This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Students at Mineola High School in Texas developed content-rich websites that explored "journey stories" in their community. Participating students interviewed family, friends, and other local residents as part of their official Youth Access Grant local history projects, supported by Museum on Main Street in 2013-14.

Speaker 1 (00:00): How did you come to the United States?

Fidel Sanchez (00:08): When I came, walk or traveled. Well, my first time, when I first came, I walked. I was come across, walk like everybody else do in leaving. I crossed several times. I forgot how many, but at least three or four times. Just walk in a park. And somebody pick me up, pick us on circle place, and drop the vehicle after that. Bring us to different places.

Speaker 1 (00:39): Why did you come to the United States?

Fidel Sanchez (00:43): I guess I'm hungry. We were raised and real weak, and well, because we heard things. We heard that, old people, they ... old persons would say they make better back from here. Now they travel a lot, and that's how they ... we just started trying, and that's how we come. My brothers, I was real young when I come through, and my brothers come, too. And that's how it started. I just, I guess a lot to say, it's the way that we lived. We had nothing down there. We just ...

(01:34): We walked. By that time we didn't have no vehicle, we didn't have nobody that had a vehicle, we just walked. And we finally get to find job and have a place, and just like everybody, if you look for it, you'll find it. Long as you try. That's what we always ... we suffer a little bit to get, we ... by that time, sometimes you suffer from water, drink water, because you didn't have no water, you didn't have no f-

(02:03): We had some money by that time, but we didn't know how to spend the money. Because we didn't know anything, we can't speak English, we didn't ... It's pretty rough when you come through like here, it's pretty rough. But we come through.

(02:20): Oh yeah. That was pretty scary. That was frightening. That bank can fright, because you afraid because you didn't know anything. Especially the first time you come, and you didn't know anything, you just afraid of anybody. You just come like, "Wow."

(02:37): And I was scared in anybody. You run just like a ... when we come that way, we just come just like a ... I ain't going to say that, but in a real while, because we afraid of anything. If you see a vehicle, we'd run away from that. If we see a person, we'd run away from that. Until we get to the place that we're supposed to hit it. And except for that, we're afraid of anybody when we first come.

Asset ID: 2022.33.05a

Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Students at Mineola Middle School in Texas developed content-rich websites that explored "journey stories" in their community. Participating students interviewed family, friends, and other local residents as part of their official Youth Access Grant local history projects, supported by Museum on Main Street in 2013-14.

Cleottice Greer Walton (00:01): My name is Cleottice Greer-Walton.

Mathew Greer, Jr. (00:06): Matthew Greer, Junior.

Speaker 3 (00:09): All right.

00:10): And where did you grow up?

Cleottice Greer Walton (00:12): I grew up here in Mineola, Texas.

Mathew Greer, Jr. (00:16): Yeah, we both did.

Cleottice Greer Walton (00:18): As he said, we lived in the country about six miles from here in the section houses. And we didn't have a car for a long time. And my parents, my dad was a hands-on dad where he'd spend a lot of time with us. And I remember in the evenings there was this store, it was called Gillum's Grocery. It was on Highway 80, and we would always walk there and get sodas or whatever. And then we would walk home and sometimes...

Mathew Greer, Jr. (01:04): Go on little picnics.

Cleottice Greer Walton (01:07): Go on little picnics. And there was a road that went there. Across the road, there was a lot of sand and he used to always go over there with us and we would play in the sand a lot. And then, as I said, we didn't have a car. And sometimes on the weekends we would walk from our house out to Highway 80 and we would just sit there...

Mathew Greer, Jr. (01:33): Counting cars.

Cleottice Greer Walton (01:34): And count cars. My mother and my dad, and I don't think our younger brother was born yet, but the three kids, and it was just simple.

Mathew Greer, Jr. (01:52): Oh yeah. And for me it was the train. That's before we moved onto Landers Street. We lived out in the country aways, and in the railroad housing, in the section houses, what the railroad had. You don't remember that, do you?

Speaker 3 (02:14): No, sir.

Mathew Greer, Jr. (02:15): Okay. So the railroad workers lived in these section houses, they called them. And the train ran right by the house. It's like as far from here as the street. And that was one of my first memories, was hearing that train. And it wasn't the trains they have now. It was old locomotives, old steam choo-choos.

(02:41): Yeah. It was noisy and smokey and smelly. But that was one of my earliest memories. In the railroad housing all of the families, our dads worked together and all the kids played together, ate together, slept together, whenever. Well, as we got older, then we had to realize that we had to part ways in a sense, because when you're four or five years old and then you get a little bit older, and then this white kid that you're playing with all day, he catches a different bus to school than you do. Or you come into town and he can go into the front door of the cafe and you have to go around to the back door. But otherwise, when you are at home or when you are out hunting and swimming and having a good time, you're just kids. But then when you come into town, something different. You can't go there and you can't go there. So Daddy always made sure that we felt that we should feel that we were as good as anybody else, even though we weren't always treated that way.

Asset ID: 2022.33.04.a

Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Students at Mineola Middle School in Texas developed content-rich websites that explored "journey stories" in their community. Participating students interviewed family, friends, and other local residents as part of their official Youth Access Grant local history projects, supported by Museum on Main Street in 2013-14.

Wayne Collins (00:00): I grew up in Mineola, Texas. It was a farming town. There were small farms all around the community. 10 to 20 60-acre farms. It was a big farm. And everybody came to town on Saturday. It was a cotton area. We had a compress here. They sold cotton and it was a farming area. And my dad started off in the cleaning business, tailoring business. And from there, he went to the men's clothing business. And the town turned to be a railroad town about 1929. The terminal move from Longview, Texas to Mineola. And that was a turning point for Mineola. We became a railroad town.

(00:44): Oh, the community didn't move around. Before World War I, people didn't move to other communities. So most of the people I started school with I graduated with. We went all the way through. There was an influx when the railroad moved in some young people. And right at the end of my school year when the Hawkins all boom came in, we had an influx of people that moved in from Hawkins. But most of us went all the way through. Unfortunately, most of the friends that I've gone through... I'm 89 years old now, and so a lot of my schoolmates are not here.

(01:22): Well, it was great growing up. I was on North Pacific Street in Mineola. You know it now as North Pacific, but back then it was a boulevard. We had trees down the center. And it was not paved. It was sandy. And Mr. Mosley was the street foreman or he took care of our street. And he had a caterpillar tractor pulling a grader in the back and he would come down and grade the streets. And he would let us as young people stand on the platform and ride with him on his tractor. And we had no organized type of... for the young people. No organized entertainment. We rode our bicycles, we went out into the country. We just enjoyed life. It was a really free life. And our swings were... Cossack swings are hanged single rope or in a big tire and we'd swing in the tire, but it was a great time to grow up.

(02:20): You're starting in 1937. As a young person ages, that y'all are here or younger, knowing Europe is going to be at war, then when I'm your age Europe's at war, I don't know how it's going to affect me. And I start at the college, and then you spend years that should be... I'd be a year older than you are and I'm at sea commanding people. So I'm doing mature stuff that I wouldn't normally be doing. So it has a great effect on what happens on your later life. You know? I don't know what it would've been like if it hadn't been there. So it did have an effect.

(03:09): I enrolled in [inaudible 00:03:11] at Rice University when I went as a freshman knowing the war was coming. That was in 1941. December of '41. I was riding with a friend of mine on South Main Street in Houston and we heard on the radio we were at war. Japan. So our unit was... The day I went out to sea, was called up to active duty and sent back to college. I entered at Rice in 1943.

Speaker 2 (03:39): Where did-

Wayne Collins (03:40): Active duty. I didn't... I entered '41.

Asset ID: 2022.33.03.a

Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Seventh grade students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews his grandfather.

Lyndon (00:00): I was born in Marion, Kentucky in May 29th, 1941.

Robert Duvall (00:11): How old are you right now to this day?

Lyndon (00:14): I'm 72 years old.

Robert Duvall (00:19): Did you have a job when you were a child?

Lyndon (00:23): I worked on the farm until I graduated from high school in 2000, I mean 1959. That was my job, on the farm.

Robert Duvall (00:43): How is life compared then to today?

Lyndon (00:51): Business was hard, you work long hours, but being a CPA I'm still working long hours. Difference is I get paid for it. And I would rather be back on the farm then in my office.

Robert Duvall (01:20): What would your advice be to the younger generation?

Lyndon (01:27): Advice is be good, stay out of jail, don't drink alcohol, and don't use drugs.

Robert Duvall (01:39): All right. When did you come to Marshall?

Lyndon (01:43): 1960.

Robert Duvall (01:49): How old were you at that time?

Lyndon (01:51): I was 19 years old.

Robert Duvall (01:57): How did your family get to here, to Marshall?

Lyndon (02:00): My family stayed in Kentucky. I went to Marshall to go to college.

Asset ID: 2022.32.13

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Seventh grade students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews his great grandfather about World War II and his life thereafter.

Fisher (00:00): When were you born?

Earnest Marshall (00:02): When was I born?

Fisher (00:03): Yeah.

Earnest Marshall (00:04): 1918. August the 26th, 1918.

Fisher (00:10): Where were you born?

Earnest Marshall (00:12): Born in Beaumont.

Fisher (00:15): Okay. So what did you do after junior college? Did you go to college or did you try to find a job?

Earnest Marshall (00:24): No, I had a ... The basketball coach at Baylor offered me a scholarship. So I went to Baylor. After junior college I went to Baylor for two years.

Fisher (00:43): Okay.

Earnest Marshall (00:43): And then when I got to Baylor, I decided I wanted to go out for football, too.

Fisher (00:50): Were you good at football?

Earnest Marshall (00:51): Huh?

Fisher (00:52): Were you good at football?

Earnest Marshall (00:54): What? What?

Fisher (00:54): Were you good at football?

Earnest Marshall (00:57): I played football and basketball. The basketball coach didn't much like it because I's going after football when the basketball team was working out. So he didn't like it much.

Fisher (01:11): Did you meet someone at Baylor?

Earnest Marshall (01:14): Oh, yeah. I met my wife in Baylor.

Fisher (01:20): Mm-hmm. What was her name?

Earnest Marshall (01:21): [inaudible 00:01:25]

Fisher (01:25): Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:25): Where was she from?

Fisher (01:27): Where was she from?

Earnest Marshall (01:29): She was from Marshall.

Fisher (01:31): This town.

Earnest Marshall (01:32): Huh?

Fisher (01:33): This town.

Earnest Marshall (01:34): Yeah. I think I got out in 1940.

Fisher (01:41): 1940? That was when-

Earnest Marshall (01:44): But let me go just a little further.

Fisher (01:46): Okay.

Earnest Marshall (01:48): In the fall of 1940, I graduated, but I was drafted into the service.

Fisher (01:56): As a clerk?

Earnest Marshall (01:57): In March of '41.

Fisher (01:58): March 40?

Earnest Marshall (01:59): March of 1941.

Fisher (02:03): So when the president declared war on Japan and Germany and all the Axis powers-

Earnest Marshall (02:12): Well, in other words, instead of getting out in March, I had to stay in.

Fisher (02:20): The remainder of the war?

Earnest Marshall (02:23): Remained in the service, yeah.

Fisher (02:25): What did you do?

Earnest Marshall (02:27): I was in the finance department.

Fisher (02:29): You were supposed to get people paid and?

Earnest Marshall (02:32): Right. And in early '41, after Pearl Harbor, I was transferred to Phoenix, Arizona, to Luke Field. Me and two or three other boys out there to open up a finance department at Luke Field Arizona, Phoenix. My father, though, was vested in a soap plant, laundry soap plant, and he wanted me to come to Marshall to manage the plant.

Fisher (03:18): And since your wife's in Marshall, she must have urged you to do it.

Earnest Marshall (03:22): Huh?

Fisher (03:23): Since your wife was in Marshall, she must have wanted you to do that, right?

Asset ID: 2022.32.12

Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Seventh grade students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews his great grandmother about her youth and childhood.

Colton Hortman (00:01): When were you born?

Whittie Dorsey (00:03): I was born on June the 7th, 1916. Papa ran a saw mill, he and his brothers, and we lived... I remember the place we lived most, out at Walker's Mill. I grew up out there. Started school at a little country school called Central, about 10 miles from Hallsville, Texas. When I left Central in the grade of... I believe the 7th grade, and went on into high school in Hallsville. That's where I went to school out there, in Hallsville, Texas. Hallsville, Texas school went to the 11th grade. Nowadays it's the 12th. But that's when I was through. But I never did follow it up and go to college or anything like that.

(01:34): I was tickled to death to know, when I was in Hallsville High School, they had a library, a lending library. The students could get the library books, check them out and take them home, keep them so many days. Of course, I was a very fast reader, always have been. And I'm a very avid reader. So I would read my books. I can remember my sister, Ruth, which I call Baby, fussing because she had to help mama wash dishes and things when I was up in the pasture, up in a tree reading a novel. It comes back to me every once in a while to [inaudible 00:02:30].

(02:32): I got married in '36. I met a boy. He was two years older than I was. He played baseball with my brother, Gaston. He was a pitcher and my brother, Gaston, was a catcher. I never got to see him play a game. I think I saw him play at Hallsville one time when school let us out to watch the game. And one day when I was about 12, 13, somewhere, I went to school to visit with a friend. And I remember even the dress I wore. It was a red silk dress. And that was the day he saw me and he told me later, after we had gotten married, that he told someone that, "That's the girl I'm going to marry," which I was the sister to his friend, Gaston.

(03:39): So we got married in '36. I don't think we dated very much. And of course, dating back there was different from what it... You know. Good Lord, 36? In 36? Good Lord. But anyway.

Colton Hortman (03:59): Grandpa said you were alive during the... You were a teenager during the Great Depression.

Whittie Dorsey (04:05): Oh yes, I was. I remember even when I got married, it was the Depression. I got married in 1936. Yeah, when I was growing up, it was during the Depression, but I thought I was doing fine because we didn't know the difference, you know.

Asset ID: 2022.32.11

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Seventh grade students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews his father about immigrated to America.

Sukhman (00:00): When and where were you born?

CJ Khattra (00:02): In a small village called [inaudible 00:00:05] in Punjab, India, on 1973.

Sukhman (00:11): Why'd you come to America?

CJ Khattra (00:13): Job. For a better future.

Sukhman (00:20): Did you plan to be a businessman?

CJ Khattra (00:23): Not.

Sukhman (00:26): Did you ever think that you were going to be rich?

CJ Khattra (00:30): No, I never think, but I start my career with the furniture delivery. We load the truck in the morning and deliver the furniture into the houses and then I start driving cab and then my friend told me to go in the trucking. Then I start driving my own truck, then start my trucking company in 2004. And after that, step-by-step of coming to the business.

Sukhman (01:06): How was beginning life in a new country when you first came to America?

CJ Khattra (01:11): I was missed like few months my parents and all the culture back there and I had a problem to speak English first when I came in. But I was a hard worker. I went to college there so I understand what it was. Only problem to speak.

Sukhman (01:37): What do you miss most about India?

CJ Khattra (01:40): Family. My village.

Sukhman (01:45): How is America different from India?

CJ Khattra (01:48): It's totally different. America is very clean. India has no traffic laws. Even the steering of the cars on the other side.

Sukhman (01:59): Would you ever go back to India to live?

CJ Khattra (02:04): Not sure, but not really want to.

Sukhman (02:09): Why not?

CJ Khattra (02:11): Because there is no rules, no governance.

Sukhman (02:19): America's more sophisticated?

CJ Khattra (02:22): America, you got more rights and I think America is the best country.

Asset ID: 2022.32.10

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Seventh grade students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews an Army veteran, police officer, and clergyman.

Katie (00:00): I understand that you were in the Army. So what branch of Army were you in?

Father John Himes (00:04): I was in the field artillery.

Katie (00:04): Field artillery?

Father John Himes (00:06): Mm-hmm.

Katie (00:07): How long were you in the Army?

Father John Himes (00:09): 22 years.

Katie (00:10): What inspired you to join the Army?

Father John Himes (00:14): The first time I joined the Army was the draft board. I was drafted. I served two years, and then I got out of the Army and was a police officer for seven years and decided that I liked being in the Army much more than I liked being a police officer. So back in the Army.

Katie (00:36): Were you in any live battles?

Father John Himes (00:39): I fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Panama.

Katie (00:46): What was it like?

Father John Himes (00:52): Intense.

Katie (00:54): Very intense.

Father John Himes (00:55): Very intense.

Katie (00:56): What year did you go home from the Army?

Father John Himes (00:59): I retired in 1999.

Katie (01:05): 1999. So you were a cop in Washington.

Father John Himes (01:07): Mm-hmm.

Katie (01:08): Why'd you decide to be a cop?

Father John Himes (01:11): Well, that's how I got out of the Army early, because at that time the president, who was Richard Nixon, was offering draftees early outs if they would go into law enforcement. And at that time I wasn't real happy after coming back from Vietnam. So the opportunity to get out of the Army 90 days early to be a police officer appealed to me and I thought I might like the work. So I applied and was accepted in Washington, DC as a police officer. Left 90 days early and went to the police academy.

Katie (01:46): What year were you sworn in into the police academy?

Father John Himes (01:48): 1970.

Katie (01:52): 1970. How long were you a cop?

Father John Himes (01:53): About six and a half years.

Katie (01:56): Six and a half years?

Father John Himes (01:56): Yea.

Katie (01:57): What was one of the biggest cases you worked on as a cop?

Father John Himes (02:02): Worked a sting operation involving the FBI, New York City police, New York City state troopers, Maryland state police, Alabama, Georgia state police involving expensive cars being stolen in places like New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC. Then being sent down to Georgia and Alabama to be cut up, put back together again, and then sent to South America to be sold as new cars.

Asset ID: 2022.32.09

Find a complete transcript at www.museumonmainstreet.org

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews her grandfather.

Olivia (00:00): When were you born?

William Runnels (00:01): I was born April the 5th, 1941.

Olivia (00:03): And were you from Marshall?

William Runnels (00:07): No, I was born in Huntsville, Texas or Walker County.

Olivia (00:10): Walker County. What brought your family to Marshall?

William Runnels (00:14): Well, when I was born, my father was a coach at Huntsville High School. And, the pastor of the First Baptist Church there became President of East Texas Baptist College at that time in Marshall. And when he came to Marshall as President, he recruited my dad to come up and teach math, and coach, that type of thing. That's how we came to Marshall. I was about two years old when we moved to Marshall.

Olivia (00:43): Wow. So you were very young. Was this a sufficient job for your family and everyone?

William Runnels (00:51): Yes, it was a work, I guess you'd say work what brought us to Marshall. My dad had a job there at the college.

Olivia (00:59): As you were growing up, what did you like to do for fun?

William Runnels (01:02): Well, we used to... My dad and I, we used to go fishing on Caddo Lake. I was probably four years old the first time he took me. And my mother would pack a lunch for us, and we'd rent a boat at Pine Island Pond and paddle around. We didn't have a boat or anything. We'd stay all day, and fish in the lake.

Olivia (01:26): What was a normal day of school like?

William Runnels (01:29): Well, a normal day of school. And you're talking about high school or grade school? I went to grade school at [inaudible 00:01:36].

Olivia (01:35): Okay.

William Runnels (01:38): And, I guess it's different than it is today because I just lived a block from the school. We had, I guess you'd consider a neighborhood school because every area of town had a grade school, which is similar to what you still have today. But, I could walk to school, and then I could walk home for lunch.

Olivia (01:59): Oh, wow.

William Runnels (02:00): And I'd eat lunch at home, and then come back to school.

Olivia (02:04): So that wasn't, nobody thought anything about that?

William Runnels (02:06): No, I would walk from our house there at the college. We lived right across from the college. I'd walk downtown by myself to go to the movie when I was older, I was probably junior high age, I guess. My sophomore year, before my sophomore year in high school. That pipeline is behind the Sonic. You probably never paid attention to it. There is a gas pipeline behind where the existing Sonic is on 59. That summer I worked cutting brush, of a survey with the pipeline. Made a dollar an hour, I think.

Olivia (02:44): Was that a hard job?

William Runnels (02:47): Well, I got a lot of redbug bites and tick bites, and it was hot down in the bottom. Really hot.

Asset ID: 2022.32.08

This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student digital storytelling initiative. The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries, websites, and interviews are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.

Students in Marshall, Texas, worked in coordination with the Texas State Historical Association and National History to create multimedia websites that includes interviews with family, friends, and local residents. The work was supported by Museum on Main Street's Youth Access Grants in 2013-2014. In this project, a student interviews her grandfather.

Esther (00:01): Where did you grow up?

Paul Tapp (00:03): I grew up on a ranch in the western tip of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Part of our property extended up into Colorado, so we were far Western Oklahomans.

(00:17): In fact, we had a kind of an economic area all of our own called the Five State Area, which involved Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas because we were all encircling that Oklahoma Panhandle area there.

(00:32): Rode the school bus 70 miles a day, every day. So I had to get up early. I had chores to do before I caught the school bus and sometimes chores to do when I got home from school.

Esther (00:47): What kinds of chores did you do?

Paul Tapp (00:51): Well, we had to feed in water cattle. My early morning chores, I had to go feed the horses before their day started. And if in the night the stock tanks had frozen over, I had to chop the ice off the stock tanks so that they could have water to drink at the beginning of the day.

Esther (01:11): What did it feel like being a part of the baby boomer era?

Paul Tapp (01:16): Well, at the time we did not know that we were members of the baby boom. That was a phenomenon that they begin to recognize after the fact. The baby boomers are those who are born between 1946 and 1964. It's an 18 year spread. Soldiers returning home from the war are wanting to start their families, and so that was when the swelling of population began to happen right about that time.

(01:45): That was not the case in our family because I was the youngest of the eight boys, so I was not really "a product of the baby boom," although I was involved in it. But it was so real that in our community, our class was twice as large as any of the other classes that had gone through our school, and so they had to build a new first grade building for us and we were the first class to use that building. And then of course every year thereafter, there were two second grades, there were two third grades, there were two fourth grades, and so forth all the way through.

(02:23): As they begin to market specifically to these groups, when we were babies, that was the beginning of the Mattel and Hasbro toy companies and Johnson and Johnson baby products. Those industries were definitely impacted that year that we were born. And then as you go on the toy industry and then later on when televisions came out, it began to impact there. And then as this group continued to grow and they became teenagers, then the Ford Mustang and the Chevy Corvette, those cars were created specifically for our class. And then all the way through, and of course by the time they got ready to go to college, this was in 1964, there was a massive increase in college enrollments all across this country.

Asset ID: 2022.32.07

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