Every Life Is a Part of History

 

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”  Michael Crichton

In 1978 principal, Phil DeBerry, handed to me, the newly hired library media specialist, three worn P.T.A. scrapbooks and said to keep them. Reading those faded pages gave me a sense of belonging in a town that was rapidly growing. I noticed immediately that nearly everything was proudly drawn, handwritten, or carefully typed. I began to wonder even then who those talented caring people were.

Architect rendering of blonde brick building 1959-1986. 

One Sunday when several teachers and our children were in the building the tornado sirens screamed. We carefully lifted those old cellar doors in the floor and climbed down into dirt hallway filled with pipes. However, I grabbed those three books and took them with me. I knew those pages had stories to tell.

Sitting underground that day I began to tell the only story I knew about
Jefferson—that the students reported how the building would sway when the tornadic winds blew across the prairie. Suddenly, that basement was not as scary. We realized that it was the stories that connected all of us.

Letty Watt, Trae Carson, Daniel Hargrave, ?
James Smith

What began in 1978 reached closure in December 2025. Yes, there were a few distractions. Thanks to principal Lynne Miller construction began in 1983 to modernize and connect all buildings together. For the first time since 1958 the original bell was part of the school again. A place that allowed us to ring the bell for celebrations, but not for a clock or call to school.

In the spring of 1984 Jefferson Elementary celebrated its 90^th birthday. Without the Internet I found few resources that shared our history. Thanks to the P.T.A. books and John Womack’s History of Norman, we could share our beginnings with why and how Eastside became the landsite school.

By 1990’s with principal Kathy Taber we looked ahead to 1994 and realized that we were sitting on a golden piece of history that needed to be to recorded and shared. Our first spiral bound booklet of personal stories sold out. Norman history came to life with the production of our play “Jefferson Now and Then” at the Sooner Theater. Every child shared a part of that production because everyone deserves to be a part of a bigger stage and recognized for his or her talents.

                                           1917-1959

There is a mural on a wall in our school depicting three distinct time periods of our school. Various pictures symbolize our history. In a “Memory” one student recalled walking by that mural every day. She wrote, “I can see that mural and those students playing marbles, swinging on a tire, jumping rope, and swinging on the witches hat, playground toys that we never had. In every passage the Jefferson bell stood proudly in the pictures and in my mind. When I graduated from fifth grade, I rang the same bell that those children in the mural rang. I am proud to a Jefferson Dragon.”

And then, life went on. My husband and I moved away but I never left behind those memories where we painstakingly built a culture of how best to educate children from all walks of life. A place where parents and children could each be recognized as valuable people.

Children are alike, they have the same needs, but their home lives differ greatly. Jefferson elementary school gives all of children a safe place to grow, to learn, and recognize their own strengths and those of their classmates.

With retirement I found time to reflect. Reflection I observed comes with age and time. I discovered as Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

In 2019 a team of three began collecting stories and photos from people whose families held history with our school and from former students who now had time to reflect. People came with zeal to share their history with us. I wanted to honor those families, some who sent multiple generations of children through our hallways.

1945-1946 Mr. Risenhoover, Principal; Mr. Middleton, band director.

Being apart of that energy gave me the purpose to collect and write a thorough history of a place where lives were changed. As a writer, storytelling, and an older wiser woman I can see the truth to these words:

“Everyone dies twice. Once when their souls leave their bodies and a second time, when their story is no longer told.”

 

If you love history and stories, may I recommend reading this collection of 182 memories between the years 1889—2025. In 1889 the Methodist Episcopal Church opened the first subscription school. From the beginning, education played a role in the lives of our early Norman settlers.

**Contact me by replying to this blog or email historyofjefferson@gmail.com If you live in the Norman area your may go to Jefferson Elementary between 9:00-2:00 on a school day to purchase the book for cash or check $30.

***There is also a Jefferson School link where you can use your credit card, and the book will be mailed to you at a total cost of $40.00. https://sfnd.io/q7z2v-historybook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm Winter Wonderings and Wishes

From our house to your house---2025

 

During this entire year, my head has been bundled in stories from yesteryear. True, heartfelt, honest stories from adults reflecting on their childhood years attending Jefferson Elementary school in Norman. I could not ask for a better way to spend the year. I cannot wait for you to read the book and feel what I have been honored to feel with the lives of those who shared their personal stories. Finished copies arrived at Jefferson December 16. We sold thirty books in two days. In 2026 the book will be available at Jefferson, online, or contact me. (This story is on my blog The Picture That Told Three Stories.)

 

However, this bundled jumbled mind of mine encountered a few hitches and glitches along the way:

 * My Monday housecleaning chores nearly ceased. We bought a robot vacuum to help the cause.

  *Spring weather filled with rain gave our trees and plants a super-boost for growing and producing. The rain also kept me inside writing instead of playing golf. 

  *Last winter one set of pipes froze causing a messy flood in two rooms. With help we sucked up the water, dried the pads and carpet and a month later moved the furniture back. No company that month.

  *Jack is healthier now than last year thanks to a “Pacemaker.” My back is old and crooked, but I am still standing erect and plan to keep walking, gardening, and playing golf until my legs do not work.

  *Summer arrived gloriously. Jack and Murphy took long walks each morning. Murphy spent hours keeping the squirrels out of the back yard and keeping us safe. Volunteers helped collect, sort, and organize 130 years of school history.

  *Jack and I spent two weeks traveling this fall. One week in NYC with our son Matt, where we feed our souls on art and history, walked until our shoes wore out, and filled our stomachs with divine foods, from a yacht on the Hudson to the 60^th floor restaurant overlooking the financial district. Five days in WDC the second week of the shutdown, the weather was warm and sunny. The memorials humbled us and brought tears to our hearts. We recalled our dad’s battles in the Pacific and classmates who lost their lives in Vietnam. We felt blessed to live in America.

  *There were more beautiful days for walking Murphy, digging in the garden, and playing golf than we could count. Still, I collected stories and wrote them week after week. Murphy stayed with me when it was too hot to be outside. Our team of volunteers completed a half-dozen scrapbooks of our school history while I typed. Then they found time to help me edit.

 

  *Our grandson Isaac, attends ISU, so we added ISU football to our weekends along with OU games and texted family back and forth with thoughts about our teams. Mike and Ann live in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

  *This fall our hot water tank gave out and we bought ourselves a new hot water tank that came with a red ribbon for a Christmas gift. However, two days later that we discovered the tank had leaked into our house. Once again, with neighborly help, we moved heavy dining room furniture and pulled up carpet. Fall weather gave us warm days with doors open for drying. We restored our dining room with new padding, then moved furniture back in place days before Thanksgiving.

  *Along with our daughter, Katy, we celebrated our birthdays with fresh seafood at Sedalia's in OKC on December 26.

  *My personal blog "Literally Letty" fell from the top spot in weekly writing to "If and when time allows."  

Our "Christmas Corner" 2025.

 
On December 24, 26, and 27 I played golf. It was 80 degrees and there was no book to write. No Christmas tree nor gifts under it graced our home this year. Instead, we spent our time rejoicing in our lives, our family, and our friends.

I thank you all who have faithfully read my stories. Warm Winter Wishes to each of you for a New Year filled with joy, good health, and adventures.

 

The Picture That Told Three Stories

"Jefferson History Then and Now"

The Picture That Told Three Stories 

by Patrick L. Johnson, Roscoe Thompson, and Nellie Beavers Childs, collected by Letty Watt    

In the spring of 2025 I posted this picture on the "History of Norman" Facebook page. This is one of the responses I received from a man who found his father in the photo. The man, Patrick L. Johnson shares this story of his father Pop Johnson.

 

In this 1908 classroom photo from Eastside school, I think the youngster in the second row from bottom, 3rd from the right, is my Pop, JA “Red” Johnson born in Norman in October 1901. *The arrow points to Roscoe Thompsons another story from the photograph. 

Pop's father died in 1904 when Pop was three and younger brother was an infant. In order to feed her family, my grandmother took in washing and cleaning houses. My Pop only made it through the 3rd grade when he quit and took odd jobs to help his mom support the family. 

He worked in the oil fields as an adult, raised four kids through the depression doing whatever he could to make a buck. Sometime in the mid 40’s, he got a full-time job with the Oklahoma National Guard. He was injured in 1949 while training at the North Base Naval firing range when the infamous tornado ripped through that area. He was sent to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio TX, where they implanted a metal plate on the left side of his head to compensate for the skull that had been crushed.

He recuperated over the next several months and eventually went back to work with the NG.  Pop went with the Division when it was activated and sent to Fort Polk LA (1950?) in preparation for deployment to Korea.  However, he was forcefully medically discharged before his unit deployed and later worked at Central State Hospital. He had a massive stroke in 1963 complicated by the head injury but again recuperated and lived out his last few years here in Norman with my mom, passing in 1971.

Thank you for sharing this photo on the History of Norman site and giving me the chance to tell my "Pop's" story.  Sincerely, Patrick L. Johnson

This picture tells the story of:

Nellie Beavers Childs: Their Friendship Endured

Roscoe Thompson from Thompson Moving and Storage: The Story of Roscoe Thompson

 

Jitney Lunches

“If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. ”

― Michael Crichton

   

Elbert Redwine attended Jefferson elementary in Norman, Oklahoma between 1920-1927. "Many of us were poor kids. Some children came to school barefoot. We had sack lunches from home or went home for lunch everyday when the noon bell rang. In the early part of the 1920's parents in town began to provide a 'Jefferson Jitney Lunch.' It became a weekly event during the twenties. Parents would bring all kinds of food that day and set up portable tables arranged in the first-floor hallway. It cost a nickel for each serving of food. I always had two nickels to spend."

No tree stands alone. 
We are all connected.

My personal thirst for stories took hold by 1984 when my elementary school celebrated its 90th anniversary. The stories returning students told brought tears and laughter to our faces. These stories come from the hearts of former Jefferson Dragons,  whose lives developed from the values of our public schools. 

A 'jitney lunch' became a theme of the stories from the 1920's-1950's when schools did not offer lunches. The descriptions and definitions of 'jitney' vary from a 'jitney taxi' in San Francisco meaning a cheap nickel ride to a meal as simple as a hot lunch consisting of hot dogs, soup and/or homemade dessert. Jitney lunches were served at churches, schools, public parks, and sometimes advertised in diners. 

While some newspapers wrote that a 'jitney lunch' was a cheap uninspiring meal, other people stood in line to enjoy the hot food and homemade desserts by volunteers. For many it may have been the only meal of the day. 

In 1932 Clara Furbee Worley shared this memory of attending Jefferson. "I remember one teacher, a small lady, who wore a fur coat. When she was on the play ground during recess, I used to put my hands in her coat pockets to keep my hands warm. You will have to remember that this is the depression, and I had no gloves." Clara lived six blocks away and described running home for lunch every day since they did not have a cafeteria. "On special occasions the school or the churches offered a 'jitney lunch' for us. It usually costs a nickel for the meal."

"During the depression years sometimes there were very few of us who came to school in shoes. There were lots of kids who were very underprivileged. My father, Dr. Charles R. Rayburn, was a physician (psychiatrist) at the state hospital and my mother was always room-mother. On special days she brought a freezer of home cranked ice cream and cupcakes," explained Rosalie Rayburn Renfro. "We all went home for lunch and those of us who lived close to school ran back early to school to play jacks before they rang the bell. We played with a golf ball and metal jacks. We also played London Bridge and Farmer in the Dell in the lower grades. On May Day there was the winding of the Maypole. One year I was an attendant to the May Queen." 

"Times were tough back then," writes Bill Saxon, "Many children at Jefferson elementary worked to support their large families.  I distinctly remember Bear Jensen, who went on to become one of our star athletes at Norman High School,  worked at the "Daily Oklahoman" for three hours every morning before coming to grade school in the 1930's." 

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

--David McCullough, American historian

 Wallace Collins shared this piece of school history. "While my mother, Lois Collins was president of the PTA, they instituted what I believe was the very first hot lunch program for Jefferson. The PTA gathered sponsors to support the hot meals on every Friday of the school year. This would have been about 1952. The meals featured hot dogs, chips, and milk. The food items were donated by local merchants such as Greenleaf Grocery Store and Gilt-Edge Dairy (now Hyland Dairy). In addition to the Friday hot lunch, Gilt Edge Dairy agreed to deliver daily, half pint cartons of milk to the school at mid-morning to any student that wanted to subscribe for it. The cost was 3 cents each. I remember getting the milk, and many of us were thrilled when Guilt Edge expanded the milk option to include chocolate milk! These lunches were often referred to as “Jitney” lunches."

Beginning in 1953 Jefferson offered a daily lunchroom meal. Judy Jones Wilson writes, "My mother devoted the last ten years of her life as the head cook. She was famous for her hot breads. Every day we would have wonderful hot rolls. she even made her own hamburger buns."

By the early 1950's the term "jitney" dropped out of use because it implied cheapness or anything dilapidated, or ramshackled, such as  jitney pianos, jitney paintings, or jitney houses. 

“If you want to understand today you have to search yesterday.”

--Pearl S. Buck, American novelist (1892-1973)

*Stories collected from former Jefferson students who attended between 1920-1955. 

 

Ellen's Story--The Giving Tree

It was a Monday. We assembled noisily in the scattered line as we shuffled out the classroom door. While making silent faces trying to get others to giggle in a solemn hall, we reached our destination--the library. I loved wandering aimlessly through the library gazing at all of the bindings trying to decipher which adventures I wish to discover that week. I found two books on the new book rack. It was laborious to find books I hadn't read. The third book must be short, a beautifully illustrated picture book. Time was running out, in 156 seconds we would have to assemble in our line and trudge back for History class.   I would like to have stayed in the library for the remainder of the day, but King George seemed to call. Quickly, I nudged my sticky, peanut butter and jelly fingers along the well-used bindings… huh?...The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein…He writes good poems…I’ll try it. I found my third book. What I didn’t realize was that I had discovered a treasure that I would cherish for eternity.

This book had no pirates, no animals, no overseas adventures, just a plain story about a boy and a tree. The tree loved for the little boy to gather her leaves, climb up her trunk swing from her branches and eat her apples. “The boy loved the tree… very much and the tree was happy.”

As time went on, the boy grew older, and the tree grew lonely. When the boy did come to visit he talked of material things. The tree gave the boy her beautiful, crimson apples to pawn so he could have money. Time after time he would come back, and she would give freely no strings attached. Each time she was happy to give. The tree's purpose was to please the boy--nothing could have made her happier. When the tree dwindled to nothing but a stump, the boy now, an old man, returned.  The tree was very sad for she had nothing left to offer but the boy, having accomplished everything in life, needed nothing but a place to sit and rest. The tree straightening up as much as she could, invited the boy to sit down and relax. “And the tree was happy.”

As a child. I read a quaint story about a boy and a tree. Now as I reread the book, my mind transforms a simple children's story into a complex symbol, deep with meaning. As I compare my life to the story, I become the boy and God becomes my tree. His roots are embedded in soil and no matter when or what I ask, He replies. He offers his apples and his branches. His trunk supports me in every task I take on. He gives me strength to help others in day-to-day life. When I have two AP English papers due, a physics test, a student council meeting, show choir rehearsal, and I'm scheduled to work all in one day. He gives me strength to carry on and still look forward to tomorrow. When I am sad. He lets me sit under him in his shade. When I am happy. He lets me swing from his branches. This modest children's story gives me abundant insight. I'm certain that no matter where I travel in life. My stump will be waiting. “And the tree was happy.”   

*With permission by the author:  Ellen Ryan, May 1993 the spring of her Norman, OK High School graduation. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein was published in 1964.

2025 June

The Sanibel Public Library District’s board recently filled an open set on the commission, selecting Ellen Vinciguerra to fill the seat by a unanimous vote.

“The Sanibel Library has been a part of my life since I was a little girl as my family has been on the island since I was a child.” Vinciguerra wrote in her application to the district.

“Libraries are the heart of a community, and for Sanibel, it is the lifeblood of the island…Libraries are critical to the growth of a community.”

 Dear Ellen, If I may speak for the tree, for the teachers, the authors, and the libraries, "We are all so very proud of you and your love of books and libraries." 

 

1908--1994 Their Friendship Endured

Boys will be boys whether it is 1909 or 2025. In this photo the arrow is drawn to a young boy named Roscoe Thompson. Whether he was a close neighbor, a friend who teased the girls (my guess), or an ornery kid, we will never know. What we do know is that in the two photos donated by Nellie Beavers Childs in 1993, either she or Roscoe drew an arrow pointing to him, not to Nellie and not to her lifelong best friend, Metaline. What does this tell you?

I had the opportunity to interview Nellie in 1993 at her apartment on Hal Muldrow Dr. in Norman. Her is a portion of her story.

In second grade class we had Miss Callie Webster who was a beautiful 18-year-old teacher. We loved her.  One day it was snowing and we were standing by Miss Webster's desk when she asked the girl next to me how she kept her hair in curls all day. The girl answered, "My mother puts something sweet on it every day." The teacher felt her curls and sure enough they were stiff. 

1908 Eastside School (Jefferson). Look for arrow in the top right hand corner and then see the photo of a young boy named Roscoe Thompson. Roscoe was a friend of Nellie Beavers Childs, the lady who donated this picture to Jefferson for our 1994 for our Centennial. 

1909-1910 2^nd grade JEFFERSON SCHOOL (Nellie Beavers Child) Pictures

Teacher: Callie Webster

Row 1: boy,  Metaline Cathey, lived on N.E. corner of Finley and Gray. They had a store in one room selling tablets, pencils, etc. boy, girl, girl, Agnes Wolf (McComb)  and Thelma Walker.

Row 2: (did not identify which one) Chester Capshaw, son of one of our first doctors. 7^th person Marion Moffett. Her father ran a bicycle shop in 200 block of Main on North Finley street. Next Robert Durkie; next Otis Sullivant.

Row 3: 1^st girl Martha Lee McComb, 2nd girl Nellie Beavers, 7^th person Aubrey Davis, 12^th Roscoe Thompson, ___, 13^th head of Addie Wilson. 

I enrolled in first grade in 1908 even though I was only five years old. I could already read. The neighbors said I couldn't go because I wasn't six years old. My brother said, "I'll put the number 5 in your shoe and if your teacher asks you, you can say you're over 5 years old." My teacher never did ask. I think Miss Cook knew because she was a friend of our family.

Every morning, at noon and during recess our janitor sat at the top of the stairs, and he would hand sharpen our pencils using his knife. One pencil at a time. We didn't have pencil sharpeners.  In the morning he stood at the top of the stairs to see if any students were still running to school. If he saw any children he waited to ring the tardy bell till the last students were in the room. 

*Look closely at the photo. Roscoe drew an arrow from the chalkboard to the third row of boys. He is looking at the camera and has his elbow on the desk behind on top of books. 

We didn't have programs in the school like we do now. The only thing I remember is the Maypole dance in the school yard. Some students were selected from each class to wind the Maypole on May Day. 

Out of our first-grade class there were at least ten who graduated with me in 1920. I know five of them taught school.  In second grade we had seatmates, but I guess we talked too much, and the teacher moved one of us out of the seat and put a boy in our place. I had to move and sit with a different boy. I thought it was great because the boy she put me with I knew from church, but he didn't like it (I wonder if this was Roscoe?). None of the boys liked having a girl for a seatmate. 

I lived on the corner of Findley and Apache, about four blocks south of Main Street. The house is still there. My mother lived there when she was a widow with two little children. She married again and that's when I was born. 

In second grade I still had the same seatmate, but I guess we talked too much, and the teacher moved one of us out of the seat with a boy and put that boys seat mate with Marie. I thought that was great because the boy she put me with I knew from church, but he didn’t like it. The boys didn’t like having a girl for a seatmate. 

I grew up when Norman just had dirt streets. Then later they paved Main Street and University Street. I can remember my brother putting us both on a bicycle and going over to University street to ride on the paved road. I mostly played boys games because of my brother. He taught me how to play Mumble Peg, a game where you learn to throw a knife. I also played marbles and spin the tops.

When I was in the 4^th grade they commenced a basketball team. I think it was the 8^th grade girls. I never did see the boys play. Of course, the only people they played against was Washington. Washington and Jefferson, well they didn’t get along.

“Now these are girls?” I inquired.

Yes, on a girls team. They had to play outdoors. This would have been seventh and eighth grade girls.

I remember that they played against Washington school. It was terrible the rival between the two schools. It continued in high school so that they hardly mixed in high school. 

My last two years of high school a new course was put in called "teachers training." We had to teach all of the 8th grade teaching and many hours of observation. We had to take notes and come back to our teacher and tell her. If they needed a teacher in Eastside (Jefferson) they would send one of us. Six out of twenty of us went on to teach the next year after we graduated. 

They gave us a fake teaching certificate to begin with. If we taught for three years and went to summer school we earned a LIFE certificate. 

*Note: this is the new Norman High School opened in 1909 when Eastside school had outgrown the classrooms. It is the picture in the background of Nellie Beavers graduation picture. 

*The Moore-Lindsay House Museum has pictures from early year books online and I discovered that Roscoe, Metaline, and Nellie each graduated from Norman High School in 1920.

My first teaching job was to finish out a term in a sixth grade class in Muskogee. I discovered I didn't like that at all. Then I moved to Paden and taught high school English and Spanish. My principal said I had to teach Economics. I told him No and said, "Can't you teach it?"  His reply was a headshaking negative stare. So I had to teach Economics and study the night before each class to stay ahead of them. 

I taught several years before moving to Pittsburg, another coal mining town where I met my husband. We moved around with his job in the mines and I taught at Shawnee, Seminole, Wewoka, and Sayre.

At last we moved back to Norman and I taught at Norman High School where I retired in 1965.  

As with retirement, our story does not end here. No more mention of Roscoe in

her interview, nor does she talk about Metaline.

However, in the spring of 1994 Nellie Beavers Childs was accompanied by her

daughter and attended our 100 year celebration of Jefferson school. During that time she brought an oil painting done by her lifelong friend, Metaline Cathey Lee.

Ten years ago the librarian gave me this picture and said, "I think you know this lady and her story."

**Metaline writes in her own handwriting on the back of this canvas: This painting was done for my friend since first grade, Nellie Beavers Childs. The painting shows hibiscus blooming in Mrs. Cathy's yard in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Mrs. Childs spent winters in the Valley after she retired as a Norman High School teacher in 1965. 

And so, it has taken me from 1994 to 2025 to put all of these pieces together. Rest in peace Nellie, Metaline, and Roscoe. You made our world and better place to live, especially for the children in Norman, Ok. 

4/6/2025 The following stories come from my Facebook post about Nellie Childs:

I had Nellie Childs at Norman High School in the 1960's and loved here. Jane Ash Yearout

My sophomore English teacher at NHS and she was quite a lady! Vaughn Clark

I was a student of Mrs. Childs, also.  Judy Matlock

I had her for Sophomore English in 1960. As for Roscoe Thompson he was a former mayor and Bob Thompson's (Midway Deli) grandfather. He was also an uncle to my lifetime friends Patti and Jerry Nolan and Jim and Barbara Sellers. The Thompson's are a huge family and some of Norman's finest.  David Fries. 

We are the Jefferson Dragons. We symbolize "Power, Wisdom, and Chaos." Right now, we are sorting through the chaos and laughing...laughing and loving every moment of the research expedition into our history. 

Mrs. Watt, Librarian and author