RSS 2.0 NEWS FEEDSEarly Memorial Foundation
Posted 03.27.09 at 9:28 AMRobert Thornburrow, nephew of the late Sen. A.M. Aikin, Jr. and retired from the Paris Junior College faculty, is volunteering in the archives and currently working on a large addendum to the Aikin Papers. He is finding some interesting items in this collection, a few of which concern the history of Paris Junior College.
1. A letter, dated May 31, 1944, from Dr. Imogene Bentley, President, Ex-Students Association, concerning plans for a PJC Memorial Foundation to honor ex-students serving in World War II, which had been presented and approved. The members and board of directors of the Association were inviting Aikin to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Foundation.
2. A document, dated May 30, 1944, stated that several hundred ex-students were serving in World War II and sixteen, by that time, had already lost their lives.
The Foundation was to be called the Paris Junior College Ex-Students World War II Memorial Foundation.
After January 1, 1945, the membership fee of the Association was to be $1.00, which
included 25 cents for the operation of the Association, 25 cents for the Association’s Student Loan Fund, and 50 cents for the Memorial Foundation. This document was signed by the Association’s Board of Directors: Mrs. Harold Hodges, Louis B. Williams, Harold Hunt (in the armed services), C. M. McWherter, Jr., President, Mrs. Ulmon C. Clements, Vice President, and Imogene Bentley, Secretary.
3. According to the minutes of the Board of Trustees of the PJC World War II Memorial Foundation, dated October 4, 1944, the following trustees were present:
S.W. Wilbor, chair; B.B. Harlan, Maury Robinson, A.M. Aikin, S.M. Weiss, and J.A. McGill. Also present were Dr., Imogene Bentley, President of the PJC Ex-Students Association, and J.R. McLemore, as well as Louis B. Williams. President McLemore presented a brief for the purchase of a small farm as an experimental-demonstration farm for the college. Robinson and Harlan were appointed to work with him to secure an option on land for the proposed farm.
Hoyle R. Barr
Posted 01.08.09 at 12:43 PMParis Junior College lost a great friend on January 2, 2009, and Paris lost one of its shrinking number of World War II veteran heroes—Hoyle Barr, born ironically on December 7, 1917, in St. Joseph’s Infirmary, Paris, Texas. His home was Biardstown, and he was a third generation Texan. For those of you who pay attention to such facts, Miss Madge Seckles got him off to a good start in life, grades 1-3, when his mother, Faith Opal Redman Barr (father Corrie Hoyle Barr) released him into her capable hands. He also attended 4th Ward, Paris High School 1932-1935, and Paris Junior College 1936-1938. Hoyle then attended Aero Industries Technical Institute in Glenwood, California, in 1939, worked briefly as an aero mechanic at North American Aviation in Inglewood and then entered the United States Marine Corps from Long Beach. 1939 was a busy year for Hoyle Barr. A Naval aviator, Hoyle was over Guadalcanal by 1942, and the rest, as they say, is history: Guadalcanal, 1942-43; Philippines, 1944-45; Korea, 1950-51; and Vietnam, 1960. The man retired in 1962 as Lt. Col. Barr with 2 DFC’s, 12 Air Medals, a Bronze Star, and a Presidential Unit Citation.
Still not done, Hoyle worked for Ling-Temco-Vought Aviation in Dallas, 1962-69, earned a BA in art from UT Arlington in 1971, and went to work for PJC 1971-85, when he retired, again, as Director of Jewelry Technology.
He was married long and faithfully to Maidie Sackett Barr, and they had three daughters.
Upon his final retirement from military service, he reported 3600 hours of flight time, including 950 in helicopters, 750 in transports, and 200 in jets. He also listed carrier experience, which is not for the faint of heart. His picture appears in the November 23, 1942, issue of Life magazine as Lieut. Hoyle R. Barr, one of “Midway’s fliers.” According to the article, these men lived in dugouts near their planes and spent their time flying patrol, practicing dogfights, and “Chasing Tails” (stretched out in a single line, playing a version of “Follow the Leader,” in this case, the squadron commander). It said they also spent a lot of idle time studying the flying habits of the birds on this island, but one they could never understand was the bo’sun bird, who could fly backward.
Well, done, Hoyle Barr. Well done.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »A Letter from Camp Maxey
Posted 12.09.08 at 4:04 PMSuch was life in Paris of the forties. Robert Thornburrow found this letter addressed to his uncle, Sen. A.M. Aikin, Jr., from Pvt. J.D. McIver, Jr., Co. C-1, ASFRTC, Camp Maxey, Texas, penned by hand at Camp Maxey, July 20, 1943:
“Dear Senator Aikin:” he says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take you up on your kind invitation for a real home-cooked chicken dinner last Saturday, but due to the paralysis epidemic, we were restricted to the post.
I hope you were not too inconvienced by my not coming. I tried to telephone you, but since our passes were cancelled at the last minute, practically everyone had to make telephone calls, and I didn’t have a chance to get to a telephone.
“I certainly do appreciate your kind invitation, and it certainly was swell seeing a familiar face so far from home. We are supposed to be here about a month longer, and if we are allowed to go into Paris before we leave, I’ll drop in to see you.
“Please give my best regards to Mrs. Aikin.”
I suppose he meant polio, by “paralysis,” although I didn’t think it struck Paris until the 50’s. As a young child, I don’t remember my parents being unduly frightened, but they must have been. My older brother suffered from malaria, in high school, almost collapsing at band practice and being sent home by the conductor. I had no idea that malaria had flourished in Paris during those years. How far we’ve come. Now we fear West Nile Virus, which has struck victims in Paris and the area.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »Camp Maxey Years
Posted 12.04.08 at 3:33 PMAn archives volunteer, Robert Thornburrow, has been going through some old papers and turning up interesting bits and pieces of Camp Maxey history, including a letter dated Feb. 10, 1944, and addressed to “Civilian Shoe Dealers.”
“1. The Dallas Regional OPA Headquarters has advised this Army Installation . . . that reports are being received indicating that OPA Forms R-1705B, “Shoe Purchase Certificates,” are being presented to shoe dealers, both by persons who are not military personnel, and by military personnel desiring to purchase shoes other than for their exclusive use.
“2. You are requested not to accept Shoe Purchase Certificates, OPA Form R-1705B, on sales, other than to military personnel for personal use. The Name, Serial Number and Organization of the soldier is entered on OPA Form R-1705B by the issuing officer. All instances where this form is presented for the purpose of purchasing shoes other than for the exclusive use of the military personnel to whom issued should be promptly reported to the Quartermaster at Camp Maxey.”
Signed by R.P. Marshall, Captaing, A.G.D., Adjutant
What do you suppose they did to the offending soldier(s)?
Another document of interest came from the Chamber of Commerce of Lamar County, Texas, dated April 6, 1942. It called a meeting of the membership to an “Emergency Clinic,” April 9-10, in the Paris Junior College Auditorium and was signed by Herbert Ordway, Chair, Education Committee. The clinic was to address business and civic problems arising from Camp Maxey.
The programs consisted of Clinics A (Housing accommodations, rentals, etc.); B (Merchandising, personnel and credit problems relating to department stores, specialty shops, variety stores, and other retail stores); C (Problems relating to building supplies, contractors, plumbing and electric shops, furniture stores, lumber yards, hardware stores, etc.); and D (Problems relating to food handlers, including meat markets, grocery stores, hotels, and all other food handlers).
Other topics included cashing checks, increase in personnel, selling and non-selling store hours, handling increased floor traffic, and business ethics.
I think often of what downtown Paris must have been in those booming years, particularly at this time of the year. There were many thriving “mom and pop” stores, later run out of business by the huge corporate stores that we know today. My dad religiously bought his gasoline from Glen McConnell, whose little station was at the front of his house out west on Bonham Street. Inside what must have been their living room he had his small office, and I think he and his wife Ruby sold a few grocery items. They lived behind this room in the rest of the house. I believe the old house is still standing, but the little gas station is long gone, as are Glen and Ruby. My dad always went inside and sat a spell to visit with them.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »Ethel McGill
Posted 12.03.08 at 12:28 PMI had a sorrowful, yet beautiful experience Monday, December 1, attending the graveside service of Ethel Lucille Rogers McGill, who died at age 91 and was buried in Red Oak Cemetery northeast of Paris, alongside her husband, Clifton McGill, and in the company of many ancestors. I had last been there when Clifton was buried a long time past. My friend Judy Gibson and I rode many a mile horseback with Clifton McGill. Ethel was no horseback rider, though. She was a dedicated bowler.
Ethel was also my longtime archives volunteer. An accomplished historian and genealogist, she wrote the definitive name and subject index of A.W. Neville’s “Backward Glances” over the course of several years. It was an exhaustive project, and she did an excellent job. I eventually lost her to the hospital auxiliary, but she did untold hours of valuable work in the archives.
In addition, I knew her as a longtime member of Calvary United Methodist Church and a member of the Friendship Class, which I teach along with Chet Hilyer. I guess Ethel took every course of study ever offered at the church and served on practically all the committees at one time or another. She was an inspiration. In addition, over her long lifetime, Ethel overcame numerous major illnesses and surgeries. We would all but give her up for lost, and before we knew it, she was back up and going again. I don’t recall that whining or complaining was in her vocabulary.
I believe that Ethel McGill was one of the smartest women I’ve ever known. She was a mild-mannered and very quiet person, but she was a hard worker and one who was always busy. I can’t name her many clubs and organizations. Also, she was a dedicated “hand and foot” card player, and over the years, I’ve been sad to see her little card-playing “group” lose one member after another, but Ethel was hard to beat at cards!
However, it was a cold, bleak, and windy December day at Red Oak on Monday. As is often the case when a very elderly person dies, few family members were able to get there, and there were a few family friends, and a few church members. We huddled intimately within the small tent acting as a windbreak, Ethel’s casket, like her, simple, and her flowers few. At first, I was appalled, and then I thought that the simplicity of it was “so Ethel.” It was very appropriate. I think she would have been pleased.
Carol Rooks, without the benefit of any instrumental or recorded music, sang “In the Garden” and “How Great Thou Art,” two of Ethel’s favorite hymns, and as her friend Carol’s beautiful voice floated so sweetly in the cold air, I felt it was one of those memorable experiences that I will hold in my heart as long as I live.