CONFLICT, UNITY, AND RENEWAL:

1
CONFLICT, UNITY, AND RENEWAL

• Middle Tennessee State University, 1930-1950

2
Aerial view of the college
3
An experiential learning project in HIST 3010

• During the spring semester 2008, MTSU students in
  HIST 3010 The Historians Craft, conducted oral
  history interviews with university alumni from
  the 1920s to 1950s, with most clustered in the
  years 1935 to 1950. This course is part of the
  Experiential Learning (EXL) program at MTSU.
• Armed with background research about Middle
  Tennessee State Teachers College and Middle
  Tennessee State College, as well as the United
  States during the Great Depression and World War
  II, each student interviewed one alumnus or
  alumna. In addition to the final research essay
  completed by each student (incorporating
  highlights from their narrators life), the class
  as a group reached the following conclusions
  about their alumni as a group.

4
National Youth Administration,A New Deal Program
at MTSTC
5
Children of the Great Depression

• In spite of the hardships of the Great
  Depression, our alumni fared better than others
  in their ability to attend college. They came
  from families with stable incomes and supportive
  parents and siblings, and they grew up in
  proximity to Murfreesboro and could attend MTSTC
  cheaply.

6
Midlander wartime dedication
7
Patriots in War

• Our group expressed strong feelings of
  patriotism, duty, and service common among
  Americans during World War II. Like other
  Americans, they did their part by serving in the
  military, and as Middle Tennesseans, they also
  contributed to distinctive parts of the war
  effort, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
  the Second Army maneuvers, and the Cadet Training
  Detachment on campus.

8
The Nunleys in Veterans Village
9
The Campus Springs Back to Life

• From a near absence of male students during World
  War II, enrollment surged after the war as the
  campus welcomed veterans on the G.I. Bill. Alumni
  recall vividly the campus coming back to life and
  the new atmosphere produced by older students and
  families living in the new Vet Village.

10
Faculty Old Guard Retires
11
Faculty and Friends

• MTSTC grads warmly recall the close
  faculty-student relationships they forged in
  college, but they remember even more their
  friends and the colorful social scene.

12
(No Transcript)
13
The Impact of STC and MTSC

• The college affected the lives of the interviewed
  alumni in different ways some felt their time at
  MT helped lay the foundation for their later
  lives, while others felt that the impact was
  negligible. Many also felt that their time at MT
  affected them far more socially than
  academically, revealing their relative lack of
  interest in academics while at the same time
  demonstrating strong connections among a
  generation of students that faced daunting
  outside pressures.

14
The Administration Building,Center of Campus Life
15
Many thanks to our narrators!

• The following slides feature the alumni who so
  generously participated with their time and
  memories in this project.
• The comments about each narrator were written by
  the student interviewer.
• All interviews are on file at the Albert Gore
  Research Center at MTSU and may be consulted
  there.

16
James Kennon 42

• A recent illness forced Kennon into cheerleading
  his first year at MTSTC. He is not fond of this
  photo!
• Later, he announced the play-by-play at MT
  football games, even climbing onto the roof of
  the press box for the best view.
• Kennon flew in the Pacific theater during World
  War II and described finding and landing on tiny
  islands in far from the mainland.
• Kennons older brother Emmett and wife Mildred
  were also interviewed this semester.

17
Jeanne Gilmore Webb 41

• Webb has a great sense of humor.
• She described teaching war brides how to cook
  southern after the war.
• Webb has a spectacular attitude toward life in
  general.

18
Lucille W. Nunley 65

• Nunley was so generous that she allowed relations
  and friends to live in her and her familys small
  trailer in Vet Village.
• She was not a prejudiced person, while the people
  she grew up with in Grundy County, Tenn., were
  often very racist. Nunley said, I wouldnt want
  people to treat me like that.
• Nunley had to go to President Q.M. Smith to get
  her tuition back to go off and marry her
  boyfriend Raymond, with the promise that she
  would return and bring back her husband as a
  student, too.

19
Thelma Franks Lockhart 40

• Unlike many in America, she was not greatly
  affected by the Great Depression.
• Lockhart was a southern girl who wanted to leave
  the countryside and enter college in a big city.
• She felt much patriotism contributing to the war
  effort while working during World War II.

20
Carl S. Cooper 56

• He had the honor of playing and learning under
  Coach Murphy during MTSCs football glory days.
• He proudly served our country in the armed forces
  in the reconstruction of Germany.
• Now he is the proud mayor of Chapel Hill, Tenn.,
  where he continues to help improve the growing
  community he was raised in.

21
Dalton Stroop 42

• Stroop has resisted changes in societyhe is
  uncomfortable with women in the navy.
• He didnt feel teacher preparation served him
  well in life.
• He has retained a fondness for Middle Tennessee,
  where he returned after serving in the navy in
  World War II.
• He became involved in the navy through the
  college programs at MTSC, where he majored in
  industrial arts and joined the V-7 program for
  college students.
• His participation in politics has increased since
  college.

22
Ruth Hoover Freeman 42

• As a young girl, Freeman enjoyed rollerskating,
  attending church revivals, and playing outdoors
  with her cousins and neighbors in Smyrna.
• During college, she enjoyed dancing the jitterbug
  and listening to big band music as well as
  playing basketball and volleyball.
• Ruth is a first cousin of Adeline King, the
  writer of the King letters during World War II,
  and sister of Walter King Hoover, both of whom
  have significant collections in the Albert Gore
  Research Center at MTSU.

23
Louise Mott Miles 28

• Miles is the oldest alumnus interviewed during
  the class project and is 101 years old!
• Her memories included attending the Olympic Games
  in 1932 in Los Angeles.
• She was a home economics teacher at Central High
  School, where her husband and fellow MTSTC
  classmate Kenneth Miles was also a teacher and
  coach.
• Miles grew up in Smyrna in the prominent Gregory
  family.

24
Pauline Malone Tramel 38

• Tramels time at STC was primarily education
  based. She was a shy young lady who was very fond
  of her brother Molly Malone.
• She recalled late-night studying in the dormitory
  restroom after lights out time!
• Her hometown of Dowelltown was the place she
  really liked to be.
• Her time spent at MTSTC helped pave her way to
  being a teacher, librarian, and diligent
  community member.

25
Vivian Crowell Farrar 42

• Crowell is a patriotic woman who loves her
  country and is proud that she helped in any way
  she could.
• Her Christian values have strongly influenced her
  outlook on life.
• She felt that MTSC was a great influence on not
  only her teaching but also on her as a person.

26
Mildred Batton Kennon 42

• Kennon was Miss STC in 1942 and feels that this
  acknowledgement meant that she was well-liked by
  her fellow students.
• She is very proud of her childhood and her family
  life in the small town of Lobelville, Tenn., in
  Perry County.
• She described wanting to make an impact at MTSTC,
  where she wanted to find her own niche without
  help from her relative President Q.M. Smith.

27
Emmett Kennon 38

• Kennons work ethic was formed early in life when
  he held many part time jobs and helped sustain
  his family.
• His school experience was characterized largely
  by his social and work involvement, as opposed to
  his academic achievement.
• He remains committed to his alma mater and is a
  frequent donor to large projects at MTSU.

28
Our Group Does Indeed Have PERSONALITY!