hear about the court house renovations. Much of the town is hard-ly recognized from when we were kids. It is about all that is left from our school days. The big old post oak tree that was at the east side of the campus blew down last year. In the paper someone said that it was probably 50 years old. That old tree was huge in ’47. Vernon Price

I remember fi rst grade and Mrs. Hart in 1947, the brick barrriers around the trees in the playground. What fun we had playing around those trees and “bailing out” of the swings--once losing a skirt in the process. I remember seeing the boys sliding down the bannisters when they thought a teacher wasn’t looking. I recall going to Sides’ store at recess for a bag of penny candy. I moved away in the sixth grade, but have only fond memories the school and Mrs. Gober, Mrs. Stover, Mrs. Sides and Mrs. Scirratt.

Sue (Pagitt) Sparks

My three biggest memories from the Ath-

ens Grammar School years have to do with recess, the lunchroom and an unexpected return.

I remember an occasional organized game such as softball which included coed teams, but mostly I remember recess as just wandering around. Usually, in groups of two, three, maybe more, we were left to our own devices. I remember playing with our wooden tops and also with our own marbles. This was apparently allowed by the authori-ties as long as we didn’t play a form of gam-bling known as “keepsies.” But mainly we just hung around with each other, boys only. I don’t think we ever knew what the mysteri-ous girls were doing.

I guess there was some law that we had to stay on school property, but there must have been an exception for the little store at the end of street. That store had all sorts


of candies for a penny a piece and different fl avors of soda pop for a nickel each. I also recall buying different fl avored packages of powdered kool aid. The object was to turn your mouth and tongue a bright color, even red. Even now, I have fond memories of that store.

Our lunch room was located in a couple of wooden World War II type barracks which had been connected together and situated behind the school to the northwest. I only remember one meal. One day as we went through the line, the server dumped a large amount of this stuff onto our plates. This must have been cooked macaroni with some sort of tomato sauce and maybe a little ham-burger meat. We guys looked at each other with the same thought-YUCK. We took it to our seats and proceeded to ignore it. When we left, we had to rake off our plates into a garbage can. As I did so, I swear the can was at least half full of that stuff and looked just like it had when it was served to us. Through-out my life, I have periodically thought of that uneaten meal.

After fi nishing sixth grade we moved on to Junior High at the high school build-ing. One night in the fall of 1954, someone started a fi re in the high school building and it was totally destroyed. School offi cials had to send the 7th and 8th grades back to available classrooms at the grammar school. Having to return to the grammar school building did not make us happy. It was short lived as the next year we were returned to the 9th grade classrooms, and beginning the 10th grade, we were welcomed to the brand new and beautiful high school. Our days at the grammar school were fi nally over. Jack G. Keeble


Just about my oldest and most precious memory of the old Grammar School is how our mother would tie our lunch money in the corner of a handkerchief so we wouldn’t lose it out of our pocket. I still have a mental pic-

ture from somewhere around 1949-1950 of walking across the school ground on the east side of the Grammar School with my older brother and sister, about where the covered walkway used to be.

Would also mention that our Class (AHS Class of 1960) was the second occupant of the “New” Grammar School (the present Administration Building), when we were in the 6th grade 1953-1954. During that school year, dimes were collected from us students to help fund the building of the swimming pool at Kiwanis Park (now fi lled in).

I also remember the stone benches sur-rounding all the trees in the playground. Only one such bench survives, and it is miss-ing the concrete cap. Two old wood Army barracks buildings served as the lunchroom, with the 6th Grade Band meeting in the east end of that building (in a storeroom). James R. Kittles

I can remember Mrs. Brewer (mother of Tommy Brewer of Class of ‘61) who taught 2nd grade, Miss Hall (a young teacher in 4th grade who later married), Mrs. Joe Lamb (I believe she taught 4th grade, Mrs. Reierson (3rd grade), Mrs. McElhaney (3rd grade), Mrs. Loper (5th grade), Mrs. Evans (mother of Sue Evans of Class of ‘56), Mrs. Row-ell (5th grade) whose sister, Mrs. Edwards, taught high school English at one time, Mrs. Pirtle (1st grade) her son was in the Class of ’59.----; and I have forgotten so many!

I don’t know of stories of interest, but I was always rather reverent about the old building as my mother had also gone to school there. It was loud by today’s stan-dards, and one could sometimes hear the paddling of a misbehaving student.

And I remember the quickly arranged programs in lieu of luncheon recess on the top fl oor in the auditorium on rainy days.

And I remember Hugh Lucas throw-ing green plums or paper wads in 7th grade English every time the teacher (Mrs. Riley) would turn her back, bringing her to tears; this was after the old high school burned and the 7th grade went back to the old grammar school. Joe Ayres

Mrs. Letha Hounsel was my fi rst grade teacher. She was strict. Her rules included “Do not break in line” and “Do not chew gum.” If caught, you might get your mouth washed out with soap.

I remember Mrs. Loughridge (5th grade) teaching us to make a special “t” in cursive. I began writing my name and other words using the “t”. Later, I got in trouble with other teachers because they said I was using it inappropriately.

I remember spelling bees with Mrs. Stegall. Recess was great fun. We jumped rope, and I really liked the jumping which we called “Hot Pepper.” At lunch, we would walk to town to get a hamburger at Joe’s, a hot dog and vanilla shake at Robinson’s Drug Store, or a hot dog at Stirman’s Drug Store. Elizabeth Selman Phillips

I went to Athens Elementary School. The year I started in the fi rst grade was the fi rst year the new building, built in front of the old one had classes. In the 4th grade we then went to classes in the old building. I had Miss Jennie Mae Hall in the 4th grade, Mrs. Tarlton Loughridge in the 5th and Miss Jennie Boone in the 6th. Just the other day I was telling my husband about a special time in Mrs. Loughridge class, around Christmas time of 1957. In the old classrooms there were chalk boards all around the room and she used it that year for us to make a colored chalk mural all around our class of Christ-mas scenes. Everything; from a Christmas tree, manger scene complete with Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, wise men and all the ani-mals. We worked on it for weeks, drawing and coloring the scenes. To a 5th grader it was magnifi cent and left a lasting memory from my childhood. Janice Renne Hicks Thorn

My fi rst memory of Athens Elementary was September, 1952 when I was in the 5th grade. We had moved to Athens that summer and I did not know many people. I was as-signed to Mrs. Stover’s class. Hers was on the third fl oor, southeast corner. I was scared to death of her! I made my fi rst friend, Claire McElhaney, in that class. She was to be a good friend for a long time. I eventually made more friends, but she was the best.

I would walk home for lunch because we lived on Prairieville and my dad would drop me back off after lunch because he worked

Ms. McElhaney’s third grade class of 1951- From top L to R - Mrs. McElhaney, Iris Jean Carter, Hu-bert Pruitt, Pamela Lamb, Harold Cook, Reggie Berry, Kay Garner, Peggy Joyce Keith, David Geiser, Judy Cannon, Hallie Culpepper, Jerry Kay Griffi th, Billy Harris, Janet Smith, Vernon Smith, Richard Sprinkle, Fayrenne Smith, Milburn Chaney, Ruth Ann Ayers, Hugh Lucas, Linda Sue Wilbanks, Ron-nie Cumbie, Mack Carnes, Katie Dale Killingsworth, Jerry Speaks, James Adair, Jimmy Kittles, Carol Collier, Joe Ayres, Jerry Ann Shirey, Elizabeth Selman, Bill Everhart


at Lone Star Gas right around the corner on the Corsicana highway. I’m sure I missed a lot of fun at lunch, but I did not like school lunches.

My next real memory of Athens Elemen-tary was in November of my seventh grade year. That’s the year the high school burned. We had worked so hard and so looked for-ward to going to the high school building, even though we were confi ned to the base-ment. We were in HIGH SCHOOL! Then it burned! The seventh graders were summar-ily sent back to elementary. We were put in the basement! My home room was Mrs. Stegall’s. Anyway, my major classroom was in the southwest corner of the basement.

I remember that Mrs. Fluker’s class was in the middle of the basement. It had the big columns that hold up the other fl oors. Now that I think about it, that’s pretty scary. Any-way, I had to sit by one and could not always read the board as well as I should. So when we had to copy the rules for signs in mathe-matics, I messed mine up. We were supposed to memorize them to say in front of the class. Well, I messed up on my memory work. I could not be exempt from my math test!

Mrs. Fluker did give me another chance. She told me that if I would come back to the fi rst class exam and say them in front of that class (eek, not mine), she would exempt

me. I turned it over to my dad who rewrote them—I hoped they were right. Must have been as I was exempt. Melinda Dean Johnson

First of all, I would like to say that I hate

to see the building go. I think that it should be preserved for posterity.

We think of it as an elementary school, but we (my twin and I) went to that building for fi ve years in elementary school and two years of Junior High after the Athens High School building burned. Besides that, our dad went to school in that building and, at the time, it housed all grades of school in-

cluding High School.I have lots of fond memories of the build-

ing. I remember all of my teachers, some of the classes, and some about recess. The memories are “spotty,” so I will just give a glimpse of some of them.

I remember the old stone and wood fence that was there in my earlier grades because we used to sit on the stone structures dur-ing recess. I remember the “monkey” bars where we spent quite a bit of time. I remem-ber drawing a Christmas mural on the black-board in Miss Jennie Mae Hall’s Fourth Grade class, and how my twin, Nanette, and I used to trade desks without teachers know-ing what we were doing.

I also remember, in the 5th grade, when a baby alligator came into Mrs. Loper’s room from across the hall. She was not happy about it, but we in the class were amused and felt sorry for the young man who had brought the alligator to the class. Jan Larkin Carrico


My fi rst memory of the building was a story time my mother took me to in the li-brary at age fi ve. I had Mrs. Brewer in sec-ond grade, Miss Hall in the fourth grade, and Mrs. Stover in the fi fth grade. Third and sixth grade was in the “new” building next door. I was always getting into trouble for running up and down the concrete stairs.

When the high school burned, I was in seventh grade, and my class had school in old Army barracks behind the building. We had to go inside the old building to use the restrooms. The cafeteria was in the Army barracks, also. I am very sorry to hear the building will be razed because it is a part of Athens history and many good times. Carolyn Ann Kemp Carter


The old Athens Elementary School was just “school” to my class. We didn’t think about it being new or old. Of course, most of our parents went to that school as well! Grades 1-6 were in that building along with the “new” building that was built right beside it. When you got to the 6th grade, you got to go to the “new” building! Of course, when Athens High School burned, our school be-came grades 1-12, along with various other places in town that housed students until the new high school could be built. There were lots of steps to climb to some classrooms, and the nurse’s offi ce was in the basement—along with the music room, but we didn’t care. We had lots of fun times there! Carol (Miller) Hudson

I only spent two school years, (‘53/’54 under the tutelage of Ms. Jennie May Hall, 4th grade and ‘54/’55 under Mrs. Rowell’s 5th grade), in that old building. Also had (singing) classes under Mrs. Woods there during 2nd and 3rd grades.

I remember Mr. Brown, the janitor, who kept the old boiler in the basement fi red in winter. He showed me the whole operation under there one morning while it was very cold outside. I remember Mr. Pollard getting upset (or acting as if he did) at Mrs. Row-ell for telling us his given name (Rudolf). The old L shaped wood frame building that served as the cafeteria before the new one was built over close to the new single story school building. I remember the long pole on each fl oor used for opening the very top win-dows in every room and being sent to fetch it from whatever room it was used in last.

I remember those swing out, metal framed type windows well because a little girl ran into an open one and cut her head so badly while running around the corner of the building they had to call an ambulance.

I also remember the “auditorium” on the top fl oor where we viewed fi lms, (shown by kids from Mrs. Loper’s 5th grade class be-cause she was the only teacher who wanted to operate the old fi lm projector) and where we had assembly one or two grades at a time because that’s all it would seat.

It’s kind of sad to see old landmarks from your childhood torn down but time goes on. Roland Crossley

We didn’t have kindergarten then. We started fi rst grade in the high school an-nex. Remember playing under the hedges? I couldn’t see the board but could read Dick and Jane so the teacher knew something was wrong. She told my mother I needed glasses. Then, I could see the board, the leaves on the trees (formerly a big green blob), and the squirrels playing in the trees.

At midterm of second grade we moved to the “new” elementary school that is current-ly being used as the administration building. I had Mrs. Gandy for lst grade and Miss Al-phin for 2nd grade. Then, in the same build-ing I had Mrs. Odie Mae Norwood for 3rd grade. In 4th, we moved to the old grammar school, and Marilyn McBurney and I were in Maude Estes’ class together. Fifth grade was in the old building with Mrs. Loper. Then back to the “new” building for 6th grade with Mrs. Scirratt. How do I remem-ber this? I can remember being paddled in fi rst grade for talking and having my citizen-ship grade lowered for talking in 4th grade to Marilyn. Mrs. Scirratt and Mrs. Stegall burst my balloon when they told me at the end of 6th grade that I had to wear dresses in junior high—no more blue jeans. That’s it—that is what warped me!!

Sue Sansing

Ms. Sides 3rd grade class of 1951 - top L to R - Ms. Sides, Bobby Balfour, Nanette Larkin, Nancy Underwood, Janice McLaughlin, Jayna Bell, Denis Day, Betty Lane, Sue Ellen Stalter, Bobby Tidball, Jerry Porter, Julia Baggett, Gerald ??, Treeman Thompson, Dorothy Hickman, Larry Speake, Gracie Barnes, Bobby Jack Little, Jan Larkin, Vivian Dotson, Ann Pierce, Mary Frank Ballow, John Dowdy, Sunny Thornton, Anthony Baker, Linda Hickman, Ronnie Bell, Bobbie Sue Head, Ray Hester, Joe Bob Bollinger, Margaret Bennett, Dale Holder, Marceline Hefl in, Alan Tarrant, Marlene Hefl in, David Porter, DeLoris Tompkins


The Class of ‘62 only attended fourth and fi fth grades in the “old grammar school”, but I loved that building and have many pleas-ant memories of times there. Remember those hated weigh and measure days with our nurse Mrs. Rumbo? We had music with Mrs. Wood in the basement of the building.

My favorite memory is of us playing jacks just inside the cement walls of the rest-room entrances. I remember playing softball in the sand and running around the tops of the cement squares built around the trees, as well as ripping the skirt off my dress when I jumped out of the swings. We learned dances to perform at the Pancake Suppers and had a Colonial Day when I was in fi fth grade. I remember wonderful teachers like Mrs. Es-tes, Mrs. Sides, Mrs. Rowell, and, yes, Mrs. Loper whom we all feared and didn’t want, but found her to be just as dear as the oth-ers.

We made and shared wonderful friend-ships which exist today and have been such a special part of our lives. I do understand the need to tear down the old building, but I hate to lose that landmark and what it represents to so many of us from Athens. Diane Hickman Cleveland

My cousin, Marilyn Gene McBurney, and I always played “horsey” with the sashes on her dress as the reins. Most of her dresses had torn sashes when she got home. We would build “houses” in the hedges dur-ing recess. Of course, the boys (Don Hood - do you remember?) would tear up our play houses. Elaine McBurney Stringer

The building itself was so impressive to a “grade-school” student in the 50’s--a tower-ing orange brick structure designed to with-stand any assault--even a horde of giggling pre-teen kids--who assembled there every September, and adjourned in May. I remem-ber the noisy stairwells, the basement “mu-sic room”, where our teacher Mrs. Brooks, accompanied our singing on an old upright piano, and the large old-style teacher desks, which are now considered “antiques”.

I don’t remember much about the aca-demic lessons, but I do remember longing for recess, and playing jacks on those con-crete slabs; also lining up facing the building during fi re drills and going in from recess. I remember the sound of the wind in the pine trees that dotted the playground, and the train whistles on the nearby tracks.

I remember my fi fth grade teacher--Mrs. Stover--as a stern but fair lady, who we revered and feared. I remember the day a fellow classmate--Frank Kelly--was get-ting “licks” for some infraction of the rules. Punishment in those days was swift and pu-nitive; the sentence was to be carried out in the room by Mrs. Stover. She had Frank lean over her desk, and when she connected with

the paddle, Frank and the desk sailed a few feet across the room; we tried hard to keep straight faces.

I remember that the classroom was on the top fl oor, no air conditioning, and we watched wasps fl oat in & out of the open le-ver windows on hot days, providing a mea-sure of excitement from the drone of social studies.

My parents, Guy & Eileen Pirtle, taught at West Athens for several years--Mother taught fourth grade, and later special educa-tion. My dad taught special education, and later became a vocational adjustment coor-dinator for the older students. Despite their meager salaries, they loved teaching, and I don’t ever remember them complaining about their jobs. They loved their students, and the feeling was mutual. Dad also loved singing and playing the guitar and many may not remember that he had a student chorus that sang for several service clubs in town.

I have a picture of Mother with her stu-dents at Thanksgiving, with their pine-cone turkeys and big smiles. My parents came from a one-room schoolhouse background, and it seems to me that there was more of a connection among teachers, students, and parents then than in present times (This was pre-TAAS, TAKS, TEKS, etc.)

More than the building, I remember car-ing teachers, who gave me a great foundation for success in life. I also remember fellow classmates with whom I formed friendships that have lasted throughout my life. As the commercial says, “those things are price-less.”

Surita Pirtle Hatton

Thinking about the Athens Grammar School, I remember:1) Going to Music class in the basement; the room was on the Southeast side of the building. I can’t remember the teacher’s name, but she was great! Not only did we learn the music scale, sing songs, etc., but we also learned verses right out of the Bible, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Star Span-gled Banner. I think I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, located in the new elementary school, and we would walk over to Music class, and I really did enjoy it!2) In the 4th or 5th grade – playing soft-ball during recess with classmates like Cissy Holloway and others at the far West end of the play ground.3) In the 4th or 5th grade – dusting eras-ers on a tree with classmates like Gail Taylor and others.4) The old steam radiators used for heating every class room. Jerry Sparks

I began school in a building on Faulk Street. We moved to the old three story build-ing in second grade. Later when the new (east) building was completed, we moved

there. We carried our desks and things over and set them up as directed by the teacher. I remember the old school a lot. We ate in the old army barracks. I remember S.E. Sansing, Jr., Sue’s brother, coming to school for show and tell day. He had returned from the Ko-rean War. My teacher let me go with Sue to escort her brother to our class.

The nurse’s offi ce was on the bottom fl oor. One boy was hit with a baseball or bat on the playground and had blood on his clothes. I went with him to the nurse. Mrs. Rumbo made me leave. I was sure I could have helped her if she would have let me stay. I had the bug to be a nurse already

Marilyn McBurney Adams


I remember the cold marble staircases; they felt so good to hot, tired feet from the sandy playground. We played “May I?”, hop scotch, kick ball, and tag. Our recesses were pretty long, so we had a lot of time to run and forget about the books inside. The re-strooms were at the basement level, so we could just run in when needed. As I remem-ber, they weren’t the greatest to look at.

The classrooms were big with lots of windows to let in the light and breezes on hot days (we had no air conditioning). The ceilings were high, so there was lots of wall space for the teachers to fi ll up with dis-plays and student work. I remember in Mrs. Lamb’s fourth grade, we made friezes about Scandinavia to go around most of the room and over the windows.

Mary Lou McNutt’s grandparents from New York sent us chocolate covered ants and chocolate shoes like the wooden Dutch ones. What a treat! Mrs. Lamb was a real honey of a teacher--always kind to everyone even if she did write on my report card that I was talking too much in class!

In fi fth grade we walked in, and there was Denist Harrison already sitting in Mrs. Stover’s classroom. She was a wonderful teacher who loved science. She seemed old I guess because she didn’t wear anything but shirtwaist dresses. That year, we had a boy named Kaye (Simmons) in our class. This was the fi rst and only time anyone else had my name!

Miss Jennie Boone was my sixth grade teacher, and was she ever great. I think all of us loved Miss Jennie. This was the year that we had to start reciting poetry in front of the class. Miss Jennie made learning fun, but she expected a lot from us, too.

Mrs. Rumbo, the school nurse, still holds a special place in my heart. She was the very image of what a nurse was back then: the starched, WHITE uniform, the cap with its blue R.N. ribbon, and that wonderful navy blue cape that swirled around when the wind blew. Always business-like, but still gentle.

I think every kid today should have a Mrs. Rumbo in their life!

Another thing I remember is the candy store across the street. For some reason, the school let us go to this store during the day (at noon, probably) to indulge our sweet tooth. We also could go downtown to eat lunch. Stirman’s Drug Store was a favor-ite--can you remember the hot dogs there? I spent time, too, at Perry Brothers Five and Ten Store or Duke and Ayres; they let us pick out dishes, etc., for gifts, and put them on lay-away. Can you see stores today trusting an elementary kid to do that?

Kay Nelson Stearns

The old school building I remember had

huge stairs, hall monitors, and the basement was the most dreaded place where we had to go see Mrs. Rumbo, the school nurse, if we were sick. We also had music class in the basement.

I had Miss Annie. Everyone knows Miss Annie, that was all the name necessary. She taught us to sing “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and all of the songs from the Musicals she visited with her sister Miss Jennie, each summer in N Y. We did arithmetic races in Mrs. Estes’ room.

Recess was fun. We chose our teams and there were always a few choice players that could knock the ball out of the fi eld in base-ball. It was very sandy on the playground. We could go to the little store across the street and buy Candy cigarettes, and Or-ange drinks. The campus was not closed so we could walk down town for lunch and be back to school in one hour, or we could eat in the lunch room at school for twenty-fi ve cents a day. Thank goodness for the Girls restrooms. They were pretty awful, but the girls could run into the restrooms and be safe from boys who were chasing them. What could be worse, being kissed by a boy on the playground! I am grateful we have these memories of our teachers, bobby socks & petty coats, and happy times with friends. Sue Lane Vickery Voyles


I remember at lunch we would go out

for lunch and cross that busy highway. Pop would give us a free soda on Wednesdays. I can also remember having PE outdoors and Sue Lane and I would hide from Mrs. Mills. We both ended up with U’s on our report cards or at least I did. I’m looking forward to hearing from people who have a better memory than I do. Pat Vermillion Jones

The old three story grammar school

looms large in my memory as I recall when I was a student there. My fi rst experience with the building was as a third grade student in Miss Annie Boone’s class. My class had the responsibility of the Valentine Program. I remember the stage being very big and the auditorium itself being huge. As I toured the building a few weeks ago, the reality is the stage is small and the auditorium didn’t have that many seats.

Mrs. Maude Estes, my fourth grade teacher, had her classroom on the second fl oor just across from the center stairs. Spell-ing and math races on Friday are a favorite memory. Stanley Howard and I raced furi-ously to win each week. Also, that year Mrs. Watt Norman, Sr. (Watt, Jr. was in our class.) came to our class and helped us make pot-tery ashtrays for our mothers as a gift for Mother’s Day. We made the ashtrays in class and then walked across the highway to the

Athens Pottery to watch them being placed in the kiln.

For fi fth grade, I moved upstairs to Mrs. Tarlton Loughridge’s room. I thought the room was very big; but, again, it wasn’t as I learned on my reality visit a few weeks ago.

As fi fth grade students, we had the op-portunity to be student aides for Mr. Pollard, the assistant principal whose offi ce was on the second fl oor. Two students were select-ed to sit outside his offi ce and run errands. We did our lessons while waiting to be dis-patched on an errand. I felt lucky when Mrs. Loughridge chose Sue Lane Vickery and me to be the fi rst students from her classroom to be student aides.

Sixth grade meant a move to the base-ment fl oor and the class of Mrs. Joyce Hall. Our room was in the northeast corner of the building. We could see the playground which was reserved for the lower grades. On occasion, if we were good, Mrs. Hall would take us over there some Friday af-ternoons for recess. I remember the lockers in the hall outside the room. I was a packrat even then. Mine was stuffed with old papers and projects.

Sixth grade students were diffi cult even back in 1956. To help get the class behavior back on track, Mrs. Hall had us make class-room rules which were monitored each week by the class. Tickets were given and court was held on Friday. Having to appear before the class, made us think before we acted and helped us learn to take responsibility for our actions.

The playground out back was always great fun. Baseball, Red Rover, hop scotch, and jump rope were very popular. For base-ball, the big trees were the bases. We jumped rope to many rhyming songs. Every year I went to Spencer’s Hardware to buy a new jump rope. For Valentine’s Day, we deco-rated brown bags to receive our Valentine cards.

When I think of the building, I think of Mr. Brown who was the custodian. He had an area below the fi rst fl oor where he kept cleaning supplies. When it was time to clean the blackboards, we went to get rags and the oily cleaner for the boards. The stairs were always a little rickety. We had music class on the fi rst fl oor. Mrs. Costlow is the music teacher I remember. We sang lots of songs, but my favorite was the Civil War song, “Goober Peas.” I still like that song.

The Sides Store was always there for a treat. I remember buying candy hearts, slow pokes, wax bottles with a Kool-Aid like drink, and the ever popular, candy cigarettes. At lunch, we often “went to town” to get a hamburger. Of course, no trip to town was complete without a quick stop at Duke and Ayres or Perry Brothers. You could always get something for a nickel. The Farmers’ Market was also a place we visited some-time at lunch. We would buy stalks of sugar

cane and pomegranates. I hate to see the building torn down, but

the important thing is we will always have our memories.

I treasure the many friends I fi rst met in grammar school. Some of us still meet for lunch in Athens once a month. I am thank-ful for the wonderful teachers I had. Each of them had a positive impact on me. Each gave me the opportunity to grow and become a responsible person in addition to teaching me the skills I needed to succeed academi-cally. Dorothy Selman Wasunyk

The main thing I remember about the old elementary school was that there was not a single blade of grass on the playground. Nothing but sand and rocks. Also, going to the “Little Store” across the street from the “New Building” to get candy. Jon Wyrick

My fi rst experience with the old grammar school building was in 1948 when my sister, Jean Ann, took me to school on Kid’s Day when I was 4 years old. I was so nervous and fi gidity that at the end of the day, the teacher told my sister not to ever bring me back.

I remember the large steam radiators in each class. They would get real hot and burn you if you got too close.

We ate lunch at the outside cafeteria made out of an old wooden army barrack building situated at the northeast corner of the school. Kids like me with sack lunches would go to the far north end and eat lunch while kids who had the money to buy lunch would eat their lunch near the front or south end.

We would play marbles for keeps down at the west end of the playground. Once Pop Pollard caught me and several other kids and took us up to his second fl oor offi ce where he gave each of us a couple of hard licks with his wood paddle with holes in it.

We would also gather at the west end playground and engage in wrestling contests to see who was strongest. Jerry Herriage al-

ways won those contests.Farm kids like me didn’t have to start

school until cotton picking season had end-ed. I would pick cotton as far west as Kerens during cotton picking season.

On rainy days we would watch fi lms of Southwest Conference games narrated by Currin Tips. We saw swivel hipped run-ning exploits of L. G. Dupree, Jim Swink, and Dicky Meagle among others. Later we would get out on the playground and try to emulate what they had done.

Louis Greene

Teachers most remembered @ AES - Annie Boone - we always sang a song every morning - I remember most being introduced to the music from “Oklahoma”; Jennie Hall - helped me master my multiplication tables; Bertha Stover and Mrs. Ballew are remem-bered for other things.

I remember: a fourth or fi fth grade picture taken by the Review of softball at recess - I was at bat and Frances Ledbetter was catcher with a cast on her right wrist; being pushed down a fl ight of stairs; cutting my head on a corner of one of the old casement style windows; being rescued by Principal Mastin Stover through the window of my mother’s wrecked car on the last day of school. There are so many more memories of that time in my life too numerous to be included. Linda Gee Meeks

It’s funny how small things stick with you over the years; I can vividly recall “Pop” (aka Coach Pollard) being the “quarterback” at Athens Elementary and throwing the foot-ball to 25 plus sixth graders as we all went out for passes during recess.

I remember the arithmetic races on the blackboard as one teacher’s class would challenge another teacher’s class for brag-ging rights.

Then there was the music class in the basement classroom; and I remember climb-ing the stairs to get to the top fl oor to get to our regular classroom.

I also vividly recall when some of the “big kids” returned to our building when the Athens High School building burned. But most of all, I remember the carefree times with friends, friends which have lasted a lifetime. Mike Cade

When I think back about my early school days in the original elementary school build-ing, I remember crowded stairways full of classmates and the smell and swish of new Blue Jeans at the beginning of the year. I had both my 4th and 5th grade classes there with Mrs. Estes and Mrs. Loper respectfully.

Boys at that time gave their girl friends quarter-size silver disks with their name on it. I remember many spelling bees within the


class. In Mrs. Loper’s 5th grade class my best memory was of her session on “Taking a Trip across the USA”. It was an imaginary trip that included writing letters to AAA and local Chambers of cities we wanted to visit along with mapping and journaling our adventure. Dusting erasers was an earned privilege while recess gave time for softball games.

After school I have vivid pictures of the little store across the street with peanuts in RC colas making a great spewing fountain and the early rock and roll like Little Rich-ard blaring. Joe Sparks


I began fi rst grade in 1952 in what is now the Athens ISD Administration Building. First through third grades and then sixth grade were spent in various rooms in that long white brick building. I remember being in the old three-story building for fourth and fi fth grades and music classes—and what great memories I have from those years.

In the fourth grade, my teacher was Mrs. Joe Lamb—the kindest woman who ever walked the earth—at least that was the way we felt about her back then. She never raised her voice and always seemed to smile at us. She arranged spell-downs and math contests for us. When we made 100 on our spelling tests, she’d reward us with a NICKEL! And we got to go to the candy machine down in

the basement and buy a treat and eat it in class (as I recall!)

I remember one spell-down when my word was “blew”—but I couldn’t remember that word—in stalling, I asked her to repeat the word—and she did. Still I couldn’t think of the correct spelling—so I asked her to use it in a sentence. “The wind blew.” I fi nally said “B L U E” and down I went! I was just crushed—but somehow she took the hurt away—of course, here I am some fi fty years later still remembering that I missed that simple word!

In those years Mr. Stover was Principal and “Pop” Pollard was the Assistant Princi-pal. Mr. Stover made sure we all got to watch the baseball World Series every year—and “Pop” would tell us all kinds of things—for instance, when we had those little glass bottles of chocolate milk (the ones with the cardboard stopper and paper covers), he’d always ask, “Did you know that chocolate milk comes from brown cows?” And being city kids, we wouldn’t know he was pulling our leg!

Pop Pollard also ran our math contests. As I recall, because I was the fourth grade math champ, one day he and I had a contest at the chalkboard. Since he called out the problem—he had the answer before I ever got the problem written—I can’t remember if I took that defeat gracefully or not!

My greatest fear as the year came to an end was that I would get MRS. LOPER in fi fth grade! Her profi le struck fear into all the students who saw her on campus!! And, of course, I ended up in her class—she scared

us to death the fi rst day of school—but I be-lieve she was one of the best teachers I ever had. She challenged us with projects that we wouldn’t have had if we’d been in other classes. Every year she made her class cre-ate vacation plans, complete with budgets and maps. We had to write to other states and request maps (No Barnes and Noble to run to back then!) We then used these materials to plot out our trips—and we had to keep a diary of what we saw and did on this “pretend” trip! That was when I learned the difference between a speedometer and an odometer—not your regular fi fth grade vocabulary!

What was really cool about Mrs. Loper was that she was in charge of the Audio-Visual equipment—she ran the projector for every group that came upstairs to see fi lms—and, as a rule, she brought her class in with her. We’d sit in the back of the au-ditorium and watch whatever she showed the other groups. And then when they left, we’d get to see the fi lm run backwards as it was being rewound! What fun! It seems like Mrs. Loper had some responsibilities in the big Christmas and Easter programs that were put on each year. For some reason, I was cast as an angel in each of these pro-grams. I guess I was just “typecast”!

It was during fi fth grade—I think it was April—that the sky turned GREEN and the winds came. We were on the third fl oor of that old building and it was as scary as all get-out! I don’t know if a tornado touched down in Athens, but the winds and rain came and, as I recall, it hailed. I know lots of tree limbs were twisted off and thrown to the ground. It turns out that was the same day the 1957 killer tornado hit in Dallas and tore Oak Cliff and the Love Field neighbor-hood to pieces!

At the end of that school year, Mr. Ben Shew gave a music aptitude test to all the fi fth graders and then held an information meeting about being in the band. Since my name was Kittles, it was a sure thing that I was going to sign up and be in the band—my four older brothers and sisters had all been in the band—and since we had a clarinet at home, that would be my instrument.

One of his favorite selling-points Mr. Shew always gave the parents was: “If you teach a kid to blow a horn, he will never blow a safe!” And, as far as I know, none of our Class of ’64 band students ever did blow a safe!

For sixth grade, the band students were all put in one section—with Mrs. Harris Ballow—over in the one story building. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we would board one of the old yellow school buses and be taken to the band hall for band instruction—this was the band hall in the old gym build-ing—the one that had been a WWII airplane hanger.

It was during the sixth grade that we did a “This is Your Life” program about Mrs. Ballow—I don’t remember if it was for her birthday or what the occasion was—but I do remember singing a solo version of “I Love You Truly” a capella on the stage of the 3rd fl oor auditorium—and I’d never heard that song before—so I’m sure it sounded really awful. Somehow we had little known facts to tell about her. (They may have come from Jerry Laney who was her nephew and in our class.) For instance, she had gone shopping in Tyler one Saturday and looked down after she’d been in several stores and noticed she had on two different colored shoes—one brown and the other blue. As I recall—she was amazed and embarrassed by our sa-lute—but we thought Ralph Edwards would have been proud of us!

At some point during my fi fth or sixth grades, we took a fi eld trip from school to go to The Texan movie theater downtown—to see “The Ten Commandments.” I can’t re-member if we had to pay a quarter each or what—but I do remember us all going on school buses. We also got to go to the high school to see the Band Follies—one of the best recruiting tools Mr. Shew had in attract-ing future band members! Patsy Kittles Summey

I remember every Spring when the Coca-Cola truck would arrive on the playground and pass out all kinds of good “stuff” (rul-ers, pencils, etc) including an ice cold Coke in a bottle.

I remember square dance lessons during our P. E. time. I remember Mrs. Rumbo’s offi ce (school nurse) being in the basement and being somewhat afraid to go down there. I remember growing beans in a cardboard box and making fudge on the steam radiator in about the 4th grade.

I remember that Pat Cook De Rosa and I walked to the Duke and Ayers on the square every day at lunch to buy modeling clay to add more to the multi level house we built on top of our shared “airplane desk in 5th grade in Mrs. Stover’s room.

I remember fried bologna and “green bread” lunches in the cafeteria – green bread because they always served cooked greens of some kind with the fried bologna and put the slice of white bread on top of it. By the time you got to sit down the bread had soaked up all the juice from the greens and made it green and soggy.

I remember that we still took naps in 2nd grade.

Marcia E. Blackmon

What I remember most of all is Jerri Jane Williams doing the “dirty bop” at the little cafe/store across from the newer elementary bldg. “Whew”,.....could she do the dirty bop!

Sunday, March 2, 2008 Athens Daily Review 27 remember hiding gold in the tree roots on the campus. If I had the gold, I wouldn’t have to work today. B.C. “Bob” Willingham

One day Dewayne Johnson and I were put in a line in the hall. I didn’t know that line was for paddling from Mr. Galspie, our P.E. Coach. I turned to ask Dewayne what’s going on, and he said it’s the talking that got us in that long line. I started crying right then. Dewayne turned and looked me in the eye and said, “Nancy, if you will tighten up right before he hits you it will not hurt.” Boy was he wrong. When I walked out, he was laughing at me. So I guess he knew before-hand of the sting. Nancy Waggener Marion

I remember going to class to learn my ABC’s, but every time a train would go down the tracks, I would have to stand to my feet to watch the train come into Athens or leave Athens.

I also remember when I was In Mrs. An-nette Pulley’s class. We had a stage play on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. No! I wasn’t Prince Charming. I was “Dopey!” Mrs. Pulley was my favorite teacher then and even today we still have contact with one another. Lynn Malone

board, the race would begin. The fi rst person with the correct answer was awarded a point. This process continued until all team mem-bers had their turn at the board.

In my mind’s eye, the blackboard was huge; it seemed to span the entire width of the wall. Of course, everything seemed huge to a fourth grader.

I can also remember the wall of windows in her classroom. These windows provided a clear view of the enormous mature oak trees in the playground area. I also recall that these windows were the source of great dis-traction to several of my young classmates who would get caught daydreaming during class work time. I guess that’s the reason our newer schools do not have windows.

One of my least favorite memories evolved around the gym. I remember the huge rope that hung from the tall ceiling. Occasionally we were required to ascend the rope to the top, or at least go as far up as your strength would allow. I don’t imagine many schools have this requirement today due to stringent safety and insurance concerns, but I don’t think many of us suffered serious “trauma” from the experience.

Robbie Rakestraw

And Those We Couldn’t Place

I went to school here in the 1950’s. I re-member some of the Christmas plays we had in the top story of the building. I also

In Remembering

ATHENS GRAMMAR SCHOOL

OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATESSheri J. Robson, O. D.

Complete Vision Care

Offi ce Hours By Appointment 903/675-2697 222 South Palestine Street P. O. Drawer 149 Athens, Texas 75751

IT WILL BE MISSED!

And then there was “Pop” Pollard guid-ing us in a game of football at recess.

And how about Ted Thornton and Coy Ray Dingler, two real “bad guys” that had all of us lesser guys shaking in our boots every time they looked at us.

Just reminiscing! Larry Tinney


When I began my education in Athens, Texas, West Athens Elementary was the only elementary school in Athens. There were no kindergarten classes. Your public education began with fi rst grade. The fi rst, second and third graders used the newer building. The fourth, fi fth, and sixth graders got to use the “old” building because they were “older” and more mature.

Many memories still fl ood my mind as I think of those elementary school days. Memories such as

– learning to read, – health checks (which meant that our

picture would show in the cars of a train in the classroom if our fi ngernails, hair, ears, and teeth were clean or well groomed).

– Math races– Square dancing in P.E.– Movies on the top fl oor of the old

building.– Trips to the basement to see the nurse

or go to music.– Finally getting to go off campus to eat

lunch.Each teacher and their special contribu-

tion to the molding of not only our educa-tion, but also our character.

All compete to be “the favorite” memory I have of West Athens Elementary. While these recollections are very important to me, the one that has allowed me the most grati-fi cation is the fact that I was also a teacher at West Athens Elementary years later, of course. It was my privilege to teach in the room of one of my favorite teachers—my sixth grade teacher, Miss Jennie Boone. I could still see where we sat, how we did things, and even Miss Jennie conducting one of our math races. Some afternoons as I refl ected on the events of the day I would recall how she would handle situations and only hope that I could make as positive an impact on my students as she made on me. Kaye Albright Fitzgerald

I hate to see the old school building go. My daddy, Fred Stone went to school in the old elementary school building. My moth-er, Doris Stone taught school there. I also went to school there. In 1956 I was in the 4th grade and my teacher was Mrs. Lamb. In 1957 I had Mrs. Lockridge in the 5th grade. Her classroom was on the third fl oor on the northwest corner.

In 1958 I was in the 6th grade and my teacher was Miss Jennie Boone. We were in the basement on the southeast corner. I remember fi nding a Liberty Head dime on the playground way down by the old tree in the southwest corner of the playground. The date on it was 1914. That was the year my daddy was born. I still have the dime. Judy Stone Kinsey


I’m one of “those Kittles girls”. I gradu-ated from AHS in 1966.

I remember eating lunch in the old wooden lunchroom which was an old Army barrack. I remember the milk came in little glass bottles with those little bottlecaps.

There was also a huge slide (huge to me then) on the playground. I remember com-ing down it one day and bumping heads with someone when I hit the end.

I also remember being thankful that I didn’t get Mrs. Wofford for 5th grade! I think I had Mrs. Stover. Stella Kittles Sikes


My third grade teacher was Mrs. Reierson and my sixth grade teacher was Mrs. Ballow. I remember learning cursive and spelling bees. I also remember the Easter program in the auditorium when we sang “Old Rugged Cross” and “In the Garden”, church hymns students can’t sing today. Kathy Calhoun Wood


In 1967-1969, I attended West Athens Elementary. I was in the 5th and 6th grades. My teachers were Mrs. Tiner, Mrs. Sholars, Mrs. Loughridge and Mr. Staples. We had a library in the old building and Mrs. Ollie Hawn was our music teacher. We were not allowed to go into the 3rd or basement fl oors. I still remember many of the old songs that Mrs. Hawn taught us. Bunny Shumate Freeman


Mrs. Lamb’s 4th grade class always comes to mind when I think about West Athens Elementary School. As I recall, we were located on the north side of the 3rd fl oor. Each week Mrs. Lamb would divide the class into equal teams and we would have “math races” at the blackboard. Each team would send one person to the board and Mrs. Lamb would call out a problem. After each member had the problem written on the


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Karen Lawson FulfordPat Lawson SpradlinGail LeciusBobbie Lewis LavanawayDavid LodenEthel Lynch ChancellorWayne MagnessCarolyn Massey BlantonTommy Maxfi eldGail McAnally BowersDon McCoolAndy McNuttDorothy Miers DuiphinCharlene Miller BledsoeDana MitchellVicki Montgomery ConnerDe De MooreBeverly MorrisonJanet MurrayPhyllis Musselwhite HaleyDavid OliveriaKeith O’NealSusan O’Shaughnessy BallardTerry Pace SpenceGary PagittBilly ParisSheila Paroline EverettSandra Partin WebbAnnie Powell RobisonJackie Price ColwellCarolyn Ray WallaceDarlene Renfro WestbrookPat Richardson BrownLila Richardson ShumateConnie Ring LideRon RogersIra Royall ShawJudy RutledgeConnie Ryon AllenLynn SandersRandy ScottShasta Shafer DunklinStephen ShaverLula May ShermanBilly Don Sherman

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Compliments Of

ATHENS HIGH SCHOOLCLASS OF 1968


Henderson County Historical Commission

201 East Larkin StreetAthens, Texas 75751

903/675-6199E-mail: [email protected]

Web Site: http:www.rootsweb.com/~txhchc

Our MissionIn accordance with the State Historical Commission is to protect and

preserve Henderson County’s historic and prehistoric resources for the use, education, enjoyment and eco-

nomic benefi t of present and future generations.

FRIENDS OF THEHENDERSON COUNTY

HISTORICAL COMMISSION

201 East Larkin StreetAthens, Texas 75751

903/675-6199

Serving the Henderson County Historical Commission by Providing Financial Support and Volunteers

for Its Various Programs and Projects Dedicated to Preserving the History of Henderson County in All Its Forms

Chairman: Nelda ReynoldsVice Chairman: Fran Bethea

Individual Memberships: $25.00 ● Family Memberships: $50.00 ● Business Memberships: $100.00 ● Lifetime Membership: $500.00

• Oral History Project - Begun in 2007 and headed by Tom Selman. Efforts are underway to secure grant funding for the equipment needed for this ambitious project. A training semi-nar is being planned for later this year to provide guidelines for those who would volunteer to interview our esteemed citizens who have fi rst hand or other knowledge of historical occurrences pertaining to this county or the life and times of its citizens. Anyone desiring to assist on this most worthy proj-ect should contact the Commission and leave your name and phone number to the attention of Tom Selman.

• Heritage Festival - Our Heritage Festival was conceived by Commission Member, Judy Jacobson, and approved by the Commission. The fi rst festival was held at the Arburetum last fall. This year the Festival is being planned for the Courthouse Square under the project guidance of Judy Jacobson. The date of the Festival will be announced soon.

• Historical Survey - Conduct an inventory of the entire coun-ty and all of its communities to arrive at an accurate listing of historic residences, commercial buildings, churches, and his-toric sites. This project will involve hundreds of volunteers and, hopefully high school classes will be assisting.

Among the projects that the Commission and Friends have recently com-pleted and are engaged in an ongoing capacity are

• historical marker and dedication for the Henderson County Courthouse• historical markers and preservation of our county’s pioneer cemeteries • historical markers and preservation for our counties historically signifi -cant schools and churches

Among the several new projects in development by the Henderson County Historical Com-mission and Friends of the Commission are


ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Editors of this Special Edition on the Athens Grammar School, along

with the Henderson County Historical Commission, wish to acknowledge the assistance of a number of individuals.

Miss Kathy Killingsworth, former Athens teacher and student who made her records and those of her late Mother, LaRue Killingsworth, long time as-sistant to Athens Superintendent J. R. Lowe, available for research and fact checking.

A large number of individuals who shared photos they had taken or pho-tos they had located among their keepsakes and records as well as other valu-able information.....including Mary Frank Ballow Gaston, Lynn Laney Shav-er, Regina Fluker, Sarah Jane Brown, Jan Larkin Carrico, Sue Lane Vickery Voyles, Annette Faulk, Fran Jones, Linda Loughridge Pepper, and so many more.

We gratefully acknowledge the help, assistance, and cooperation of Dr. Fred Hayes and his staff of the Athens Independent School District - espe-cially Randy Jones and Annette Faulk.

We also wish to extend our appreciation to Nelda Reynolds, chair of the Henderson County Historical Commission, for her enthusiastic support and encouragement as well as the research assistance provided by Fran Bethea.

There are many others whose assistance, advice, and encouragement were invaluable, and we acknowledgment that with grateful “Thanks!”

DISCLAIMERThis project was a major undertaking for a small group of individuals

who were faced with time restraints and deadlines. Records, both offi cial and unoffi cial, were often unavailable, inaccessible, or access was limited or the record did not exist at all – making research, fact verifi cation, and thoroughness diffi cult and sometimes impossible. As a result, some indi-viduals may be inadvertently omitted from our list of former teachers and principals, or from former student memories, or not identifi ed in photos. We were grateful for the tremendous response to our request for Former Student Memories and Recollections. Individuals were generous with their thoughts, recollections, and anecdotes; however, we were faced with space limitations and this made editing necessary. We apologize if something you really wanted to say hit the “cutting room fl oor.”

EDITORIAL COMMENTThis Special Commemorative Edition was intended to help underscore the

importance of the Athens Grammar School building in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Athenians – former students, teachers, family and friends, citizens and residents alike. It was the fi rst brick school building erected in Athens, and it was intended to be a substantial structure that would serve the needs of the community for a long time – and it did!

It is sad and disheartening to know that the building was, for a number of years, ignored with regard to care and maintenance and allowed to deteriorate beyond the point of restoration and preservation. However, it appears that the Athens Grammar School does and will continue to live on in the memories of its students and teachers as well as members of the community for years to come. It was a special place in which lives were shaped, friendships and alliances formed, education and social skills attained, responsibility instilled, and character developed. You can never really lose those things – so the building lives on in that respect.

Let us pledge now to work together to further preserve the memory of this building and all the events and activities associated with it by gather-ing information – documentation, photographs, newspaper clippings, objects, mementos, etc.- and depositing these things in a place of safekeeping and access like the Henderson County Historical Commission offi ces or the Hen-derson County Historical Museum. Let us pledge to take the time to record our memories in a soon-to-be launched Oral History Project for Henderson County – memories of not only this school but of our families, friends, events, and activities.

Let us keep Athens and Henderson County alive for future generations to know about and be proud of ......... like all of us are!

SPECIAL EDITION STAFFGeneral Editor Tom SelmanCo-Editor/Researcher Dorothy Selman WasunykCo-Editor/Layout/Design Ron HendryAdvertising Sarah Jane Brown

HENDERSON COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSIONMembership/Offi cers

Nelda Reynolds, Chair Sarah Jane Brown, Vice Chair Betty Hollowell, SecretaryKaren Smith, Treasurer Maxie Barton, Parliamentarian

Members Maxie BartonRandy DanielAnn Hickman

Kathryn Harville Wanda Marshall Larry West Mary Ann Perryman David Hendry Judy Jacobson Peggy Smith John Miller Crystal BarrettEstelle Corder

Dick Bramblitt Eva StallingsJanet Cook Gail Haynes Wayne SmithCarolyn Hamilton Fran Bethea Tom SelmanRon Hendry

Special NoticeAdditional copies of this Special Commemorative Edition can be obtained from the offi ces of the Henderson County Historical Commission or Henderson County Historical Museum. See ads elsewhere in this edition for contact information. An electronic version of this Special Commemorative Edition will be posted on the Henderson County Historical Commission’s web site at http:www.rootsweb.com. It will be periodically supplemented with additions, notices of errors, and comments provided by readers.


Our school auditoriam on the top fl oor where we gathered for meetings and programs. Some saw fi lms of the Southwest Conference here while some were fi ngerprinted in a national fi ngerprinting program in 1943.

Three exterior photos above show the still solid structure of the 95 year old building. The ex-ternal cafeteria (created from an old WWII wooden army barracks), was located on the northwest cor-ner grounds shown in photo to left.

Note the interesting relief in the external brick wall below, the rounded bannisters in photo at right and the solid wooden doors leading into the halls in the corner photo.

View of the grammar school building from South or College Street.

View of grammar school building from northeast. This was also the view from Corsicana Street.

As we walked through the halls for a last look, an oft overheard comment was “Mrs. So and So was my teacher in this classroom!”


Athens Grammar School

“As I drove to Athens on a Saturday morning, knowing I was going to attend the ceremony planned before the destruction of our old grade school, I was both a little bitter and a little resentful that more had not been done at the appropriate time to preserve our old school. I was even hoping to have a chance to speak up and tell everyone how I felt.

When I arrived at the building with my mother in tow, I saw famil-iar faces of classmates, and I was immediately involved with friendly hellos and a feeling of belonging. As we toured the old building, we laughed and giggled, and once again went through the hallways just like in days gone by. We rushed from one room to another saying ‘ I was in this room in fi fth grade. Mrs. Rowell was my teacher. I had Miss Jennie Mae Hall and my room was right here! Let’s go up to the third fl oor and see the auditorium. Wow, I always thought this room was so big!’ and on and on.

We took pictures, we told stories, and as I stood shoulder to shoul-der, arm in arm, or hand in hand with my long time friends that I met in that building and grew to love and trust, I realized that our school was not the building, but the friendships and memories we made when we were there. Our school is forever preserved in our hearts and minds and restoration happens every time we see each other.

I feel so very blessed that I grew up in Athens and knew the gifts of love and friendship that I enjoyed there. Not only did our old schools, grammar and high, fi ll our days with fun and laughter and a lifetime of memories, but the whole town did. What a wonderful place to have grown up and to love even now. I will miss seeing that old building as I drive into town, but I can say goodbye now with a cheerful and grateful heart, because I will carry the real school in my heart forever.” Diane Hickman Cleveland

Saying goodbye at the February 2, 2008 Grammar School Building Commemorative Ceremony

Taking a photo for posterity.

Mary Lou Adrian Christopher shares a few memories - 1925 fi rst grade

An old gridiron warrior, Pat Beckham, salutes a grand old building

Group of fi ve of Richardson clan standing at left - Suella Clark, Deanne Richardson, Fran Smith, Bonnie Smith, Larry Richardson

Fran Richardson McGee Smith - former student and for-mer teacher - gets ready to enter Athens Grammar School for the last time.

athens’ grammar school 1914-2008sites.rootsweb.com/.../athens_grammar_school_insert.pdfsunday,...

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