Class Scholars — Jan Reynolds Penland
Good evening, Classmates!
When Glen asked me to stand in for Imogene Guerin tonight I was completely flabbergasted and deeply honored. Many of you probably don’t even know me. I was only at Carter Riverside for one year, our senior year of 1951-52, so I don’t share a lot of the long associations many of you have enjoyed. I envy those of you who went through all or most of your school years together, living in the same area, enjoying the same activities, and creating the friendships that endure for a lifetime. I have great memories of my year as an Eagle. However, after 60 years those memories are fading! I wish I knew what Imogene said in her graduation speech, but frankly, I haven’t the faintest idea. I wonder what her thoughts might have been as we filed into Will Rogers Auditorium on May 28, 1952? As she rose to speak about Why An Education: For a Career or Family Life, I wonder what her own ambitions were for that bright future that lay before us? The young women in the Class of ’52 had far more options than any generation that had gone before us, but I think most of us probably anticipated a career that would begin in the world of business or education or perhaps nursing, and morph into that of homemaker and mother as we married and had children.
I know that many of you have far more impressive histories than mine – when I consider the distinguished careers many of you have enjoyed, I feel a little insignificant. However, when Glen asked me to speak tonight, he indicated that he’d like me to tell you something about my own life, within the context of education, career and family life. So bear with me as I give you the life and times of Jan Reynolds Penland!
As we marched across that stage 60 years ago, we were possessed of a fine basic education that would open many doors for us whether we used it for a career or for family life. Many of us went on to college while others did not. It’s one of the greatest regrets of my life that I was one of those who did not. I was only 16 when we graduated, and my very protective parents were not willing for me to live away from home at that tender age. We moved to Houston that summer, so my live-at-home college options were Rice or the University of Houston. All those years ago, it was extremely difficult for a female to gain admission to Rice (they wouldn’t even accept my transcript!), and the University of Houston was (at that deeply segregated time) an all-black school, so I went to business school and on to work for The Texas Company. While I was still only 18, I married the love of my life, a tall, dark and handsome Oklahoman, and we began a wonderful family life that lasted until his death 32 years later. We were blessed with 3 sons. Pat and Mike were born only 21months apart, and we really thought our family was complete. However, the Good Lord saw it differently, and when they were 11 and 9, the “caboose” came along! Mark was a very special blessing to all of us! They grew up to be fine men. Pat is an honor graduate of West Point, spent 11 years in Army intelligence, and is now Director of Enterprise Sensors with the defense contractor L3 Communications. Michael became a respiratory therapist, and was a singer and musician, but he had many health issues and, tragically, we lost him in 2004. Mark holds a BFA in photography, is an artist, a teacher, and has managed the photo lab at TCC for many years. I know you can all relate when I say I’m very proud of my boys, my daughters-in-love, and my two grandchildren, Andrew and Elizabeth.
For me, family life was wonderful, and my education had prepared me very well to be a homemaker. I loved it! Do you have the same fond memories that I do of how much fun it was to be involved in all the kids’ activities? School, church, sports, Scouts, music? It was all good, but as the children grew up, I realized that I missed the business world. In 1974, I took a job as a part-time merchandiser for General Mills. The position was part of a new program with GMI, and I was one of the very first women to work in field sales in the grocery business. I loved the job, and found that I had a knack for sales. The company provided a tremendous training program, which equipped me to become a full-time sales rep when I was widowed. Supposedly, because I didn’t have a degree, I was not promotable, but in reality I was promoted several times, and I eventually retired as a Sales Territory Manager. The district manager who originally hired me became a dear friend, and took great pride in my success. Although I can’t be certain he was correct, he was quite sure that I was the first woman to have a company car, and the first woman to retire from the field sales department. General Mills is a great company, and I’m thankful that they gave me the opportunity to help open up this field for women. Being a pioneer was challenging, fun, and very fulfilling!
I’ll bet most of you here have a hobby or special interest that you pursue with passion! For me, it’s scale model miniatures. I became a miniaturist in earnest when I first volunteered at the Dollhouse Museum of the Southwest, which was then a small house museum in Dallas. After serving in several other capacities, I was elected president of the board in 1997, and led the Museum as its name was changed to The American Museum of Miniature Arts, and we gained the first level of accreditation by the American Museum Association. During my tenure, we also developed a strategic plan, hired an executive director, initiated a $4.5M capital campaign, and completed and moved into fine new quarters in Dallas’ West End. It was an exciting time, and I never worked harder in my life, but I was able to meet people and do things and go places I never dreamed of. One of my favorite memories of that time has to do with Stanley Marcus, who was one of our benefactors. During our transition to the new museum, we moved the museum’s entire collection to the Hall of State at Fair Park for the 1998 State Fair of Texas – the exhibit was extensive and beautiful, and was seen by several hundred thousand fairgoers. Mr. Stanley wanted to see the exhibit, but was becoming increasingly disabled by spinal stenosis. I offered to send a car to bring him to the Hall of State very early, before it opened to the public, and to have a wheel chair waiting for him. He was delighted with that idea, so I made the arrangements. On the morning that he visited, I spent an hour pushing his wheelchair through the exhibit, giving him a private tour, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. As our tour wound down, I asked him if there was anything he would like to revisit, and he looked up at me with twinkling blue eyes and said “No, but do you think I could get some corn dogs and cotton candy?” Of course, Mr. Stanley, for you – even at this early hour – it can be arranged!
My association with the Museum ended in 2001, and unfortunately, the facility closed a couple of years later. It just wasn’t economically viable. I still enjoy building scale model furniture, preferably copies of classic museum pieces. I also do lathe turning, making tiny bowls, vessels, candlesticks and furniture components.
When I left the museum, my son Michael had become severely disabled, and for the next few years I spent most of my time caring for him and my granddaughter so that his R.N. wife could be the family’s breadwinner. I know there are others here this evening who have suffered the loss of a child, and who understand when I say that when Michael died in 2004, I wondered if I would ever be the same. Of course I am not! There’s a hole in my heart that nothing can ever fill. However, life goes on, and since those sad days, my activities have centered around volunteer work with my church. I’m a Stephen Minister (currently on sabbatical), a small group leader, lector, prayer leader, and a Kid’s Hope Mentor. I just completed my 8th year in Bible Study Fellowship. I also enjoy genealogy research, and was the financial officer of an investment club for 10 years. Currently I’m the Bookkeeper and Records Administrator for my Homeowners’ Association. Like many of you, I find special satisfaction in caring for others, and for me that often involves providing transportation for friends who are ill or disabled, and for UTA students. My life is busy, and I’m thankful for my career, my family life, and for the love and faith that have sustained me for all these years.
So……………why an education? For a career or for family life? I say for both! Our education has made it possible for us to have careers in many different fields, and we belong to a generation that has made enormous contributions to our world. We’ve seen, and continue to see, amazing advances in technology, science, medicine, and education. We’ve witnessed the development of computers and the internet, of the space program, of major discoveries in every field of science. We’ve lived through too many wars. We’ve known the horrific tragedies of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and many others. We’ve also seen great changes in family life. The nuclear family most of us knew as children and as we raised our own families is rare today, and frankly, I think our way was better! I hope our grandchildren and their children receive educations that equip them to give their own families stability and support, and to maintain the core values we treasure. It will be difficult, because they will see changes that come exponentially faster with every year! I’m told that most of the jobs of the next century don’t even exist today! How will their generations cope?
I believe a career gives us the means to provide a wholesome family life. Families today take many different forms, but if there is to be a future generation that is as productive and fulfilled as ours has been, family life is essential and education is a vital part of it. Despite my limited education, I feel like I’ve had the best of both career and family life, and I hope that I can continue to contribute something worthwhile to this world for at least a few more years.
In closing, I can only say that the education provided at Carter Riverside and all the other schools and colleges we attended has served us well, both in our careers and in family life. And I believe that we are especially fortunate to be a members of the Carter Riverside High School Class of 1952!
Class Scholars — Newt Ward
It’s good to see all of you this evening. Sixty years is a long time and there have been many changes. Before coming to Fort Worth I looked back at our pictures in the 1952 Eagle and we all have changed, some of us drastically.
When Glen called me and said we were going to re-do the speeches 60 years later that Charles, Imogene and I gave at our graduation, my first reaction was, since I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, how am I supposed to remember what I talked about 60 years ago? However, he was kind enough to remind me that the title of my speech was “Why an Education – For Community Living and World Citizenship.”
As I would have defined community living in 1952 it would have been how we got along with our neighbors in Riverside. I can still remember the names of most of our neighbors on Yucca Street and there was quite a bit of interaction. We visited in each other’s homes, sat outside and talked in the evenings, did things together. Sixty years later I do not get the same feel of community interaction as I did in 1952. It took hurricane Ike to force some folks in Houston to get to know their neighbors. With power out for weeks in some areas, people fired up their grills, barbeque pits and smokers to cook whatever was stored in refrigerators and freezers to share with their neighbors and outdoor togetherness became the norm for those few weeks. People got to know one another.
Of course there have been significant changes over the years. For example, in 1952 the price of a new car was $1,700, the cost of gasoline was 20 cents a gallon, the average cost of a house was $9,000, bread 16 cents a loaf, milk 96 cents a gallon, postage stamp three cents, Dow Jones Index 292, and the minimum wage in 1952 was 75 cents per hour versus $7.25 an hour now.
In 1952 the polio epidemic killed 3,300 people in the United States and paralyzed 57,000 children. Now, due to the Salk vaccine, polio has practically been eliminated from the world. In 1952 the Big Bang Theory of world creation was first proposed and the first mechanical heart in the United States was used successfully. The first KFC fried chicken franchise opened in 1952 along with the first Holiday Inn and the popular films that year were: The African Queen, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Quiet Man, and Singing in the Rain.
Now, it seems the definition of community living has taken on a different meaning. We hear terms such as ecovillages, co-housing communities, communes and urban housing cooperatives used to describe community living. It seems things have become more complicated over these 60 years.
Now let’s talk a little bit about World Citizenship. In 1952 my world was pretty small. My travels outside of Texas up till then consisted of Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and a short trip across the border into Mexico with several other Boy Scouts in the open bed of a large truck owned by Dwayne West’s dad. In the intervening years since then I have visited 34 countries due to my service in the U.S. Navy, numerous business trips and many pleasant vacations. I plan to add a 35th country in two weeks when I leave to visit China with my two Chinese grandsons.
Just as communities have changed over 60 years so has the world. In 1952 the Mau Mau rebellion started in Kenya and Nelson Mandela was first arrested by the South African police during the apartheid period. In 1952 the United States conducted an atomic bomb test in Yucca Flats, Nevada that was shown on live TV. Great Britain announced that it had an atomic bomb, joining the U.S. and Russia as the only countries with the bomb. In 2012 eight countries acknowledge having an atomic bomb.
Also in 1952 the first passenger jet, the Comet, was produced in the United Kingdom which effectively reduced the size of the world. Albert Einstein refused the presidency of Israel, London smog killed 4,000 people and Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
World citizen now has a variety of meanings, often referring to a person who doesn’t accept traditional geopolitical divisions. Examples of this include the words of Socrates who said “I am not an Athenian, or a Greek, but a citizen of the world” and Thomas Paine who said “My country is the world, all men are my brethren and my religion is to do good.” Or, on a more modern note. On a trip to Turkey, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying while in a Turkish bath: “I had a real revelation. We were all in robes, and they made some Turkish coffee for us. They explained how the coffee was made very different from anywhere else, and I realized, “So what?” Which kids even in Turkey care about Turkish coffee? All day I had looked at young people in Istanbul. They were all drinking what every other kid in the world drinks, and they were wearing clothes that look like they were bought at the Gap, and they were all using cell phones. They were like kids everywhere else. It hit me that, for young people, the whole world is the same. We’re just one world now.”
All right, back to the question asked in the speech I made at graduation in 1952, Why an Education – For Community Living and World Citizenship? No matter what your definition of community or world citizen might be, it takes an educated person to find his way properly in the community and the world we live in. Major changes have faced us as we have lived in the past 60 years and our education has allowed us to progress and change as needed.
Was the education we received at Carter a good basis for going forth and surviving in a changing environment? Looking out at you folks who graduated with me in 1952, I believe it was, and a debt of gratitude is owed to our dedicated teachers who are represented this evening by Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Browning. We thank you.
And one more thing, something has remained constant during these 60 years. In 1952 upon the death of King George VI, his daughter, Elizabeth, became Queen of England and she still is. Long live the Queen and the 1952 graduates of Amon Carter Riverside High School.
Class Scholars — Charles Erwin
WHY AN EDUCATION? AN EVALUATION
Preface
When Glen asked me to re-create my talk given on graduation night 60 years ago, my response was that “it was about five minutes long and if it had a title it would have been WE ARE NOT GRADUATING. Mrs. Solon told me to have an introduction, three points, and a conclusion. Miss Berrong told me to be concise, do not ramble.
INTRODUCTION
My fondest memories are of Oak Knoll, the five grade country elementary school, and Oak Knoll the neighborhood. It was just outside the Ft. Worth City limit. In 1938 my dad bought an acre and built a house at 1216 Oak Knoll. We were annexed by the City of Fort Worth a year or two later. The school was about half a mile from the end of two city bus lines. In those days Race Street ended at Kings Highway and Yucca Street ended at East Belknap. Some of the teachers rode the city bus and then walked to school from the end of the bus line. Between 1940 and 1945 there were few cars. And, during World War II, there were no men teachers.
For the sixth grade we went to Riverside Elementary. Oakhurst and Riverside Elementary were the feeder schools for Riverside High School. The seventh through the twelfth grades were all in the same building, so you knew all of the teachers and students in six grades. All of the teachers wanted us to learn.
I. WHY AN EDUCATION?
Education and life are journeys – both are gifts. We never reach our destination in learning or in life. We are always En Route – always on the way. The journey as a continuing trip – education is a continuing process.
The way, the path, the road is not straight. There are detours, construction zones, caution lights, right turns, and wrong turns. We may have blowouts, engine trouble. But in this trip, you never stop learning, and the journey never ends. You never arrive, there is no finish line.
Remember in 1952, TV had just come to Ft. Worth – WBAP TV. There were no such things as PCs, cell phones, IPhones, smart phones, tablets, note books, internet, face book, email, space travel or moon landings. Only Buck Rogers and Dick Tracy knew about there things.
We were challenged by our teachers. Education meant opportunity. Not all of us would be able to attend college, so our learning and education must be on-going. We must be able to learn new things, to adapt the education provided for a solid foundation. In those days there were few, if any, drop outs.
II. EDUCATION: FOR WHAT PURPOSE?
On the journey, preparation is necessary whatever road you take; you pack your bags with knowledge; you develop skills; and you use your talents to enter a profession, trade, a career or answer a calling. Education is the key to preparation.
In 1952, I thought girls had only four choices: 1) Teacher; 2) Nurse; 3) Secretary; and 4) Homemaker.
Along the way, you may have to re-educate, re-train, re-tool, and re-learn many times. On our journey we are assisted, supported, inspired, equipped and enabled by our parents, our mentors, our friends, but the key was our teachers.
There were no road map or GPS, to find your way if you lost your way. No clear markings on how to drive your path or which road to take. Our teachers wanted us to do our best to reach our potential. There is still no substitute for reading, writing, speaking and comprehension.
The mission of our teachers was to successfully prepare us to know how to continue to learn independently of them and school. In 2012 it is disturbing that few write cursive any more, letters are becoming extinct.
III. HAVE WE ARRIVED
Are we there yet, have we arrived?
1. You never really graduate.
2. Graduation is just another progression in life.
3. You are just being promoted.
4. You never reach your destination; you are always on the way.
5. We are under construction, a work in progress, unfinished.
6. We are never completed.
7. The journey continues.
8. Graduation is when you die.
Your education can never be taken from you, never be foreclosed on or repossessed. Education is your anchor in the changing fortunes of time.
CONCLUSION
Tonight we have reached a mile stone, a bench mark on our journey, but we have not arrived. We will always be traveling, always en route; it is only when you stop learning that you graduate.
Tonight because of our teachers we leave CHS better prepared to make that journey. My date of graduation will be etched on my tombstone. High School has ended but graduation is not a recess from learning. We have been promoted to the University of Life.
May we be worthy of that promotion realizing that the rest of the story has not been written, the story that each of us will write made possible by our education ably provided by the teachers.
Are we there yet? Have we arrived? No, but we are prepared and through June 2, 2012, we are still prepared.
Thank You