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Grand Prairie Historical Organization P.O. Box 532173, Grand Prairie, TX 75053-2173

www.gphistorical.com facebook.com/GpHistorical

Next Meeting May 17, 2018, 11:30 a.m.

Grand Prairie Memorial Library Inspire Room

901 Conover Dr.

Lunch— $10.00 Please RSVP to [email protected] or [email protected] before NOON Friday, May 11.

Program for May 17th General Meeting Remember the Alamo Restaurant

Speaker: James Moreno

11:30 a.m. at the Grand Prairie Memorial Library Inspire Room

Lunch, provided by the speaker’s family, will include:

Enchiladas, Rice and Beans

Please RSVP to [email protected] before noon on Friday, May 11.

Notice The May meeting will be held at

the Grand Prairie Memorial Library

Inspire Room 901 Conover Dr.,

during the restoration of the GPHO Museum.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

GPHO Museum News Work has begun on the restoration of the Grand Prairie Historical Organization Museum. With the help of Volunteers from First Baptist Church Youth group in conjunction with Grand Prairie’s Big Event, most items in the building were moved out Saturday, March 24th.

(See page 10 for more photos)

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mailto:[email protected]



http://www.gphistorical.com

http://facebook.com/GpHistorical






Jim Parker, Museum Director, reports that the building was totally vacated in mid-March and the City has started the process of remodeling and restoration. The goal is to restore the exterior of the building to its original look as much as possible.

As for the interior, the first design meeting is scheduled for May 14. Hopefully, more information will be released following that meeting.

The es t imated complet ion is probably going to be the end of the year.

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Your GPHO Officers and Board Members

President - Bonnie Steever Cockrum President Elect - John Wylie Treasurer - Kathy Ritterhouse

Museum Director - Jim Parker Historian/Archivist - Stephanie MorenoProgram Chair - Bobby DonaldsonNewsletter/Publicity - Juanita WagenerMembership - John WylieSpecial Events - Harry Grant Fundraising - Kathy RitterhouseHospitality - Dorella Bond and Scott Donaldson

The last GPHO Board meeting in the building before it was closed for renovation.

Photo by Walter WagenerPlease welcome our newest members:

Dr. Jeannie Finn Furlong and

Cole Humphreys

We wish to thank all of you who dine out for the GPHO. We’ve had great turnouts for these. These photos only represent the lunchtime diners. More attended in the evenings. Dining out Fundraisers were held at Romas Italian Bistro, 101 W. Main, Grand Prairie and Beto’s Mexican Restaurant, 2530 W. Interstate 20, Grand Prairie. We are looking forward to seeing more of you at our Fundraising Events in the future. A portion of the cost of your meal goes to our organization.





Grand Prairie Historical Organization’s Annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction was a grand success. Thirty guests attended the event and were entertained and educated by Larry White of AWineKnow.com. Thanks to Kathy Ritterhouse for her tireless efforts in making this year’s event the success it was. (Photos by Walter R. Wagener)

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Save These Dates

June 9th - Dechman/Goodwin Awards- Grand Prairie Memorial Library, Inspire Room from 2-4 p.m. June 16th - Bus Tour of Grand Prairie, 10-2, including lunch; Details TBD August General Meeting, Dinner at 6:30 p.m. - Speaker: Brad Hamilton, Topic to be determined November General Meeting, Lunch at 11:30 a.m.

Further information will be emailed or appear on our website: www.gphistorical.com

http://AWineKnow.com



http://AWineKnow.com



The Copeland Home was open for tours on Saturday, March 17, in honor of Grand Prairie’s 109th birthday. The house, located at 125 S.W. Dallas Street, was built in 1902, by B.P. Hale and his wife, Ruth, and later sold to Dr. H.V. Copeland in 1908. One of the rooms in the house served as Dr. Copeland’s office and is equipped with many of his medical needs. Other rooms in the house are furnished with period items that either belonged to the Copeland family or were donated by local residents. With the exception of a few upgrades over the years, the house retains the style of the time.

The Copeland Home Tour

March 17, 2018 GPHO

Photos by: Walter & Juanita Wagener

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**Special Request**

Alan Ford is trying to compile picture images of all the men and women who worked in the Texas School Book Depository on the day President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. Do any of you have pictures of Sarah Juanita Dean Stanton? Alan believes she was 41 years old at the time of the late president’s death. Contact Alan at [email protected] for more information or questions.







A Message from our President As 2018 GPHO President this year, I feel very lucky to have a board excited about seeing that our Mission Statement is continuing to come to fruition.

You can find our Mission Statement on the website at gphistorical.com. Our members have supported the board as well, and we know we can count on that in the future. We hope you will invite your family and friends to become GPHO members to support our Mission Statement. You will find the updated 2018 membership application on the website, also. Even though the GPHO building has been closed for over almost two months, the board has continued to be very busy with future plans. Just because the building is closed does not mean we are stopping activities. You will see in this newsletter several things that will be coming up. The GPHO board welcomes volunteers in helping out with the activities. There are many things that we would like to do but the board cannot do it all alone. Please contact any one of the board members to see where you can help.

The GPHO Restoration Committee is meeting with the city contact person to continue discussions of details. Sometime in the very near future, we will have some news to share. We have a few photos of some of the “tear out”. Walter Wagener, the husband of our Newsletter Chair Juanita Wagener, has been documenting our activities this year and will be continuing to take photos of the restoration work along the way. If you have not seen photos of the January Quilt Show, the February Wine Tasting, General Meeting, and the tour of Dr. Copeland’s home in March, they are on the website. Don’t forget the Facebook page, too. There are many interesting things posted and reading the memories from many Grand Prairians in the comments is interesting.

Looking forward to see you at our next meeting on May 17, 11:30am, in the Inspire Room at the Grand Prairie Memorial Library.

Bonnie Steever Cockrum

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The Grand Prairie

Historical Organization

Museum being prepared for restoration.

May 5, 2018





To further our mission to preserve, collect, and promote Grand Prairie’s history, we are striving to preserve the historic Junior Chamber of Commerce State Headquarters building, which is owned by the City of Grand Prairie, and convert it to an attractive museum which displays and preserves the rich history of our community.

To help us accomplish this mission, we have opened a GoFundMe campaign at:

https://www.gofundme.com/grand-prairie-historical-museum

Built in 1951, the 2400 sq. ft. building originally operated as the state headquarters of the Texas Jaycees. The funding and building of the structure was a local community effort. Local Jaycees and Grand Prairie businessmen raised the $30,000 needed to build the brick building which was designed

by local Grand Prairie architects, Smith & Warder.

As with any old building, our GPHO Museum building is in need of extensive maintenance projects, including asbestos removal, re-roofing, electrical and technological upgrades, among many other issues. Museum upgrades planned include display cabinets, an archival storage room, archival storage materials, along with the collection of Grand Prairie historical memorabilia to preserve and display in the museum.

Thank you, Kathy Ritterhouse, Fundraising Chair

Grand Prairie Historical Organization appreciates donations in honor or memory of family or friends. Your donation will be recorded in the name of that person.

Questions- [email protected]

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Dechman/Goodwin Awards

The Grand Prairie Historical Organization will again recognize local citizens and groups at its Dechman/Goodwin Awards ceremony, on June 9, 2018. The ceremony will take place at the Grand Prairie Memorial Library, 901 Conover Dr., Grand Prairie.

Sarah Terrace, Sponsor of RHO Kappa Honor Society, the Herb Summers Chapter of South Grand Prairie High School was chosen winner of the 2017 Dechman Award and Regina Shumaker, member of the board of the Grand Prairie Genealogical Society, was the recipient of the 2017 Goodwin Award. John Wylie received an award for the Preservation Capture Project for digitizing historic records of the City of Grand Prairie.

Certificates of Appreciation will also be presented.

Join the Grand Prairie Historical Organization on Saturday, June 9 at 1-3 p.m., for this year’s Ceremony.









Use the URL/website name: smile.amazon.com and choose Grand Prairie Historical Organization. Amazon will donate 0.5% of each purchase to our organization.

You pay the same prices and you can still use your Amazon Prime membership. Please sign up now!

$$$$ Grand Prairie Museum Fundraising $$$$

Books and Wine Glasses for Sale!

The wine glasses which are 8 oz. and clear glass with the frosted “etched look” GPHO

logo are $10.00 each.

Grand Prairie History Books are available for $25.00 each.

Both items are available and can be purchased at:

Grand Prairie Historical Organization Museum 1516 W. Main Street, Grand Prairie, TX 75050

Contact: fundraising @gphistorical.com

Kroger Community Rewards Program

is now set up

GPHO Group Number 60144

This link www.kroger.com provides our number and the instructions for how to register and link your Kroger card to our account so we can start receiving a percentage (determined by the total amount spent by all of the participating rewards participants) of the amount spent by our supporters. How to Register a Digital Account Simply visit www.kroger.com or download the Kroger mobile application from the appropriate app store for your device and follow these instructions: 1. Select the ‘Register’ button. 2. Enter your information. 3. Select ‘Create Account’.Please make sure that you add your card number or create a virtual card number while registering your Digital Account. This is required for the Community Rewards program so that your transactions apply towards the program.

Simply fill out the Good Neighbor program section and the top part of a Tom Thumb Reward Card Application indicating GPHO’s number 13779 and return it to the Courtesy Booth at any Tom Thumb.

Tom Thumb will pay 1% of your grocery purchases to the Grand Prairie Historical Organization fundraising efforts.

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http://smile.amazon.com

http://www.kroger.com






http://smile.amazon.com



2018 Membership Information All Memberships are from January 1 to December 31 yearly.

Membership is vital to the operation of the Grand Prairie Historical Organization Museum. All memberships provide for the acquisition and preservation of Grand Prairie historical artifacts, preservation supplies, the proper archival storage of artifacts, and the display of these historical archives to the citizens of Grand Prairie and visitors.

Student - $20.00 and Teacher - $20.00 • encourage an interest in Grand Prairie history through the GPISD.

Preservation Member - $25 • any individual interested in history

History Maker Member - $100 Dechman Member - $200 • interested in seeing Grand Prairie’s history is properly preserved and showcased.

Corporate Member - $500 • businesses in support of Grand Prairie’s history: past, present, and future.

Be sure your application form is current (2018). If not, download it from:

[email protected]

Ouida Chapman Lewis December 3,1924 - March 28, 2018

LEWIS, Ouida Chapman Funeral for Ouida Chapman Lewis, 93, of Brownwood will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 4, at the First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, 950 Mayfield Road, Grand Prairie, TX 75052. Arrangements are under direction of Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home, 2951 South Belt Line Road, Grand Prairie, TX 75052, where viewing will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. Mrs. Lewis passed away Wednesday, March 28, at age 93. She was born Dec. 3, 1924 in Myra, TX, and grew up in Grand Prairie, where she graduated from high school. During World War II, she worked for the U.S. Army in Dallas, where she met Spencer R. Lewis, an army officer. They were married Jan. 24, 1947. During their 53-year marriage, Mrs. Lewis lived abroad in Okinawa, England and Japan, and traveled extensively around Europe while conducting academic tours. She worked

for the United Nations in Japan, and was office manager for a neighborhood medical clinic in Grand Prairie until her retirement. She was a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist, Grand Prairie, and was very active in the Grand Prairie Garden Club. She lived in Brownwood from 1966-1972, while her husband worked for Howard Paine University, moved back to Grand Prairie, and then returned to Brownwood following her husband's death in 2000. Mrs. Lewis is survived by son Jay B. Lewis of Austin; daughters Leigh Lewis Barr of Brownwood and Melissa Connelly of Austin; grandchildren Alistair Lewis of Austin, Chance Barr of Early and Marilyn Connelly of Austin; great-grandchildren Korbin and Jensen Barr of Early and Jack, Julia and Samuel Lewis of Austin, niece Pama Monfries of Austin and many other nieces and nephews.

Published in Dallas Morning News on Apr. 1, 2018

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Ouida Marie Daugherty Smith, March 18, 1940 - February 13, 2018 Ouida Smith, born on March 18, 1940, was a fourth-generation native of Grand Prairie. Her parents are John Daugherty (deceased), a former Mayor of Grand Prairie, and Mrs. Ernesteen Mills (deceased). Ouida had one sister, Patricia Thompson (deceased). Ouida attended public school in Grand Prairie and graduated from Grand Prairie High School in 1958 where she was an honor student and member of the National Honor Society, head cheerleader, Miss Flame, and Miss Geep High. Ouida was chosen as the first Girl of the Year by the Grand Prairie Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Ouida entered Texas Tech University in 1958, and before she had graduated in 1962, she had served as President of the Association of Women Students and President of Alpha Phi Sorority. A member of Phi Alpha Theta (history honorary) and named to the Dean’s list, Ouida was also

selected for Tech Salutes and Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. She received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in History and a minor in English.

Following graduation from Texas Tech, Ouida married her high school sweetheart, E. Carlyle Smith, Jr. When Carlyle graduated from Tech in 1963, they moved back to Grand Prairie where she taught American and Texas History at Jefferson Junior High and Carlyle began his practice of architecture. While teaching school, Ouida attended the University of North Texas, receiving a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology in 1967. She then resigned her teaching position and did psychological testing and wrote curriculum for the Grand Prairie Schools for several years as assistant to the Deputy Superintendent.

Ouida enjoyed community service and over the years had been involved in many civic and cultural activities. She organized the Grand Prairie Branch of the American Heart Association, serving as Branch President for two years. Ouida served on the board of the Dallas County Heart Association and the board of the directors of the Grand Prairie Association of Retarded Children. Ouida was active in the Grand Prairie Community Concert Association and served as its secretary. A charter member of the Grand Prairie Branch of the American Association of University Women, Ouida served a term as the club’s vice president. During the twelve years that Carlyle served in the Texas Legislature (1974-1986), Ouida was active in the Legislative Ladies Club. Always interested in all things historical and current (family and friends called her a “news junkie”), Ouida was a life member of the Grand Prairie Historical Organization and a recipient of their prestigious Goodwin Award. Ouida also served as vice-chairman of the Dallas County Historical Commission and was a proud member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Ouida was an involved member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church for over forty years and served as chairman of both St. Anne’s Guild and the Society of St. Francis and served on the school board of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Her love of needlepoint led her to chair a needlepoint project for her church where she taught thirty women to needlepoint, and the group provided needlepointed cushions and accessories for the altar.

After returning to Grand Prairie following the years of political intrigue in Austin, Carlyle resumed his full-time duties at Smith and Warder, his architectural firm. However, Ouida decided to do something different from education. She restored an old cottage style two story house that was next door to Smith and Warder that they had owned for years and opened a small gift shop and art gallery named The Wildflower. What a joy it was to her. She was in business for several years until taking care of her and Carlyle’s aging parents became her top priority.

Ouida’s beloved husband of forty-one years died on June 29, 2003, of brain cancer. She resumed church and charity work and served as a board member of Brighter Tomorrows, a shelter for battered women and children, until the care of her mother required her full-time attention. Following the death of her mother, she took care of her sister, Pat, until her sister’s passing several months later.

Ouida passed away at home peacefully in her sleep Tuesday morning, February 13, 2018. She is survived by her in-laws, Stephen Smith, his wife Alice Smith, and Stanley Smith along with her niece and nephews, Eric Smith, Stephanie Plake, Joshua Smith, Timothy Smith, and Jonathan Smith, as well as several cousins and many friends.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be sent to the Parkland Foundation, 1341 W. Mockingbird Ln. Suite 1100E Dallas, Texas 75247. Visitation will be on Friday, March 2 from 6-8 PM at the Grand Prairie Funeral Home, 733 Dalworth St, Grand Prairie. Services will be held at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Grand Prairie on Saturday, March 3 at 11 AM, followed by a reception and the interment at the Old Southland Cemetery.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/grand-prairie-tx/ouida-smith-7761442

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www.gphistorical.com facebook.com/GpHistorical 10

On Saturday, April 7, it was time to move the piano. Moving it out of the Grand Prairie Historical Museum was easy. Well, almost. After placing it on two dollies, it rolled across the bare floor with relative ease until it met the threshold. That took some manpower getting each of the dollies, carrying the 700 pound piano, across it. When outside, the problem increased because it could not be lifted into the bed of the truck. The men made several attempts before they decided a trailer/hydraulic lift was needed.

Members of the Grand Prairie Historical Organization worked along side Youth volunteers from First Baptist Church, Grand Prairie on Saturday, March 24, as part of the City’s Big Event packing contents

of the GPHO Museum and moving them to storage in preparation for the building’s restoration.

Packing and Moving Out




www.gphistorical.com facebook.com/GpHistorical 11

If you ever drove along the old Bankhead Highway (US 80) through Grand Prairie, chances are you were in a car like one of these. And if there had been an emergency, one of the old Fire Trucks may have come to the rescue.

These vehicles were on display Sunday, April 29, 2018, at the Grand Prairie Police Department Car Show for Children First Counseling Center.





GRAND PRAIRIE HISTORICAL ORGANIZATIONP.O. BOX 532173GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS 75053-2173www.ghphistorical.comfacebook.com/GPHistorical

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Mission Statement The mission of the Grand Prairie Historical Organization (GPHO) is to preserve and share the history of Grand Prairie, Texas, by researching, collecting, properly preserving, and archiving items that tell the history of Grand Prairie and its citizens. The Organization will share the history with others through avenues throughout the city by committed volunteers who will provide a standard of excellence in support of the organization.

Vision Statement The Grand Prairie Historical Organization (GPHO) is a non-profit group working to preserve the history of the city of Grand Prairie, Texas, by sharing that history through regular meetings with informative speakers, involvement in the community, participating in events with the city, civic groups, the school district, and by collecting and displaying historical archives in the GPHO museum.

In pursuit of this vision, GPHO will:

•Search out, collect, catalogue, properly preserve, and exhibit materials related to Grand Prairie, Texas. •Provide the opportunity for all who attend regular meetings to hear accurate historical information. •Provide leadership for the collection, proper documentation, storage, and the preservation of the collected historical materials. •Stimulate an interest in research, collection, documentation, and preservation of historical materials. •Foster an appreciation of the importance of preserving historical materials to enrich the public understanding of the importance that the past has in the future. •Promote a pride in the heritage of both the community and the individuals who built and lived in it. •Encourage and support the efforts of the citizens’ initiative in historic preservation. •Encourage mutually beneficial relationships and cooperative alliances with educational institutions, city government, the business community, and other community organizations.

http://www.ghphistorical.com

http://facebook.com/GPHistorical

http://www.ghphistorical.com

http://facebook.com/GPHistorical



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