See also Oil City School History.
Adams, Sarah G. First Grade - 1949
Sarah G. Adams (1949) |
Alberson, Clara Effie Griggs (1900-1970) - 1931-37*
Listed as Clara Griggs in Mrs. Warren's OC School history.
Source: Ruston (LA) Daily Leader 11-Sep-1931, Page 3
Clara Griggs Alberson, Fair Park High (Shreveport, LA) Mathematics Instructor (1951) |
Alexander, Pauline LSN, Home Economics
Pauline Alexander at LSN (1924 |
Source: 1924 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 174
1930 census records show Pauline living in Oil City with the occupation of school teacher. Her father was local physician Dr. P. T. Alexander. By 1940, she was teaching home economics in Shreveport at Fair Park High School.
Allen, H. Seventh and Eighth Grades, Science and Social Studies - 1970
H. Allen (1970) |
Allen, Sidney Gremillion (1921-2010), B.S., LSN (1942), Elementary School - 1943
Shown below as a junior at LSN.
Sidney Gremillion, LSN (1941) |
Teaching at Oil City in 1943.
Source: LSN Alumni Columns Apr-1943 Page 18
She passed away in 2010. A recap of her life's work is at this link.
Armstrong, Nancy Taylor B. S. Louisiana Tech, M.S University of Alabama, Home Economics - 1947, 1948
Nancy Taylor (1948) |
Backenberg (Mrs.) 1921*
Baggett, Mary University of Southern Mississippi, Elementary Education (1955), Second Grade
Mary Baggett (1958) |
Upon graduation from Louisiana State Normal College, Louise began teaching at Oil City in 1915. By the fall of 1916, she was teaching in Vivian, LA.
Louise Van den Bosch Barnwell at age 80 in 1975 |
Wife of noted oilman Robert Sim "Cap" Barnwell, Sr.; and founder of the memorial garden and art center dedicated to his memory, located in Shreveport, LA. The link below contains an article describing her life and career.
NSU Columns (alumni newsletter) Spring 1975, Page 6
Beard, Pattie Virginia Sharp (1918-1991) LSN - 1940
Pattie Virginia Sharp (1936) |
Source: 1936 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 79
Per Billie Mae Blizzard Ridge, Miss Sharp was her first grade teacher in the fall of 1940.
Bondurant, Catherine Home Economics - 1949
Catherine Bondurant (1949) |
Booty, Terry W. Seventh Grade - 1959, 1960,1961
Terry W. Booty (1961) |
Boydston, William Frank (1903-1994) 1931-37* B.S. Centenary College (1927)
Pictured below in the 1940 Byrd High Gusher.
Identified as W. T. Boydston in Mrs. Warren's school history.
Bozeman, Lillie Mae Averre Stone
(1985) LSN (1925), Centenary (1942), First Grade - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Source: 1926 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 77
Source: Northwestern State University Columns (Alumni newsletter), Page 6
Mrs. Stone also graduated from Centenary College in 1942 per this alumni article announcing her death in 1985.
Bozeman, Marguerite Courtney Centenary College, Fourth Grade - 1959; Substitute - 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Source: 1924 Centenary Collrge Yoncopin (yearbook), Page 53
Obituary and findagrave profile.
Breedlove, Ila Harper (1909-1973) 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 First Grade
Source: 1928 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 131
Brewer, Flora - 1931-37*
Bridger, Nettie Mabel Jones (1899-1992)
In the Shreveport Times 11-Jan-1925, Society Section, Page 12 it mentions her returning to teaching at OC after an illness.
Source: Ancestry.com contributor
Per her obituary, over her career she taught at Simsboro, Ruston, and Dubach in Louisiana; as well as in the state of Maryland.
Interment: Greenwood Cemetery; Ruston, LA
Brown, Elizabeth - 1931-37*
Brown, Max Ann Bamburg Garrett
(1929-2012), B.S. Northwestern State College (1950), Music and Seventh Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Buhler, Charles A. Library - 1950; Library & English - 1951; English - 1952
Buhler, June Fifth Grade - 1952
Butler, Ouida Second Grade - 1963, 1964
Cagle, Emma Lou Secretary - 1952
Cantine, Rita (1916-1976) A.B., History, Centenary College, 1936
Per the 1940 Census, she was a lodger in the home of deputy sheriff Will George with the occupation of teacher.
Source: 1936 Centenary College Yoncopin (yearbook)
Carradine, Barbara 1946, 1948
She taught at Oil City for the 1926-1927 school year.
Times 20-Feb-1927, Page 32
She once chaperoned a group of girl students on a trip to Ferry Lake for a surprise baby shower for a friend or possibly a former teacher.
Times 27-Mar-1927, Page 34
Waco (TX) News-Tribune 26-Apr-1925, Section Two, Page 1
In the fall 927 she began teaching at Bolton High School in Alexandria. Over the summer she had studied in France, and additionally visited England and Germany.
Interment: Dry Pond (GA) United Methodist Church Cemetery
Chellette, Frances Second Grade - 1955
Connell, Athline 1913 Came fresh from Louisiana State Normal School in 1913. Imagine the culture shock of having lived on the campus of fine brick buildings, beautiful oaks, and manicured lawns; and then to be thrust into the rough, uncivilized, muddy streets of OC.(1985) LSN (1925), Centenary (1942), First Grade - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Lillie Mae Averre at LSN (1926) |
Lillie Mae Averre Stone (1951) |
Lillie Mae Stone (1965) |
Source: Northwestern State University Columns (Alumni newsletter), Page 6
Mrs. Stone also graduated from Centenary College in 1942 per this alumni article announcing her death in 1985.
Bozeman, Marguerite Courtney Centenary College, Fourth Grade - 1959; Substitute - 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Marguerite Courtney at Centenary (1924) |
Source: 1924 Centenary Collrge Yoncopin (yearbook), Page 53
Marguerite Courtney Bozeman (1965) |
Bozeman, William Franklin (1903-1994) B.A. Centenary College (1928)
Oil City school has had numerous principals over the years, but in truth there is only one Oil City principal. Read about Mr. Bozeman's life and career at this link.
Bramlett, Sheila Caldwell (192x-), B.S., LSN (1942), Fifth Grade - 1943William F. Bozeman (1948) |
Oil City school has had numerous principals over the years, but in truth there is only one Oil City principal. Read about Mr. Bozeman's life and career at this link.
Shown below as a junior at LSN in 1941.
Sheila Caldwell, LSN (1941) |
Source: 1941 LSN Potpourri (yearbook)
Identified as fifth grade teacher at OCHS in 1943.
Source: Alumni Columns Apr-1943 Page 16
Breedlove, Ila Harper (1909-1973) 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 First Grade
Ila Harper at LSN (1928) |
Source: 1928 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 131
Ila Harper Breedlove (1952) |
Ila Harper Breedlove (1965) |
Brewer, Flora - 1931-37*
Bridger, Nettie Mabel Jones (1899-1992)
In the Shreveport Times 11-Jan-1925, Society Section, Page 12 it mentions her returning to teaching at OC after an illness.
Source: Ancestry.com contributor
Per her obituary, over her career she taught at Simsboro, Ruston, and Dubach in Louisiana; as well as in the state of Maryland.
Interment: Greenwood Cemetery; Ruston, LA
Brown, Elizabeth - 1931-37*
Brown, Max Ann Bamburg Garrett
(1929-2012), B.S. Northwestern State College (1950), Music and Seventh Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
(1966) |
Buhler, Charles A. Library - 1950; Library & English - 1951; English - 1952
Charles A. Buhler (1950) |
Buhler, June Fifth Grade - 1952
June Buhler (1952) |
Butler, Ouida Second Grade - 1963, 1964
Ouida Butler (1965) |
Cagle, Emma Lou Secretary - 1952
Emma Lou Cagle (1952) |
Cantine, Rita (1916-1976) A.B., History, Centenary College, 1936
Per the 1940 Census, she was a lodger in the home of deputy sheriff Will George with the occupation of teacher.
Source: 1936 Centenary College Yoncopin (yearbook)
Carradine, Barbara 1946, 1948
Barbara Carradine (1946) |
Carter, Nannie Louise Skannal (1905-1996) B.A., Baylor University; M.A. Middlebury College (VT); additional studies at UC-Berkeley and the Sorbonne (France),
Born in Arkansas and reared in Shreveport, she was descended from a pioneer family of Bossier Parish, and her father was a prominent planter.
Times 20-Feb-1927, Page 32
She once chaperoned a group of girl students on a trip to Ferry Lake for a surprise baby shower for a friend or possibly a former teacher.
Times 27-Mar-1927, Page 34
Waco (TX) News-Tribune 26-Apr-1925, Section Two, Page 1
In the fall 927 she began teaching at Bolton High School in Alexandria. Over the summer she had studied in France, and additionally visited England and Germany.
She married attorney Robert Lee Pittman Carter in 1942 and relocated to his home state of Georgia. Per her obituary, she taught French for many years in the Jackson County (GA) school system.
In Nov-1973, Mrs. Carter was noted to have attended a reunion of the 1921 Shreveport High School senior class.
Interment: Dry Pond (GA) United Methodist Church Cemetery
Chellette, Frances Second Grade - 1955
Source: Normal Quarterly of the Louisiana State Normal School Oct-1913, Page 17 (Connell), Page 19 (Ernest)
It's not clear how long she or classmate Katie Ernst (see below) stayed, however Athline remained in the field of education for many years, mainly in administration, in the Monroe area.
Connell, Mattie - 1931-37*
Cook, Harriet Milford Third Grade - 1949; Second Grade - 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Source: 1927 Louisiana State Normal College Potpourri (yearbook), Page 111
Harriet Milford as an LSN Student (1927) |
Source: 1927 Louisiana State Normal College Potpourri (yearbook), Page 111
Harriet Cook (1951) |
Cook, Rosa Sixth Grade - 1955
Cooper, Lonie Fourth Grade - 1952, 1955
Creighton, James T. Industrial Arts and Assistant Coach - 1955
Crouch, Mary Ruth Stephens (1883-1950)
Ruth (which she apparently went by) was the daughter of Henry W. and Josephine George Stephens. A 11-Nov-1898 social column in the Shreveport Times noted she (of Blanchard, LA) and friends were visiting Texarkana (AR or TX not specified) where she and one of them, Lula Wilson, would be attending an unidentified college. In 1900, she and her family, that included younger brother Harry, were residents of Caddo Parish Ward Three, in or near Blanchard.
For the 1900-1901 school year, Ruth was assigned to Surry. It, Ananias, and Caddo (City) were the three communities that eventually became Oil City, so-named in 1907.
For 1901-1902, she was assigned to Hosston. Ruth married James Lee Crouch on 09-Aug-1902. Below is the wedding announcement.
Times 10-Aug-1902, Page 8
They could not be found in 1910, however in each of the 1920, 1930, and 1940 U. S. Censuses Ruth and James, a railroad switchman; and son Henry were living in Dallas, TX. In 1940, daughter-in-law Billie joined them.
She was identified as a housewife at the time of her death due to a heart attack in 1950.
Interment: Restland Memorial Park; Dallas, TX
They could not be found in 1910, however in each of the 1920, 1930, and 1940 U. S. Censuses Ruth and James, a railroad switchman; and son Henry were living in Dallas, TX. In 1940, daughter-in-law Billie joined them.
She was identified as a housewife at the time of her death due to a heart attack in 1950.
Interment: Restland Memorial Park; Dallas, TX
Day, Mabel Home Economics - replaced Pauline Mathews*
Miss Day listed among other Caddo Parish Home economics teachers in 1929.
Dean, Sid A. (1924-2003) NSC (1949), Social Science & English - 1951; English - 1955; Seventh Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Sid A. Dean graduating from NSC (1949) |
Sid A. Dean (1965) |
Druley, Annette Eugenie Hewitt (1897- 1971) Louisiana State Normal, 1915
Taught at Oil City for the 1918-1919 and 1919-1920 school years
Louisiana State Normal Potpourri (yearbook), Page 41
An entry in her hometown newspaper.
Mansfield (LA) Enterprise 25-Sep-1919, Page 2
Prior to coming to Oil City, Annette taught at Naborton, a small community in DeSoto Parish, LA near Mansfield. In the 1920 U.S. Census, she is a boarder in the home of Myrtle (Bridgers) McDuffie, along with other single women Kate Collins (or possibly Calvin) and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Armstrong. All including Mrs. McDuffie, a widow, were Oil City teachers.
She taught at nearby Vivian for 1920-21. By 1924, she had moved to California; and was teaching in Orosi. The following year she relocated in Riverside, CA and taught school there for many years.
Dugdale, Clarence Eugene, Phd. (1897-1985) was an early principal of the Oil City School. A WWI veteran and graduate of Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University), he later obtained his masters degree and doctorate from the University of Texas. He served as an english professor at both UT and Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette).
An article from the May 1963 NW State alumni magazine recognized his retirement after 21 years of service, the last 18 as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
His wife, the former Martha Ellen Wood (1896-1980) of Oil City, was a longtime teacher in the Natchitoches Parish school system. Note the 1920 census shows him living in Oil City with the occupation of school principal.
Edwards, Alice Guy (1895-1983) Centenary College, 1936
She received her teaching degree from Alabama Normal School (now the University of West Alabama) in 1915, and bachelors from Centenary College in 1936.
Pictured below as then principal at Jewella Elementary School in Shreveport; where she served for over 30 years. Mrs. Edwards taught four years in the mid-1920s at Oil City.
In 1959 she was named Caddo Parish Educator of the Year. When she retired in 1961, Shreveport Mayor Clyde Fant declared the day in her honor. After her death in 1983, a eulogy published by the Shreveport Times editorial staff mentioned a state education leader referring to her as "one of the most effective teachers of all time in our state."
Interment: Mansfield (LA) Cemetery
Ent, Clyde Dixon Connell (1928-2017), Louisiana Tech, Third Grade - 1950
1950 Oil City Bengal (yearbook)
Daughter of Thomas Dickson, Jr. and Minnie Clyde Dixon Connell. Her mother, who went by her middle name, was a noted expressionist artist and sculptor.
A graduate of Louisiana Tech, she married Willard Ent in August 1954. They eventually located to Allentown, PA; and Wilmington, NC later in life.
Clyde Connell Ent |
Ernest, Katie, one of two Early Oil City Teachers who came fresh from Louisiana State Normal School in 1913.
LSN (Alumni) Quarterly October 1913 |
She was still at OC in 1916, but by the fall of that year, began teaching in Ville Platte, LA. Later in life, she was honored by her hometown of Bunkie, LA; where she had returned and completed a long career.
Evans, Roy Vincent (1890-1987) B. A. Louisiana College (1908), LSU, George Peabody College; served as principal of Oil City High School in the early 1930s, at least as late as 1935. A native of Mt. Lebanon, LA; he earned degrees from Louisiana College, LSU, and George Peabody College for Teachers (part of Vanderbilt University).
Per his obituary, Mr. Evans spent 43 years in public education, serving as teacher and/or principal at
- Urania High School (LaSalle Parish - teaching there per 1910 census)
- Pride High School (East Baton Rouge Parish)
- Lisbon High School (Claiborne Parish)
- Oil City High School, Caddo Parish) (1931*),
- Byrd High School (teacher and assistant principal (1936 -1947)
He was Parish Supervisor in Claiborne Public Schools for four years (1932-1935) and left Byrd in 1947 to become State Elementary Supervisor for the Louisiana State Department of Education.
*He was also mentioned in Mrs. Maggie Smith Warren's school memoirs written for a reunion held in conjunction with the national bicentennial
Farnol, Henry Hymen (1910-1941) Music Director 1938-40
Henry earned his B.S from Miami University of Ohio in 1934 and Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1939.
Graduating senior at Miami. Note he changed his name.
Source: Margaret Pace Weaver collection
Farnol, Versa Ferguson (1913-1974) - 1931-37* Wife of Henry Farnol and sister of Anna Bell Ferguson Gibson (see below).
Ferguson, Lafe Watson "L. W." (1894-1968), principal, teacher, one-time president of Louisiana Teachers Association.
Retiring as director of distributive education in June 1963.
He is buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum in Baton Rouge, LA.
Ferguson, Lida Wilson (1917-2017) LSN
Taught at Oil City in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Here is her story, told by daughter Glenda Ferguson Toole.
My mother went to Dixie elementary school in Grades 1-3 or until they closed it. It was a one room schoolhouse and she was the only child in her grade. Then she went to Belcher until she graduated high school at the age of 15. She graduated from Louisiana State Normal College at the age of 19.
When she applied for work at the Caddo Parish School Board, she was assigned to Oil City, LA. She taught grades 1-5, whatever they assigned her in a given year. It was her first teaching assignment and she stayed there for about 8 years until she married my father, Dr. W. H. Ferguson at the end of the war in 1945. She met him through his sisters, Ana Belle and Versa that also taught at Oil City. They dated about a year before he joined the service as a Captain. He was overseas for over two years. They married 10 days after he returned in January 1945.
She lived with Mrs. Will George, whose husband was the sheriff. There were three other Oil City teachers that lived there. Sydney Schliff from Baton Rouge and Vera Mae McRae were two of them. She thinks that Ida Goodman was the other but was not sure. They ate their meals with Mrs. Ruby McKenzie. The school was between the two houses. They did not have cars so they had to walk everywhere they went -- rain or shine. During WWII there were not many men left to date and the teachers got together almost every night and played a lot of cards and did hand work (embroidery, knitting, etc.). She went home to Dixie almost every weekend unless there was something going on at the school that kept her in Oil City. Her brother and his wife lived with my grandmother and he worked in Vivian, so he would pick her up on Friday afternoon and take her back on Sunday afternoon.
She and Daddy moved to Vivian, La where Daddy had his dental practice. She was a stay-at-home Mom until she started substituting when I was in high school. She went back to teaching full time when I was in college and retired from the Vivian Elementary School. She was very active in her club, Vivian Presbyterian Church, gardening, sewing, etc.
She moved to Friendswood, TX in 2011 at the age of "93" to a retirement home to be close to my sister and I. She turned "97" in November and is doing well, plays cards and bingo daily and goes to all of the musical events that they have at her home.
Fippenger, G. E. Music - 1952
Flash, Ruby - 1931-37*
Fort, Etta Lena "Bobby" Roberts (1893-1987) - 1921*
Fowler, Charlie McKinney (1911-2005) LSN (1931)
Charlie as a student at La. State Normal School |
Charlie was born November 24, 1911 in Rocky Mount, but her family moved to Hosston, LA when she was about two. She was the third child in a family of six. Her father, Marvin Garfield McKinney, was a farmer, and did well enough to send all the kids to college (though not all went). She was 17 in the fall of 1929, and afraid that she wouldn't be able to go because of the depression, but her father and mother Idelia (né Kendrick) managed to send her to La. State Normal, as Northwestern State University was called then. This is what she wrote:
My First Teaching Job
After attending college for two years, I received my certified teacher's certificate, qualifying me to teach elementary grades in Louisiana. Nearly all of my friends had to quit school after two years and go to work. Schools did not need any teachers and I could not find a regular position the first year after getting my certificate. However, I did work nearly all the time as a substitute teacher in the Hosston school.
After several visits to the Caddo Parish School Board office, I was finally assigned a position at the Oak Grove School near Oil City. I took the place vacated by Miss (Jennie) Sullivan. She had been there for a long time and decided to retire and go back to her home in Nashville, Tennessee.
The teachers in those days were barely paid enough to live on. As a substitute, I was given $3.00 a day; as a regular, I was paid $5.00 a day. For one month's work, I received $100. Each year of teaching we received an increase of about $1.00 a day.
I had to do everything, no aides, no helpers, skimpy material to work with, but one thing was in our favor: we had very little discipline problems. From these small rural schools came some of the finest doctors, lawyers, judges, educators, and just plain, honest, hard workers who became leaders in our communities. And, I might add, these people were taught by my generation of "old fashioned teachers."
At one time the Oak Grove School had four or five teachers and a large number of pupils in grades one through six. This school was located near Caddo Lake, amid a group of oil field workers. These pupils were some of the nicest children I ever taught. I had no discipline problems and even though I had lots of work to do in planning studies for three grades, I really enjoyed teaching at the Oak Grove School.
After two years, the school closed its doors and all the students were bused to Oil City. I was transferred there to teach the sixth grade. There I remained for the next ten years.
While teaching in Oak Grove and Oil City, I boarded with Mr. and Mrs. (Samuel) Clyde (and Ruby Mabry) McKenzie. They were two of the kindest people I have ever known. Mr. Mac (as he was affectionately called) was crippled very badly with rheumatoid arthritis and became almost totally blind. He was in great pain all the time, but never complained. Mrs. Mac supported her family by milking cows and selling the milk and butter. She delivered it to her customers each morning and night. Also, she cooked wonderful meals and served breakfast, lunch, and dinner to sometimes as many as fifteen teachers and town people who had heard about her good meals.
My roommate was a girl named Toppye Malone. She was a saleslady for the Dixie Mercantile Company in Oil City. It was through her that I met Clare, who was working at the Dixie; and who I later fell in love with and married.
My dad was Clare Maxwell Fowler, and they married in 1937 in Oil City. He was called Clare by family, but he was teased about his name, so for work he was always called Max. As Charlie and Clare, they always had to add to a note to tax returns, etc. to assure the recipient that the names were in the right boxes. They left Oil City in early 1942, as he was drafted and they had to move to San Diego where he worked in a shipyard until he was shipped out to the Pacific.
She loved her two years at Oak Grove teaching grades 3 - 6. She used to talk about having 17 and 18 year old boys in her classroom who had never learned to read or write. She said that she made sure that they weren't embarrassed, and knew how to read and write before they left her classroom. Sometimes it was difficult, because kids would be pulled out of school to work on the oil rigs, or to take care of smaller children while parents worked.
Contributor: Jan Fowler (daughter)
Gaines, Edna Earle Collins LSN and Centenary College (1940) Mathematics - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955 ; Eighth Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 ; Sixth Grade - 1970
Garner, Geraldine Librarian - 1952
Garner, Sybil Fourth Grade - 1966
Gibson, Anna Belle Ferguson (1911-2005) LSN - 1931-37*
Anna Belle was also the first librarian of the Oil City branch of the Shreve Memorial Library.
Gibson, Sally Teacher's Matron - 1921*
Goodman, Ida Feurstein B.S. Centenary College (1936), Fourth Grade - 1946; 1955, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1966; Fifth Grade - 1960; Sixth Grade - 1963
Goodwin, Ida LSN
Source: Margaret Pace Weaver collection
Graham (Mrs.) - 1921*
Graves, Sterling L. (1908-2003) B.A, M.A., Stephen F. Austin State University; Principal - 1970
Served as OC principal for one year, coming over from Ida Jr. High.
Interment: Gary (TX) Cemetery
Guess, Eura Durrett Librarian - 1949
Hammond, Eula Gale George (1912-1997) LSN (1931), B.S., SFA - 1931-37*
An Oil City High School graduate and daughter of local deputy sheriff, Will George and wife Will Ann (nee White), Gale attended Louisiana State Normal and later received a Bachelor's degree from Stephen F. Austin State College (now University).
Mrs. Max (Gale George) Hammond in a 1958 newspaper article recapping her career and contributions to education in her adopted town of Monahans, Texas.
She is buried in Monahans (TX) Memorial Cemetery,
Hartzo, Patricia Tolbert (b. 1947) B. S., Elementary Education; Louisiana College (1970); kindergarten (Oil City and Herndon Magnet)
Read more about Patsy at this link.
Haughton, Ethel Francis B.S., M.S., Louisiana College - Fourth Grade and later Principal
E. Francis (1970) |
Ethel Haughton (1995) |
Served as school principal in the mid-1990s.
Linked below is an interview for a project titled The Oral History of the Public School Principalship conducted by the School of Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 1995. It includes Ms. Haughton's perspective and perception of the school at that time. Note there are a few historical inaccuracies; for example the cafeteria was built in 1950, not early 1960s as stated.
Hensley, Blanche Patton Second Grade - 1921*
Hess, Frank (1923-2010), Pennsylvania State University, Band Director - 1955
Hough, Charlotte 1946
Howze, Jane Guy (1910-1971) A.B. LSN (1931), B.S. Centenary College (1936) - 1931-37*
Humphrey, H. Seventh and Eighth Grade Mathematics and Coach - 1970
Humphreys, Hubert Davis (1923-2009) B.A,, M.A., LSU; MEd, University of Texas
Originally from Grayson, LA and a World War II veteran, Mr. Humphreys was school librarian from 1952 to 1955. He moved to Fair Park High in Shreveport and later became a professor at LSU-Shreveport.
Shown below during the 1952-1953 school year.
1953 OC Bengal (yearbook
Below: Teaching at Fair Park in 1959.
In 1965 he was named Caddo Parish high school "Educator Of The Year."
He was named to the first faculty of Louisiana State University-Shreveport when that school opened in 1967.
In 1969 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Asia. He had received a similar grant two years earlier for travel to Lebanon.
Shreveport Times 30-Apr-1969, Page 4-A
Professor Humphreys retired in 1985.
A comment made at the time by a former student.
Professor Humphreys returned to Oil City in 1985 to conduct an oral history workshop at the Caddo-Pine Island Museum (now the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum).
He passed away while residing in Baton Rouge. An excerpt from his obituary:
Interment: Welcome Home Cemetery; Grayson, LA
Humphries, Irene 1948
Jennings, Florence Second Grade - 1965, 1966
Johns, Mary Ruth Sexton (1911-1999) LSN
Listed in Mrs. Warren's Oil City school history as Ruth Sexton. Wife of William Cristy Johns.
Johns, William Christy (1907-1981) - 1931-37*
Once an Oil City teacher per Mrs. Warren's school history, he was later Assistant Superintendent of Caddo Parish Schools.
For his masters thesis at LSU in 1940, his subject was A Study of the Guidance Needs of Pupils in the Oil City High School.
Jones, Audrey Myrtle Hart (1908-1999) LSN
Per the Caddo Citizen article shown below, she began her teaching career at Oil City, then later transferred to Vivian High School and on to North Caddo High School when it opened.
1950 Vivian (LA) High School Warrior (yearbook)
Caddo Citizen 03-Jul-1975, Page 3-E (provided by Jenny Speer Swilling )
1965 North Caddo High School (Vivian, LA) Rebel (yearbook)
Kennedy, James R. Music Director 1968, 1969
Kerr, Lillian Alice Brock (1897-1965) LSN
Originally a resident of Plain Dealing, she attended Louisiana State Normal (now Northwestern State University) for at least a summer session. Teacher education requirements were less strict at that time and a bachelors degree was not required.
Bossier Banner 01-Jun-1916, Page 3 (attending LSN)
Later that year she is noted to be teaching at the Ferry Lake School.
Bossier Banner 09-Nov-1916, Page 3 (teaching at Ferry Lake school)
The following year she is mentioned teaching in Oil City, though it is not clear if she actually transferred to that school, or the writer was simply referring to the general OC area, that would include Ferry Lake
Bossier Banner 31-May-1917, Page 3 (teaching in OC)
She later taught at Gates, Sardis, and Dry Prong. Mrs. Kerr passed away in 1965 and is buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum, Baton Rouge, LA.
Lambiase, M. Kindergarten - 1970
Land, Jane B. A. Education, Centenary College (1955)
She was also a Vivian High School graduate.
Lay, Joan (1932-1997) B.S., Centenary College; M.S., Scarritt College; Fourth Grade
1959 OCJHS Bengal (yearbook)
Originally from Gilliam, LA; Joan attended Louisiana Polytechnic Institute (now Louisiana Tech University) for two years before transferring to Centenary College where she graduated in 1954 (with her mother, see following). She received an masters degree from Scarritt College, an institution dedicated to community and family services, religious education, and social work.
She taught fourth grade at Oil city from 1956 to 1961. Joan was later found teaching at Cherokee Park Elementary in Shreveport, and eventually taught Spanish at Bossier Parish Community College. Below she is pictured in an advertisement for Miracle Ear hearing aids.
She passed away in 1997, reportedly having been poor health for several years.
Interment: Forest Park East Cemetery; Shreveport, LA
Lay, Vivian Harriet Fortson (1905-1999), LSN; B.S., Centenary College
Pictured below as a student at Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University), Vivian's first teaching position was at Oil City for the 1923-24 school year.
In 1954, Vivian and daughter Joan graduated from Centenary College together. Vivian had received a two year teaching certificate from LSN in 1923, the requirement for elementary teachers at the time, but returned to school to receive her four-year degree.
Per her obituary, Vivian retired from the Caddo Parish School System after many years.
Interment: Forest Park East Cemetery; Shreveport, LA
Lee, James 1948
Lemoine, Lelia Hester (1904-1974) LSN
Hester (which she went by) was a graduate of 1924 Shreveport (now C. E. Byrd) High summer session. In 1926, she was listed among students from Caddo Parish attending Louisiana State Normal School (now Northwestern State University).
Hester Lemoyne (sic) assigned in 1927 to the "Steele Bridge" school, referencing its proximity to the nearby drawbridge over Caddo Lake. Also note Mooringsport teachers of that time.
Below she is pictured with her class in 1928. The one-room school was located between Mooringsport and Oil City on Dawes Road, at a site near the present-day AEP/SWEPCO power plant.
Carolyn Watts-Haley (daughter of Carol Holland)
By 1930, she was teaching at Oil City.
Newspaper articles from 1935, 1949 (teaching fifth grade), and 1953 link her to Parkview Elementary in Shreveport.
Her picture appeared in the newspaper in 1958, when she and other local women were noted to be planning for World Prayer Day.
By then at Queensborough Elementary; Hester, who never married, retired in 1969 after having taught in Caddo Parish Schools for 42 Years.
Interment: Forest Park Cemetery; Shreveport, LA (per obituary)
Lippmin, Mabel Sinclair (1901-1983) - 1921*
Incorrectly identified as Mabel Sinclair Freeman in Mrs. Warren's school history. Freeman Delose Lippmin was her ex-husband's name. She later taught and served as principal of Georgia Tucker School in Monroe, LA.
Looney, Hester Dean (1897-1952) B.A. Math and History, Peabody College (1924); graduate work, Columbia University
Miss Looney taught at Oil City for the 1927-1928 and 1928-1929 school years. She began teaching at Byrd High in Shreveport in 1929 and remained there until her untimely death, after an operation, in 1952.
Interment: Tishomingo (MS) Cemetery
Luse, Ellie Rhee Holmes (1898-1991)
Originally from Mansfield, LA; Ellie Rhee was a graduate of the now-defunct Mansfield Female College. Note in her class was Mattie Wood of Oil City.
She's listed (name partially cut off) among teachers assigned to Oil City school for the 1919-1920 school year.
Pictured in 1920.
The following year she taught at Vivian, LA.
She later married Melvin Howard Luse. By 1950, was a librarian for Shreve Memorial Library. Below she is assisting future Oil City residents Mrs. Gyron M. (Elizabeth) Gant and son, Gyron, Jr. in a library branch located in a laundromat.
From her obituary:
Interment: Forest Park West Cemetery (per obit)
Lynch, Evangeline 1946
Martin, Bettye Third Grade - 1951
Mason, Martha Physical Education - 1955
Mathis, Annabel Seventh Grade - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950; Sixth Grade - 1951, 1952, 1955
Matthews, Pauline - Home Economics, replaced Eola Rooks*
May, Martha Whitten McCarthy (1914-2???) Home Economics - 1951, 1952, 1955; Eighth Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
McKenzie, Corrine Davidson (1909-2001), LSU
Shown below as a senior at LSU in 1932..
Teaching at North Caddo High in the 1950s.
McLendon, Carol Second Grade - 1951, 1952
McMahan, Miriam First Grade - 1950
McRae, Vera Mae (1915-?), LSN
Per Mrs. Lida Wilson Ferguson, Vera Mae taught at Oil City with her in the late 1930s.
Midyett, Erkyl 1946
Morehead, Henrietta Cooke (1905-2003) Alabama State Teachers College
Originally from Mississippi, Henrietta taught school at Vivian (1923-1924) and Oil City (1924-1925). By 1926 she was identified as Mrs. Louis M. Morehead in a newspaper social column. She was not employed as of the 1930 census, when the couple lived briefly in Vivian. It was while living there that their daughter Diane was born in 1931. In the late 1930s she was active with the Oil City PTA and also assisted at local polls during elections. She worked at the Oil City branch of the Shreve Memorial Library and, in the 1940 census, her occupation was accordingly listed as librarian. Per her obituary, they moved to Washington, D.C. for Louis's work and she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), retiring in 1968. At that time, they moved to Florida. Like her husband, she is buried in the Bay Pines National Cemetery.
Originally from Mississippi, Henrietta taught school at Vivian (1923-1924) and Oil City (1924-1925). By 1926 she was identified as Mrs. Louis M. Morehead in a newspaper social column. She was not employed as of the 1930 census, when the couple lived briefly in Vivian. It was while living there that their daughter Diane was born in 1931. In the late 1930s she was active with the Oil City PTA and also assisted at local polls during elections. She worked at the Oil City branch of the Shreve Memorial Library and, in the 1940 census, her occupation was accordingly listed as librarian. Per her obituary, they moved to Washington, D.C. for Louis's work and she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), retiring in 1968. At that time, they moved to Florida. Like her husband, she is buried in the Bay Pines National Cemetery.
Moreland, Elsie Meyers (1908-1990) B.S. Centenary (1930) - 1931-37*
Originally from Pennsylvania, her family moved to Mooringsport when she was a child. Per her obituary:
She graduated from Centenary College with a degree in Mathematics and Chemistry. Her teaching career began in Oil City. She retired in 1973, after teaching 32 years in Greenwood, La.
Listed as Elsa Meyers in Mrs. Warren's Oil City School history.
Munnerlyn, Billie Jean Day Commerce - 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955
Myers, Allen (Mrs.) 1950 Sixth Grade - 1950
Myers, Allen Music - 1950, 1951
Nail, Maxine A. Fourth Grade - 1964
Napper, Ada Elzada (1901-1981) Sixth Grade - 1948, 1949
Neal, Ettamae First Grade - 1951
Nessland, Gladys - 1931-37*
Nolan, Earl Davis B.S. Centenary College (1932) Physical Education and Coach - 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Just as William F. Bozeman is "Oil City's Principal," Earl Davis Nolan is "Oil City's Coach."
Read about Coach Nolan at Oil City's Coach - Earl Davis Nolan (1907-1987).
Nolan, Margaret Burton B.A. Centenary College (1932) English - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955; Sixth Grade - 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
O'Connell, Robert, LLB, University of Cincinnati (1909) 1914
Trained as a lawyer, and in fact practicing as one per the 1910 census, he is identified as a teacher in Oil City at the time of a reported incident where brother Armour attempted suicide in his Norman Hotel room while he and father, prominent Cincinnati Judge John J. O'Connell, were visiting Robert.
Pagnato, A. Music - 1970
Pankey, Myrtle Bridgers McDuffie (1890-1974)
Myrtle married Norman McDuffie in 1910. He passed away the following year. Supporting herself and daughter Norma, she was found teaching at Forbing, LA in 1916.
She's listed (name partially cut off) among teachers assigned to Oil City school for the 1919-1920 school year.
In the 1920 U.S. Census, she is listed as head-of-household living in OC, along with Norma and three boarders - Elizabeth Armstrong, Kate Collins (or possibly Calvin), and Annette Hewitt. All including Mrs. McDuffie are Oil City teachers.
Source: Ancestry contributor
She later married Samuel Pankey, who died in 1963. When she passed away in 1974, her obituary made no mention of her having been a school teacher. Shreveport Times 26-Apr-1974, Page 18-A
Interment: Greenwood Cemetery; Shreveport, LA
Parker, Laura Belle Centenary College (1935)
Was teaching school in Oil City per the 13-Nov-1936 Centenary Conglomerate (school newspaper)
Parrott, Vivian Fourth Grade - 1949
Peck, Lillian Hughsie Bickham (1910-1971) B.S. Centenary College (1932) - 1931-37*
Perry, Fon - 1931-37*
Pettit, Varie Aulds Elder (1924-2010) B. S., Louisiana Tech, Business Education - 1946, 1947, 1948
Phillips, Charles C. (1845-1913)
Taught at Surry for the 1902-03 and 1903-1904 school years. Surry, Ananias, and Caddo (City) were the three communities that became Oil City, so-named in 1907.
Per his obituary, he was a Civil War veteran and had once served in the Louisiana state legislature. The 1900 U. S. Census lists him living in Caddo Parish Ward 5 (Greenwood area) with wife Delilah and sons Charles, Jr. and Edgar.; and having the occupation of "teacher." In December 1900, he was nominated for president of the North Caddo Teachers Association, but declined because he resided in a different part of the parish. At that meeting, he also gave a presentation "How I Teach Primary Geometry." Though another person was elected to the position, Phillips was later identified as president in a recap of a NCTA meeting held in Rodessa in January 1901. That same month a newspaper social column mentioned him teaching at Hosston. For 1901-1902, he had been assigned to Oak Grove in Ward 7 (south of Shreveport).
Obituary: Times 04-Mar-1913, Page 8
Interment: Walden Road Ferry Cemetery; Caddo Parish, LA
Pickle, Bernice Bates Fifth Grade - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Pinckard, Sylvia Secretary - 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Puckett, Elisha Sixth Grade - 1951
Pye, Barbara - 1931-37*
Ragan, A. , 1905
Listed as representing Surry (spelled here Surrey) in a newspaper article about area teachers attending summer school conducted at the Central High School in Shreveport.
Various professors and other educators taught sessions covering:
- Arithmetic
- Art
- Geography
- Grammar
- History
- Language
- Literature
- Music
- Nature Study
- Pedagogy (teaching methodology)
- Physiology
- Reading
Note other area teachers listed as attending including:
J. D. Barber, Ida
W. Barnes, Blanchard
B. Currie, Latex
T. Humphries, Mooringsport
M. Newton, Blanchard
A. Ragan, Surrey
I. Thomason, Vivian
A. Thompson, Belcher
B. Tillinghast, Mooringsport
Readhimer - 1914-15*
Rhodes, Reppy - 1921*
Riche, Alliene Second Grade - 1949, 1950
Roberts, Hattie Ruth Vaughn (1898-2001), LSN (1918), Sixth and Seventh Grades - 1921*
Roberts, Roberta Fifth Grade - 1949
Robinson, C. J. Principal - 1921*
Rogers, Pauline Louisiana Tech (?) 1931
Presumably a Louisiana Tech graduate as she attended homecoming there in 1930 while identified as a teacher in Eunice. The following year she's mentioned teaching at Oil City High along with Mamie Bowman (Tarleton, see below).
Rooks, Eola Porter (1897-1978) LSN, Home Economics - 1924*
A 1918 graduate of Louisiana State Normal College, she was the Oil City School's first home economics teacher per Maggie Smith Warren's school history.
Sachs, Rose Valinsky (1912-1949) B.S. Chemistry, Centenary College
Taught during the 1934-35 and 1935-36 school years.
Sample, Estelle Taylor Fourth Grade - 1949, 1950; Third Grade - 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960
Sanders, Verlyn Elizabeth Cutrer (1909-1996)
Served as Oil City High School librarian from 1937-1940.
Per her obituary:
Mrs. Sanders graduated from Many High School, received a B.A. Degree from Northwestern State College, and a Master's Degree in Library Science from L.S.U. She served as librarian for
California Oil Co. (Chevron) for many years, and retired as a school librarian in Jefferson Parish. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sabine Chapter, and the Eastern Star. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Many.
She is buried in Fort Jessup Cemetery, Sabine Parish, LA.
Self, Beverly Third Grade - 1950; Fourth Grade - 1951
Shelton, Mary Fourth Grade - 1952
Shircliff, Sidney Lillian (1913-2005)
1934 LSU Gumbo (yearbook)
Per the 1940 Census, she was a lodger in the home of deputy sheriff Will George with the occupation of teacher.
Originally from Baton Rouge, LA; by 1941 she had returned there where she continued to teach.
Shuey, Mildred Morgan Whitman (1902-1994) B.A., LSU
Taught at Oil City in 1926. Her brother was Louisiana politician Cecil Morgan, who once led an unsuccessful attempt to impeach Governor Huey Long.
1923 LSU Gumbo
Excerpted from her obituary:
Interment: Forest Lawn West Cemetery; Shreveport, LA (per obituary)
Small, Grace Long (1906-1996) B.A., Baylor University; also studied at Peabody College and the University of Colorado
Grace was originally from Winsboro, Texas and taught at Oil City for the 1927-1928, 1928-1929, and 1929-1930 school years. She began teaching at Byrd High in Shreveport in 1930. In 1934, Grace married Charles B. Small, Jr., who was in banking. She was still teaching as of 1969, when she was a finalist for Caddo Parish high school "Educator Of The Year."
Her later life is not known other than that she died in Memphis, TN in March 1996.
Obit: Shreveport Times 26-mar-1996, Page 2-B
Interment: Forest Park Cemetery; Shreveport, LA (per obit)
Obit: Shreveport Times 26-mar-1996, Page 2-B
Interment: Forest Park Cemetery; Shreveport, LA (per obit)
Smith, (Mrs.) William Daingerfield (Amy Davidson) (1898-1993) - 1931-37*
Snellgrove, Betty Seventh Grade - 1960
Spinks, Ruth 1946
Stickell, Y. Fifth and Sixth Grades, Remedial Language Arts - 1970
Strickland, Raymond E. Industrial Arts - 1951, 1952
Stutsman, Earl Jack (1915-1999) taught at Oil City High in 1939.
Source: Margaret Pace Weaver collection
He was a decorated war veteran in World War II, having been awarded the Bronze Star and is buried in Greenwood (LA) Town Cemetery.
Stutsman, Mary Elizabeth White (1916-1998)
Per her obituary:
On Dec. 27, 1939, Elizabeth married her wonderful husband, Earl Jack Stutsman, when she was first teaching in Oil City, La. She continued her teaching career in the Caddo Parish School System as a third-grade teacher in Greenwood. Elizabeth was widely recognized for her outstanding performance in the classroom. She retired after 36 years and was loved and admired by the countless students whose lives she touched. In 1990, the Greenwood High School Alumni Association honored her with its most prestigious award, commending alumni who have made the greatest contributions to the school and community.
She is buried next to her husband in Greenwood (LA) Town Cemetery.
Sylvest sisters Nancy Mamie (Smith) (1886-1976) and Myra Eva (Wood) (1892-1937) of Franklinton, LA came to teach for the 1912 school year.
The two didn't stay long apparently as by 1914, Myra had married an Angus Wood back in Franklinton. Mamie also married a Franklinton resident, Emmett Smith, at some undisclosed date.
Tarleton, Mamie Bowman (1898-1987), LSN (1918)
Miss Bowman is listed as an English teacher at Oil City High School in 1930 while working toward her masters degree, earned in 1931, from Peabody College, now part of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Shown as a member of the 1931-32 Fair Park High School (Shreveport, LA) faculty.
She began teaching at Louisiana State Normal College (now Northwestern State University) in 1933 and shown below retiring after 30 years as an Associate Professor of English; along with also retiring Dr. Clarence E. Dugdale, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and former Oil City principal.
Mrs. Tarleton is buried in American Cemetery, Natchitoches, LA.
Tatum, Amy Lou - Centenary College
Note the N. F. Bozeman also listed is of course W. F. Bozeman.
Thacker, James Dewey, Centenary College, Science - 1955
Thomas, Beverly Fourth Grade - 1951
Thompklins, M. A. 1948
Thompson, Lois Thigpen (1906-1991) LSN Third Grade - 1946, 1948; 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
Obituary: Shreveport Times 04-Dec-1991, Page 14-A
Thompson, Mary Lee Sinclair - 1921*
Tohline, Veda Duff (1927-2013) Seventh and Eighth Grades, Language Arts and Social Studies - 1970
Tolbert, Carl Graeber (1917-2005) was a 1939 graduate of the University of Michigan and Oil City High music instructor in 1940.
Incorrectly identified as "she" in the alumni publication.
Vaughn, Ellen - 1931-37*
Vincent, Marguerite Aycock (1899-1980), La State Normal (1919), B.S., La Tech (1938); M.E., University of Maryland (1955) - 1920-21
Taught school at Oil City in 1920-21 per her profile appearing in Who's Who in American Education.
She is buried in Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery, Monroe, LA.
Wade, Geraldean F. Fourth Grade - 1960, 1963; Third Grade - 1964, 1965
Waits, Gloy Hurt East Texas State College (now Texas A&M-Commerce) - 1948
Waldron, Louise Lockwood Brooks (1910-1987) LSN (1930)
Home Economics - replaced Mabel Day*
Also of note, she became Oil City's first alderwoman, being appointed to the position in November 1953 and then elected to a full term in 1956.
Walker, Frances 1948
Walker, Lloyd E. (1901-1951)
Principal, teacher, and coach before becoming principal at Mooringsport High School.
Source: Findagrave.com entry.
Walker, Shirley Second Grade - 1961
Warren, Maggie B. Smith - 1921*
Waters, Connie Second Grade - 1959, 1960
Waters, Dan C. Sixth Grade - 1959, 1960
Watson, Margaret 1946, 1948
Welch, Lara - 1921*
Wells, Pet Texanna Davis (1889-1936)
Listed as an Oil City School teacher in this 15-Jul-1909 article appearing in The Caucasian announcing teacher assignments for the coming school year. Note the Caddo Parish School Superintendent is C. E. Byrd, for whom Shreveport High School would be later renamed. In the 1910 Census she is listed as a boarder at the Norman Hotel with occupation of public school teacher.
The picture is as published in Sam Collier's book "North Caddo Parish" from a Myrtis School class picture in 1910. She later married Grady Henry Wells and is buried in Mount Gilead Cemetery in Vivian, LA.
Mrs. Warren's school history states the first teacher was a Mrs. Dean who taught in a one-room school house opened in 1910. Since that was approximately 10 years before her coming to OC, she was likely relying on someone else's distant memory when compiling, and I suspect Mrs. Dean is actually Miss Davis.
White, Marilyn English - 1949
White, W. L. Music - 1948, 1949
Whitlow, Clara Mae (1897-1975) LSN, Grade School - 1921*
Wilson, L. E., Principal - 1914-15*
Wimberly, Zelma Armstrong (1907-1988) LSN (1925), B.A. Centenary College (1937) - 1931-37*
Zelma Armstrong at LSN (1925) |
Source: 1925 LSN Potpourri (yearbook), Page 52
Wyche, Margery B. S., Centenary College
1928 Centenary Yoncopin (yearbook), Page 63
See also Tatum, Amy Lou.
Yearwood, Genevieve Garnett (1897-1994) NTSU (1935)
Source: North Texas State Teachers College Campus Chat (student newspaper) 09-Apr-1936 Page 4
Source: Ancestry.com profile
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