FINDING A SOLUTION

In the 1980's alternatives to traditional jail sentences for sex predators were gaining popularity. It was a process of slowly accepting new ideas in psychology, social systems and behavior modifications.  It was clear that the old way of sentencing, early releases or even counseling were not totally successful in every case. So much was still unknown...

 

Drugs seeking to achieve a form of chemical castration were popular at first. The time was ripe for kinder and gentler treatment of prisoners, mental patients, and the handicapped. There was a groundswell call for re-examining the way sexual predators were sentenced, treated, and handled.

 

It was a time of sexual revolution and that meant there was   still a great confusion existing about the motivations and stimuli for sexual assaults. 

 

It was still a time when women were fighting for acceptance in male dominated professions, men felt threatened and a hyper masculinity often emerged in attitudes called 'macho'.  Women were no seen, treated, and understood to be equal.  Courts and public opinion were most likely to judge a crime on the basis of the victim's life, choices, or accidental presence than on the willful acts of a man acting in a criminal fashion.

 

Sexual assault was commonly thought of as "the woman's fault".  She was "asking for it" and various other common tags.  The court of popular opinion could never get beyond that first word to the vicious actions of the second.  Any action using the sexual organs was immediately confused with acts of sexual pleasure.  The understanding, and wide-spread acceptance, of sexual assault and rape as actions of violent dominance and control were still a long way off.

 

Compounding this was a "good old boy" atmosphere that ran a "boys will be boys" world and allowed male criminals to get off easy.   Rape victims, unlike other victims, had to prove they were above reproach to be taken seriously.  This would be akin to someone who had a television stolen needing to prove they had never had a television before for the crime to be logged and investigated. The ability to distinguish between willful and consenting participation in sexual behaviors and the forced and violent use of sexual means to inflict unwanted pain were hard for some to understand. The world had too long believed that when a girl said "no" she really meant "yes" to ever hear the voice of the girl screaming 'No!"

 

In the early 1960's one popular drug being suggested for this patient control was Depo Provera. Over the years its use as a chemical castration treatment created many controversies.  Some wondered if it might simply force aggressive patients to replace sexual assault with assault with a deadly weapon instead because the motivating factor was a search for dominance and power rather than sexual gratification. It was the topic of many studies and seen as a possible treatment in pedophilia.

As a result, there is a great deal of disparity between cases of sexual predators from the 1980's through the 1990's (and maybe still today).  The issue was too confused with the mystery of human sexual behaviors, social mores, and social control to clearly see the intentional victimization of women (and children) at the hands of people seeking , not sex, but control.

Crime Wheels

For a automobile that did not have a long initial life the 1982 Grand Marquis apparently was a popular car then - and now - for criminal elements and for authors and movie makers portraying criminals.  The older vehicle reflected that whole 'land yacht' days of cheap gasoline and long road trips on low speed roads.  It was roomy, comfy  and just looked perfectly designed to haul crime friends, stolen goods or dead bodies.   Author  Giles Blunt in 2011 included such an item in his 'Crime Machine' novel featuring the fictitious character of ‎Cardinal, John.  True life criminals often were reported driving such autos as well.  Among them are the fact that  when Timothy McVeigh, was caught he was driving a beat up yellow Mercury Grand Marquis and numerous such vehicles crop up over the years, just as it did in this murder in Texas.

Older version from early 1980's (Public Domain Image)

Newer version is nice but lacks the sinister aspect of the earlier model - intentional?
(Public Domain Image)

Do such vehicles reflect certain drives (no pun intended), mindset, or motivations to meet some social expectation?  Cars are often the extension of a man's masculinity and sometimes men will equate their own 'prowess' with that of high speed engines, powerful transmissions, and unrestricted speed.  Perhaps a new field of criminal research will explore the pathology of the automobile selection by the criminally inclined.

 

Do you know of such cars used in unsolved crimes in your area of the world over the last forty years? Leave a comment with place, date range and as many details as known.

The Most Notorius Oklahoma Murder: 1920's Style

The post WWI years were wild, frenzied, and tended to flaunt social conventions in response, no doubt, to the combustion of war, the loss of life, and the shattering of a generation's illusions of innocence.

 

When a 47 year old millionaire, leader in politics at the state level and on speaking terms with a presidential candidate, dies after being shot by a woman not his wife, well heads turned.

 

 

Late in the evening of November 20, 1920, young Clara Barton Smith, who shared connecting suites with Jake L. Hamon at the Randol Hotel in Ardmore, Oklahoma, was greeted by an inebriated Hamon.  He seemed disturbed by her going out 'automobiling' with someone.  The story becomes a little murky as to details at this point, but apparently they went to the suite of rooms where the argument continued.  At one point he allegedly choked her and lifted a chair to hit her (this action seen in profile by a witness on the street below) .  A gun materialized and she either threatened to use it and it went off accidentally or she intentionally withdrew it intent on stopping her older 'companion' in mid-assault.  Which version depended on whose side a person was on in the matter.

 

Wounded in the liver, Hamon walked approximately five blocks to a nearby hospital for treatment. There he gave the statement he had been shot by Smith.  One heard him denounce the woman with a statement suggesting she had intentionally tried to kill him and others heard him say no such thing. He was on record as saying it had been accidental.

 

Local police, despite the victim's assurances that it was an accident seemed determined to hunt down the young woman and arrest her for attempted murder and then later after Hamon died, for murder. Hamon's lawyer would report in court that his client had told him to write a check for $5000 to the girl and send her away to safety.

 

Witnesses saw Hamon kiss the girl in the hospital and would testify that there seemed nothing but fondness between the two.

 

Yet, local and state law seemed abnormally determined to hunt her down as a murderess. She successfully disappeared, as instructed by the victim, and was actively tracked for nearly a month all around the country. Her luggage was confiscated and searched in Kansas City.  Leads and tips followed and dead ends exhausted.   Crack reporters from around the country swept into the state, swept out and located information the police seemed unable to find.  The woman had been in Mexico.  Soon, she was meeting with local police and lawyers to ensure a safe and protected return to the 'scene of the crime.'

 

The case, as is often the situation, brought into focus a growing trend in American society.  Relationships were often fluid and did not adhere to a previous generations more strict Victorian mores about marriage, sex, and what constituted a family.  Although married, the wife spent most of her time in Chicago and not in Ardmore.  A young son, Jake Jr. was 18 at the time of the shooting and his sister Olive Belle only 11.  Reading between the lines in some stories there was the tantalizing scent of scandal kept unacknowledged and hidden while being in plain sight.  The social clothing of the railroad emperor Hamon were distinctly see through.  Everyone 'knew' about the affair of the man with the pretty young girl he had first met when she was 17 tending shop in Ardmore.  She was his companion and secretary but he was obviously jealous of her seeing other men and shared (as they did at the Randol Hotel) adjoining rooms.

 

The scent was sometimes even fetid as it was found in 1917 she had married Frank Louis Hamon, the nephew of Jake L. Hamon, in El Paso and three months later divorcing him.  The second wife of  Frank muddied the tabloid waters when she hinted that the millionaire had paid his nephew to marry the girl and given him a monthly salary for the deed.  Frank Hamon denied she had been bribed to provide the girl with a name she could use to travel without question with the millionaire uncle.

 

In 1922, the notorious woman was acquitted of murder by a jury who had listened to a great deal of testimony.  Included was that of the widow of the dead man who said it had been an accident.  The lawyers were skilled but it does seem that the Oklahoma delegation were bull dog determined to ignore the faults of the man and create a callous killer in Smith.

 

As Oklahoma columnist Edith C. Johnson noted in an essay Smith was apparently just a young girl who had made a series of poor choices in her life.  The image emerges from Johnson's profile of vain, perhaps silly, girl who fond it easier to enjoy the pleasures her looks might bring than to safeguard her innocence and acquire a finer caliber of man. For Johnson, she might have had a good, solid man taking care of her rather than being a punching bag for an older and meaner man. Johnson's interviews with Smith apparently uncovered an elephant in the room of 1920's domestic reality.  Hamon was a controlling man with abusive tendencies ranging possibly from emotional to physical (the chair raised to hit Smith as an example).

 

In 1920, however, men were men and women were...less. Men with money, status, political connections and the ability to benefit individual and state coffers were definitely more valued than silly young women who became companion mistresses to such men. Oklahoma was on the verge of a decade to be noted by corruption, racism as the KKK took positions in government, socialism's growth in society and in every level of society power-mad deals as well as vast economic growth. The escape of the post WWI era would led to increased social problems, a frenzied focus on money, and a tendency to shake off the restrictions of the past with no idea of what to put in its place.

 

In terms of out of the state press coverage the case was definitely notorious. It was dramatic, shocking, and titillating.  In fact, there appears more detailed information on the case in the papers of other cities than in major news sources of Oklahoma City. 

 

Is it, however, the most notorious?  We will have to see about that...

 

 

 

Some sources:

Johnson, Edith C. "The Might-Have-Been In Clara Smith's Career". Oklahoman (Dec. 29, 1920)6.

Stewart, Ray. " Spectacular Murder Case Brought Swarm of Writers to State." Oklahoman (Sept.8, 1966)8.

"Hamon Death A Mystery." Los Angeles Times (Nov. 27, 1920)11.

"Girl Near Collapse." Los Angeles Times (March 16, 1921)1.

"Hamon's Widow Testifies." New York Times (March 15, 1921)6.

 

A Scream Rang Out!

July 11, 1942 a young waitress in Oklahoma City, Norma J. Cowan, ended her shift, put away her apron and decided to walk the five blocks to her home. It was clear and so she decided against a taxi and set off on foot. The restaurant was located on NE 23 and so she headed toward Broadway and cut through Winan's Park.  Broadway was a busy street, the other streets were well-lit and the only dark patch was the stretch through the park. 

 

A youth emerged from the shadows and attacked the young woman and a tense struggle ensued. She cried out gaining the attention of a security guard from the nearby Braum's plant to note the sound.  Assuming it was mere horseplay, it was not until the girl scrambled out of her attacker's grasp, hair ornaments falling away and loosing one shoe, that it sank in that someone was wrong.

 

A Oklahoma Highway Police officer James Long passed, heard the commotion, and pulled in to see what was wrong.

 

The girl hobbling away in one shoe, sobbing, bruised and afraid.

 

The onlooker still not sure what was going on.

 

The assailant screams out after the fleeing girl,, "I'll get you!"  He pulls up short as he sees the patrolman stopping and getting out of his patrol car.

 He turns. He fires.  The officer is struck in the chest and goes down. The youth sprints away.

 

Although desperately wounded, the officer returns fire with the youthful assailant who now ducks and dodges among parked cars near the plant.  The security guard now leaps into the fray and chases the youth but looses him in the dark streets.

 

The officer will be able to only briefly state events, before he is whisked away and will die later at a local hospital.   As dawn broke that morning in 1942, dozens of police and special units from local police and state law enforcement were searching for clues, witnesses, and suspects.

Eventually the search would include 38 states and several false leads but, by 1959, it remained unsolved.  The would be victim had moved away  and things had changed.  One thing remained for local officers and the family of a slain officer.  That was the mystery of just who had been responsible for the attack and the shooting.

About six months after Pearl Harbor, young men joining up or being drafted, made locating and identifying the mysterious attacker an impossible task.  Did justice catch up with him and he died on some foreign battle field or did he remain free and mobile walking the bright streets and shadowy corners of Oklahoma City?



 "A Scream in the Park Brings Murder to Trooper, Mystery to Investigators". Oklahoman (Jan. 18,1959) 13.
"Police to Quiz Three in City Park Slaying." Oklahoman (July 15, 1942)9.
"Youth Insists he shot Long Despite Record." Oklahoman (Oct. 18, 1942)5.

Ada Curnutt: A First Woman U.S. Marshall

In 1893, Ada Curnutt (or Carnutt) as a deputy U.S. Marshall for a brief time in 1893 as she arrested a couple of forgers.  Normally the District Court Clerk in Norman, when a wire came in calling for the arrest of two men no male officers were on duty, she did the job.

 

This daughter of Methodist minister had a high degree of ethics regarding the work of the law and the courts. She took the train to Oklahoma City, confronted the men in a local saloon and convinced the men and the people in the bar to recognize her authority. 

 

Ron Owens writing about it in Oklahoma Justice indicates she seemed willing to enforce all she said and that, along with many willing would-be deputies among the spectators, caused the two bad men to give in and go with her peacefully.

 

Local newspapers could not resist the temptation to note she finished her task and then went back to her favorite hobby...china painting.  It was only one of many eruptions of dynamic womanhood to emerge in Oklahoma - and around the country - as the new century loomed.

 

Soon would come Lucy Mulhall as one of the first professional 'cow girls', women in politics, and local female doctors. 

See more on U.S. Marshalls at http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/loyal_community.htm

Some Early Chinese Business Men of 1905 OKC

The city directory of Oklahoma City for 1905 lists several business men. These may not be the only ones - others may have been in the community but simply not recorded in the directory or may have been in other business fields.

 

The men all operated laundries and in a city bursting with single men, traveling business people, numerous hotels and boarding houses they no doubt did well. Laundry was a labor intensive work and not everyone could afford the new up-to-date hand crank wringers and still had to use a serious of wash tubs for cleaning and rinsing soiled clothes and bedding.  Once cleaned they had to be hung and then steam iron and folded. 

In 1905, at 230 West Second (modern Kerr) was John Chee and there is no mistake as to ethnic origins because it states after the name '(Chinese)'.  Almost center in the wildest part of town was Sam Lung at 124 1/2 W. California.  John Lee was found at 209 W. California, also just at the west edge of the notorious Hell's Half Acre.  At 306 W. Main was the establishment of Sam Fong or Sam Lee Fong or Sam Fong Lee.  All three were listed so there may have been some confusion as to his name.  Sing Lee was at 110 W. Reno and Wah Hop was at 7 N. Harvey.

 

Shortly after this period, however, governmental regulations and openness to oriental immigrants cooled and many of the Chinese in Oklahoma went back to the west coast in order to connect with communities there and to find passage back home.  Some appear to have possibly stayed in OKC but adopted a less politically volatile ethnicity by the time of the next census as similar names appear but cite Japan as their place of birth.

Some are still in Oklahoma City in 1908 and 1910 as ads for laundries and cafes can be found. Also, apparently there was a crackdown of standards of hygiene in various Chinese and Japanese restaurants ca 1910 that noted the presence of the odor of opium as well and unclean kitchen standards. Most, however, 'cleaned' up their act in response to state investigations.

 

One of the issue facing many Orientals in this time period was the issue of acculturation.  Many had come to earn money to acquire wives and property at home but became mired in social attitudes and manipulating employers in mines and railroads.  Others became westernized in dress, attitudes and skills alienating them, and in some cases violating rules laid down in China and Japan.  Many thus 'burned their bridges' to remain in America. 

Entertainments, social centers, businesses, libraries and religious houses all developed in response to the Asians in the Oklahoma City society. Unfortunately, by the 1960's when proof positive was found for the underground world of rumor-it was too late to save any of it.

Select Sources:

Urban Archaeologist, Slice
U.S. Federal Census
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma, Asians
"No Celebration Held by Chinese". Oklahoman (Feb.2, 1908)13. Noted there were 22 Chinese residents of Oklahoma City.

Urban Renewal Victim: The Buckhorn Saloon

I remember when I first learned of this thing called 'Urban Renewal' that left in its wake the slaughtered bodies of the past, that allowed what had been to be set on the wind, and overlaid the fine and historic with the smooth surface of asphalt for parking lots or high rise soulless mid century modern blocks inspired by prisons more than palaces.  It was when I first read Oklahoma history.

 

In the mid-to-late 1960's the government program misnamed Urban Renewal made possible the destruction of areas of cityscape in order to build new cityscapes.  It was a vast experiment in social engineering but it also coincided with an era seduced by the idea that the past was not something to be remembered unless it memorialized some mighty person, deed, or act.  The era of common history was only then emerging. That was a philosophy of history, archaeology, and anthropology that realized history is made by the person who was living it everyday and the rich, the well known and the lionized might not be the best expression of life in the past and that learning more about everyday life and common people might be valuable.

 

In 1968, a building was torn down to make way for the parking lots and new convention center to be known as the Myriad in Oklahoma City.  A starkly modern block building it epitomized the futuristic bent of the time period.  Old buildings, especially buildings from the wild and reckless and sometimes roguish childhood of the city could not stand in the way of Urban Renewal (insert dramatic echo here).

 

The Buckhorn Saloon, Sheridan and Santa Fe (now Gaylord), was one such building.  It was recognized as probably the first stone constructed building of the new city after the 1889 land run birth.  While all around were still the flapping tents and wood buildings, this one rose up and took a solid stand hinting at a future of similar construction.  Sheridan had been known first as Clark and then Grand Ave. before it became Sheridan.  Santa Fe had been Front, Santa Fe and then most recently Gaylord.

 

The problem was that the earliest buildings of the new city were often ones used for drinking, gambling, 'socializing', and similar rough entertainments. The early hotels were usually simple wooden structures or resembled Victorian homes.  The first 'grand' hotel was the Lee Hotel and it would be several years before the Skirvin was built as a competitor.

 

At 1972 meeting of the city Historical Preservation Commission, former mayor George Shirk said plans were made to remove the historic plaques from the razed buildings (placed there in the 1930's by the '89'ers', survivors of the original run) and set them in the sidewalks around the Myriad as a memorial and reminder. He said the building memorial should say: "On this corner was located one of the city's first permanent buildings. Erected in 1890, until statehood it housed many saloons and gambling houses of which one of the most famous was The Buckhorn." (Oklahoman, June 2, 1972, pg. 20).  Did this ever happen? 

According to contacts, the location of the markers have been identified. According to the fine people at the Visit OKC Office, the markers are located in Bicentennial Park (500 Couch Drive) in front of the Civic Center Music Hall. If you are standing on the steps of the Music Hall looking towards the park, they are on the right hand side about halfway down. All the monuments from bicentennial park are there and they include some of the history of OKC.  As this map shows, it is quite a distance from the building sites of old Hell's Half Acre. On foot from the old Santa Fe Depot and the current Amtrack depot it is about .7 miles or a brisk walk of about 15 minutes.

 

In the earliest newspaper and reports of the new city established at the location of the old 'Oklahoma Station' and settled by Land Run in 1889, there was the chorus of progress! Like a child rushing to those magical 'teenage' years or adulthood, OKC was not content to merely grow. It felt it had to 'catch up' to be just as grand, prosperous, cultured, and civilized as any city of substance in the country.  Instead of savoring its history, coming to appreciate what those old buildings meant, it sought to replace them with status symbols reflecting their personal and communal successes in ways competitive with Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, New York or San Francisco.  The struggles of the Dust Bowl no doubt compounded these feelings and by the 1960's OKC would claim its frontier heritage but only through the rough and distorted lens of cinema and television portrayals. When it was popular to remember the wild old days then OKC added stereotype representations of the old west in jails, saloons, and outhouses in its 'Frontier City' (these are now gone being replaced by a modern and wonderful theme amusement park), artificial cowboys, and plastic badges recalling the U.S. Marshalls who once rode the streets keeping peace.  Caricature understandings of early day OKC might imagine it as wooden sidewalks and false front stores (ala the movies) but solid wooden and stone buildings were rapidly laid out along wide streets with cement walk ways.  If wood came on the first trains to the new town...crystal lights, fine drapes and polished woods came next.  An early history of the community remarked OKC was "born grown".  In truth it was born as a rough teen who had to have some wild oats sown and get some splintered edges worn smooth.

 

History is remembering everything...not just the parts that make us look or feel good. That is what makes it so very fascinating.

 

[I am exploring, with some partners, the possibility of doing some historic tours of downtown OKC in the coming year.  Haunted By History Tours will hope to offer stories of those rowdy days and later even some haunted tours.]

Where 'Hell's Half Acre' stood the current Cox Business Center now sits (Corner of Sheridan and Gaylord)

Updated "Tales of Hell's Half Acre" Coming Soon!

This work will be reissued soon with more stories and more maps for use with guided tours or individual walking tours.  The buildings may be gone, the streets are hidden under other names....but the stories remain.  Look for this soon!

Gothic Sanctuary Tours - Wesley UMC, OKC

During the Ruth Haddon Fine Arts Festival (Nov.2-3) there will be tours at:

Sat. Nov. 2 at 11 a.m., 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 3 at 12:20 and 1:30 and 2:00 p.m.

Guests can tour the booths for paintings, sculptures, jewelry, and other fine art gift ideas and then take one of the tours scheduled.

 

Then, a few weeks later, right before the OKC Tellabration event at Wesley UMC there will be another opportunity.

 

"I will be doing tours from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. and then right after that will be the storytelling concert at 6 p.m." Notes local author and storyteller, Marilyn A. Hudson.  "Tickets for the great evening of storytelling are only $10 per person and will be available at the door."  The proceeds from that evening go to support the historic preservation of the lovely 1928 English Gothic Sanctuary.

Cameras are welcome. It is free to attend and donations will be accepted for historic preservation.

Questions?  Contact marilynahudson@yahoo.com

The Arlington in Oklahoma City

In 1903 an ad ran in the local Oklahoma City newspaper for 'The Arlington'.  It boasted a telephone exchange (131) and 'modern conveniences'  and 'furnished rooms' where 'transients were welcome'.  The establishment was managed by Mrs. M. McDonald and was located at 507 W. 2nd. (Oklahoman, Feb.16, 1903, pg.6)

 

Just a few years later, in 1908 it was identified clearly as belonging to notorious local madam, Big Anne.  Arrested when it was shut down in February of that year were: Big Anne Baily, her husband James Bailey, Mary McDonald, Agnes Taylor, Etta Carl (who may have been known by the name Etta Woods), Rose Jones, Marie Hayes, Beulah Penny, Pearl Stone and Jimmie Stone. (Oklahoman, Feb. 6, 1908, pg. 9).

 

Today this site is covered by a parking lot at the corner of Robert S. Kerr and Hudson Ave. (Progressive Parking) in Oklahoma City.  It is just north of the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Human Occupation Older Than We Thought

Recently a newsfeed article proclaimed that evidence had been found that pushed back human occupation beyond the standard 10,000-12,000 years noted in most textbooks.  I wanted to comment, old news, but

decided to be nice.

South America, which you  might assume, using the Beran Strait model would have been settled last, has some occupation sites going back past 40,000 (one even thought to date to 80,000).

North American sites, in Alaska, Pacific NW and California shore, have regularly produced 10,000-11,000 dates, with a few being redated via new testing to as much as 16,000.  But if they came over the strait and then trickled down into central and south America....shouldn't these sites be older?

What some have theorized for decades is finally being accepted my mainstream science and that is that there was no single migration that populated the Americas.  Instead, there were waves of migration that brought people to the Americas.

There was not one route via the Strait, but many stopping off places as migrating people using very efficient craft followed the coast lines southward.  Instead evidence of this has been found in South America with a pottery made precisely the way a pottery was made in ancient northern Japan.

Other evidence showing there was a more common south to north migration is found in the early mound building cultures of the American southeast (from Oklahoma to Georgia and Illnois to Alabama).  The art, artifacts, and construction of these community centers show clear links to Meso-America.

QUICK OKLAHOMA HALLOWEEN HISTORY

HALLOWEEN: OKLAHOMA TRICKS-N-TREATS 1900-1989.  

This fun little book shares the history of some ways Halloween was celebrated in Oklahoma between 1900 and 1989.  It looks at some of the influences that made the season sinister, safe, and sometimes silly.

Authored by Marilyn A. Hudson it will be of interest to any who enjoy their holidays with a dash of local history.

Now availale in Kindle format as well.  (ISBN: 0615711111 / 9780615711119)

The Vanishing Hitchhiker Tradition

The  young man picks up a young lady walking along a lonely stretch of road and offers to take her home. The strangely silent young lady in a pale dress joins the young man in the vehicle and as they journey down the darkening road....the girl suddenly and silently disappears.

This is a version of this familar 'vanishing hitchhiker' tale made popular in the 1920's in Chicago.  Yet, this truncated version was one collected in the south shortly after the Civil War. Washington Irvings'  1824 The Lady with the Velvet Collar is considered another early literary source of the tale type. Some also see the NT story of Philip disappearing after baptising the Ethiopian as a prototype of the same story form. The more familiar form of the story came to national attention with an academic survey and a version of the story on national radio and entertainment outlets in the early 1940's.

In the 1960's and 70's, as everyone was seeking enlightenment through chemical or spiritual means, a new version of the legend cropped up around the US (and elsewhere).  The silent rider was replaced by one who spoke of dire future events, the need for immediate spiritual life changes, or who predicted some local situation.  Few, if any of these prophecies ever panned out, with perhaps the exception of one who seemed to warn about the eruption of Mt. St. Helen's....but the signs, as they say, were everywhere on that one.

Going back far enough and surveying enough cultures and their tales reveals the motif is present into ancient days. They are often buried under layers of cultural elements, political paint, and religious wrappings but they are there.

(See http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/vanish.asp; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_hitchhiker;http://www.prairieghosts.com/hwy365.html )

Dust, Depression, and Dispair: 1930's

Shack Home, May Ave Camp, OKC, 1939

"Hoovervilles", Sandtowns, Shantytowns...were all names for mini communities of the homeless, jobless, and sometimes hopeless in the 1930's.  In OKC, there was the May Ave Camp, south of the Canadian River. It is generally located as between Pennsylvanis and Byers and May Ave and SW 15th.  In 1935, most reports stated 2,000 men, women, and children were living atop the old city dump eeking out an existence.

There were other camps along the North Canadian River in Oklahoma City, but the one at May and Pennsylvania, was a larger camp . OKC had been unique in organizing formal mini-towns to deal with the depressions displaced workers. Images captured the heartache and suffering of people of all ages and walks of life.

 Elm Grove was such a community established to address the needs of the homeless in a organized manner, including a school but by end of the decade, the attitude had changed.  Some feared the camps might attracted transients with no desire or intent to work and simply support them to the detrament of the city.  The camps were a haunting reminder of hard times well into the early 1950's.

As the early 1930's progressed, the economic depression due to the stock market crash of 1929 was compounded by years of deadly drought that unbalanced the agriculture in ways the stock market could not.

Until as late as the 1980's, some of that area still went by the monikers designating these Community Camps. Especially the area known as Sandtown, Mulligan's Flats, or more oftrn as simply 'the Flats'.  Later, there was one camp near the current Farmer's Market and one further south near the meat packing/stockyards region.

A dump area was along the river on both banks stretching from Villa/Agne all the way past Portland. A lot of this area was simply wide open empty land. After the camps emptied, some were cleared in the 1970's and street expansion took place.  In other areas a more formal dump was in place in the mid century. A large section of the extension of SW 15th went right over the old camp and dump site.  Workers claim everytime there is blade or dirt work done in the are old metal and broken glass come to the surface (near 1-40 and 1-44 near the river.

Much about the life in these camps was captured by photographer Russell Lee in stark and vivid images of life for people whose only choice was the camp.

Periodically, even OKC was touched by the dust storms as well....





Great images and information can be found here ----
http://www.edmondschools.net/Portals/2/docs/SocStudies/OppelG/Oklahoma%20Hooverville.pdf
http://www.lizcollinshistoryclasses.com/depression-the-new-deal--hope-in-new-mexico.html
http://www.whatwasthere.com/browse.aspx#!/ll/35.4569690006711,-97.5662201281525/id/41563/info/details/zoom/14/

LOC at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsa/8b22000/8b22400/8b22463r.jpg

The Woman in White Motif

It is only a matter of weeks until it is Halloween. Here is a discussion to begin to set the mood for that fun autumn holiday.  It is a time for horror marathons, trick or treat events, and dress up.  It is also a time for storyelling (folk, historic, or urban tales).

Some tales are merely that - tales.  They have no true paranormal aspect to them, other than the ability to live forever as each new generation comes of age and the tale is retold.  One of the most prevalent themes in all of paranormal research and literature is the 'lady in white', 'the woman in white', and other similar descriptors.

Wilkie Collins in 1859 published what is considered to the the first mystery novel, The Woman in White.  It ranks as an  important book for that reason, along with the 1764 The Castle of Otranto, considered by many as the first Gothic horror novel.  Both are quick reads and full of the language and values of their respective time periods. They set the stage for decades of  high literary and popular strangeness.  

He no doubt drew inspiration from tales through out the British Isles of such women dating from medieval times.  The Irish Banshee may be a version that dates further back and reflect an older tradition still.  Other tales and legend of sightings of ghosts can easily fall into the category of this classic woman in white tale and include often a women wronged or harmed who restlessly wanders around in perpetual grief or remorse

Hispanic cultures may reflect the motif in their weeping mother or similar tales associated with the violation of innocence.  The La Llorna story pool with its versions of the woman who kills her children to join  a younger lover (harlot motif) and the mother whose children are robbed from her (the saint) may reflect the dichotomy of woman in a patriarchal society.  Although she is sometimes seen and reported as more sound than body, some legends suggest a pale waxen creature mourning and searching.

The famed "resurrection Mary' version from Chicago, and its many locale variants, may be inspired by ancient tales, Collins ,or be a manifestation of some ofter process at work in society.  The resurrection Mary story emerged at a time when young ladies were first gaining freedom to go out without chaperons and in wild automobiles to dance to hot music and drink cold liqueur.  There may be a tinge of a morality tale created to keep them 'down on the farm'.  She is often reported in a white dress, although some versions in Chicago and elsewhere will have the girl in a blue or red dress.  These, however, appear as mere attempts to separate their particular and regional version from the older Chicago story.

One local version of this woman in white motif in Oklahoma is set near Conners College, near Warner, Oklahoma.    There is supposedly (I have not verified any of this in the tradition of sharing a good story....) a College road that runs past the institution and passes a cemetery.  There, a 'white woman' has been seen by generations of people....

The informant told me the story "has been told for many years."

Marilyn A. Hudson, Historian and Storyteller....

Roosevelt School OKC

"No man is happy if he does not work. Of all miserable creatures the idler, in whatever rank of society, is in the long run the most miserable." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1903 speech to the YMCA in Topeka, Kansas.  

The carved engraved stones on this school built as a memorial to the Rough Rider President, retains a silent message about the ethics and values that helped shape American society in Oklahoma City.  These ideals were chiseled into the lives of students and community as deeply as into the stone of these markers.  The question is what replaced them and were they of study stuff or easily eroded materials that lost their stamina?

Gymnasium entrance
"We have in our scheme of government no room for the man who does not wish to pay his way through life by what he does for himself and for the community. If 




he has leisure which makes it unnecessary for him to devote his time to earning his daily bread, then all the more he is bound to work just as hard in some way that will make the community the better off for his existence. If he fails in that, he fails to justify his existence. Work, the capacity for work, is absolutely necessary; and no man s life is full, no man can be said to live in the true sense of the word, if he does not work. This is necessary, and yet it is not enough. 

If a man is utterly selfish, if utterly disregardful of the rights of others, if he has no ideals, if he works simply for the sake of ministering to his own base passions, if he works simply to gratify himself, small is his good in the community. I think even then he is probably better off than if he is an idler, but he is of no real use unless together with the quality which enables him to work he has the quality which enables him to love his fellows, to work with them and for them for the common good of all."

NW corner

Jefferson School OKC - NW 23 and Western

This site was closed by 1956 and housed some district offices and then sold.

Interesting links so far -

http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2012/02/oklahoma-city-circa-1967.html

Mystery Locale: Can You Identify? -UPDATED

I have been contacted to help identify a location. All the person has is a photo from about  1950 the building reads "Libbey Hall" and "Children's Home".   The children are brother and sister and your help would be appreciated.  Leave a comment if you have information.

 "My brothers and I were in a children's home in Oklahoma between 1949-1952.  Can you confirm if we were at St. Joseph's.  Wesley John Stevens; Sharon Lynn Stevens, Edward Price Stevens.  The two older children would have been there in 1949; the youngest would have joined us in Jan 1952.  Attached is a picture of the two older children on the steps of what I've always believed to be the home.  I have checked with the Baptist's Childrens home and they have no record of us."

We have a message from the woman who had the photos saving she had identified the location. It is the  "Methodist Children's Home" est. in 1927 in Newton, KS.  It associated with two new works which grow out of that early facility. One is Ember Hope and another reader informed us that the Children's Home , in 1960, become Methodist Youthville.

Youthville is a large service helping children and families. Libby Hall (pictured above) was constructed in 1929.

Back To School - Roosevelt School

MAH/13

"Each man must work for himself and unless he so works no outside help can avail him." Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1904, Roughrider Teddy Roosevelt whirled into Oklahoma City stirring people with memories of the rough and ready 'old days'. His stirring and dramatic visit stamped an impression on local leaders who appauded his ideals of vigorous manhood.  His no nonsense attitude, can do spirit and stirring thoughts about the decided politics also had an appeal. Many sided with this former NYC Police Chief, leader of the Rough Riders and soon to be President of the United States.  All in all he was man particularly able to connect with the people who were creating the place called "Oklahoma." His character reflected what many saw as their own recent heritage and what they saw was needed to continue to move forward in positive ways as a new state.

When he died in 1919 there was great mourning and the state rallied to contribute to a great memorial.   Like many places they decided to name a school for the man. So, in 1925 the school opened.

The photo shows one of the engraved inspirational and motivational quotes on the current OKC Schools Administration Building. The building, the old Roosevelt, is located on Klein Street. It was thought by many people queried to date from 1920 but newspaper articles indicate the cornerstone was placed with solemn Masonic ritual (and time out from classes for all city students) in 1924.   It became the administration building in 1955 according to one source and ,by 1956, there was even talk of creating a school museum on one of the floors. Authorities hoped to adopt a "workshop museum" and art center for the district. Superintendent Swanson envisioned a facility patterned after the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  The plan was dependent on the sale of Jefferson School at NW 23 and Western.  Some district offices were housed there and would be transferred to the Administration building and money, space and conflicting programs might hamper the idea.  There already existed an Inverness-Boyd Musuem and Institute of Art (at old Central High School) operated by the schools at 822 N. Harvey.  Big plans but lack of follow through may have been a problem for the district. News article noted a planetarium bought by the school board the year before was still in storage due to there not being a suitable place to place it and it could be located whereever the museum settled.

OKCPS

Only a few of the historic old schools still survive in OKC to record the academic journeys of early citizens. Some are indexed here.    See an earlier article on Eugene Field here. For more on early day schools see this entry.

"Roosevelt will be honored by School.: Oklahoman (Oct. 25, 1926)2.
"School Corners Laid." Oklahoman (June 24, 1924)3.
"School Museum Considered." Oklahoman (June 7, 1956)32.
"School Library will Start Move Today." Oklahoman (Feb.7, 1957)37.
Wood, Don A. "Central Campus Encompasses Seven Buildings by 1950s." Sooner Spirit (vo.24 #2; Summer 2006 )pg. 6.

Overholser Mansion Mystery

In 2011 after a special program of haunted stories at the Overholser Mansion in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with storyteller Marilyn A. Hudson, some guests lingered visiting.  At the bottom of this staircase a visitor snapped a photo to catch the stained glass window and sweep of the stairs.  To her surprise the pillar of light and the faint swish of pale movement was caught. She snapped another photo right after and it was not there.  

She shared the image with me and I have been unable to explain it. I was there, I saw it happen and do not think the woman attempted to hoax in any manner whatsoever (she shared the image with me even!).   This is a staircase and a house with many experiences that suggest the family that had so loved this house may have lingered on.

JS2011/Mystorical 2013

Historic Reports Solve Many Mysteries

In researching early Oklahoma City questions arise and some reports help to clarify many questions.

What and where is "Military Park"?

What are the "Gatewood" and University" Additions?

What is "Mesta Park?"

Some maps are included in this report.

What is the design and plan for the "Asian district"?

MILK BOTTLE BUILDING: Booze, Hats, and Chicken

The "Milk Bottle Building" of Oklahoma City sits along old Route 66 on Classen, just north of NW 23rd. It is another feature along the forgotten loop of the "Mother Road" through Oklahoma City. It is a unique treasure as evidenced by the application for the national registry.

Oklahoman reporter Kent Ruth wrote that the triangular building was built  as a grocery store about 1925.  His source was A.E. Warren and was built by John J. Gordon. His source further claimed it had been a bootleg liquer store in the rowdy 1930's (Ruth, Kent. "Historical crooks, crannies." Oklahoman, Feb. 10, 1974, pg. 160). Ruth later heard from a long time resident who shared the building had been built in 1920-21 for Steffen ice cream. (Ruth, Kent. "Classen history inspires memories", Oklahoman, Aug.10, 1980, pg. 177).

The uniquely shaped structure of the bottle was designed by Arthur D. Nichols in 1932. The Oklahoma A & M engineering alum wass then working for the Boardman Company.  The sketch was transformed by metal worker Rudolph  Stavanuagh and another worker who built the metal frame and applied the sheet metal. Joe Flynm was the one to actually place the bottle in its location. ("Hatter Had Shop Under Milk Bottle," Oklahoman, April 7, 1997, pg. 71).

The Bottle as Business

Mary Ann French said her father ran a hat shop there from 1930 to 1935. Frank Gallatin cleaned and built men's headwear before moving downtown to operate the Empire Hat Co. ("Hatter Had Shop Under Milk Bottle," Oklahoman, April 7, 1997, pg. 71).

Oklahoman columnist Robert E. Lee reported one of his reader had information about it from a decade later. Gayle Pierce said it was a "Flying Chicken" resturant that used the unique concept of delivering fried chicken by motorcycle during 1945-1947.( Lee, Robert E. "Milk Bottle Building Once Houses 'Flying Chicken', Oklahoman, Sept. 15, 1997, pg.70).

In 1951 the unique structure caused a bit of head scratching as authorities comtemplated widening the Classen street but found the building in the path.  Reluctant to destroy the feature a plan to swap the land for other park land and even moving the structure was considered.  The slight jog on Classen is the result. ("Milk Bottle Raises Classen Problem", Oklahoman, Aug. 29, 1951, pg. 6).

For years the log on the bottle promoted a now discontinued company, The Townley Milk Company, and was replaced by Oklahoman based Braums Dairy. 

In 1993 the historic building and its iconic symbol barely missed destruction from fire.  Now housing a deli Hop Ky, operated by Sang Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant.  The area, now in a growing Asian district, was reflected in this new multi-cultural element. The article noted the building had been a grocery, a record store, the Beer Box, a florist, and a take out resturant (Owen, Peggy. "Landmark Milk Bottle Building Survives Fire, Repairs to Start", Oklahoman, April 25, 1993, pg. 11)

(A previous entry looked at some of the other interesting sights along this loop of OKC's Route 66 at http://mystorical.blogspot.com/2013/06/historic-route-66-in-oklahoma-city.html )

ROUTE 66: The Forgotten Loop in OKC

Historic Route 66 - where you can get your 'kicks' according to an old pop song, is commonly known for the major points along its route from Chicago to Los Angeles. Usually those points are known because of that popular song and just as it says, Oklahoma City is very pretty and in the days of the major use of Route  66 (pre Interstate) travelers would have passed by Wesley United Methodist Church.  The light shining through its stained glass windows in the evening just might have been what was in mind when the city was declared to be pretty.  This small loop in and around the area of NW 23rd and Classen Blvd. is a largely overlooked source of history in relation to the "Mother Road." (A previous entry looked at some of the other interesting sights at  http://mystorical.blogspot.com/2013/06/historic-route-66-in-oklahoma-city.html )

Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the home of Mrs. A.H. Tyler, 1220 NW 29th, on November 10, 1910. In the meeting were the first 28 charter members of the nascent church.  The first pastor was the Rev. F.A. Colwell appointed by Bishop Quayle of the Oklahoma Methodist Episcopal Conference.

The first church location was a simple structure with a sawdust covered floor.  The "Tabernacle", as it was then called, was located at 32nd and Military (32′ x 70′ ). The 1910 Journal of Methodist Episcopal Church, newspapers, and other documents indicate the Conference held at Alva, Oklahoma assigned the first pastor.  In October of 1910,  Frank A. Colwell as appointed pastor and  D. G. Murray was District Superintendent of this district.

In 1911, the congregation moved to NW 25th and Classen and in 1928 dedicated the lovely Gothic sanctuary with its large organ and many stained glass windows. A triangle of land in front of the church was deeded and developed by early Oklahoma pioneer business leader, Anton H. Classen and his wife.  In 1939, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal, South and the Methodist Protest Church formed a union to become the Methodist Church.  In 1968, the Methodist Church allied with the Evangelical and United Brethern churches to form the new United Methodist Church.

One time mayor of Oklahoma City, Jack S. Wilkes (April 9, 1963 - May 3, 1964)  had served as President of Oklahoma City University from 1957 to 1963. After that, for a year he served as pastor of Wesley Methodist Church. 

"Wilkes ran for Mayor with the backing of the Association for Responsible Government (ARG), an organization promoting efficiency and integrity in City government.  The election was dominated by concerns about metropolitan planning, Urban Renewal and the retention of the Mayor-Council-Manager form of government....During Mayor Wilkes’ time in office, City government became more centralized and citizens passed a sales tax to buttress the City’s finances.   The City’s Airport Trust received a large grant for improvements at Will Rogers World Airport and over $317 million was committed toward City growth.  The City also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Land Run in 1964.  Mayor Wilkes resigned in May of 1964 to become President of Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana." (City of Oklahoma City)

Today, the church is nestled in an area poised to experience a rennaissance in business, residences, and community.  A newly identified "Asian District" highlights the presence and contributions of Asians in Oklahoma City and the Paseo Art District.  Nearby are several historic residential areas: Edgemere and Crown Heights, Gatewood, Military Park, Mesta Park, Heritage Hills.  

Just a block west of Wesley is Oklahoma City University and the two have enjoyed a close relationship since the school relocated to Oklahoma City in 1919 from Guthrie.  The music department at OCU and the music program at Wesley have enjoined a special relationship as Deans of that department and faculty there have frequently served as Music director for Wesley.  The worship arts of music, choir, organ, drama, and speech have been enriched by this tie and Wesley was often viewed as a 'university church.'

Anyone traveling the old road in the heyday of the route would have passed this church, seen it's windows, and probably heard its organ or choir singing.  Yes, Oklahoma City was indeed very pretty....on Route 66.

Boy Scouts in OKC: Some History

"On my honor I promise that I will do my best..."

In 1909 possibly the first Oklahoma scout troop was formed in Pawhuska. The Oklahoma City Division of the Boy Scouts of America started in early summer of 1910. The first and oldest Troop 1 was at an event at St.John's Methodist Episcopal Church (Oldest Troop Reviews History, Oklahoman, 11 June 1934, pg. 4). In 1912, newspapers meentioned troops in Claremore, Vinita, Bartlesville, Broken Arrow, Skiatook, Nowata, Okmulgee, Pawhuska, Guthrie, Wagoner among "many others." ("Boy Scouts Now are at Claremore", Oklahoman, Aug.27, 1912, pg.2).   

Troop growth appears to have plateued until the start of WW1 when a new interest developed. 

Troop #8 met at Wesley Church in 1918 as they launched plans for an agricultural garden ("Boys Want Disc for War Garden Work", Oklahoman, March 15, 1918, pg. 8). By war's end and early 1920's new troops were once more developing.

At one point, the local OKC paper carried a column of BSA news in and around the city and state. In 1920, Oklahoma City scouts Fontaine Freeman and T.T. Johnson Jr. attended a global "Jamboree" in England and France.("City Scouts on Way Home from England", Oklahoman, Aug. 25, 1920, pg.1).

On June 7,1933. Wesley Methodist records indicated Scouting committe leaders of Mr. Mathis, Clyde Reneau, H. J. Scott and L. J. Holt, that 32 boys had reported for Troop 23 meeting at Wesley Methodist Church. 

A directory from this church for the years 1935-1936, indicates the troop committee was comprised of J.A. Slater, Joe Barker, Harold D. Clark, J.D. Adam and E.B. Scott. Scoutmaster was Aiden E. Allen, assistant Scoutmaster was Art Sumstine, Jr. Assistant Bill Hunter, Troop Instructor was Adrian Hunter and Senior Patrol leader was Lawrence Holt. The Patrols and their leaders were the "Panther" and James McNulty; "Lion" with Robert Coffey; "Flying Eagle" under Thornton Chamberlain; "Comanche" under leadership of Marvin Chapman. This information indicates that the BSA were much alive during the depression.

During the 1940's-1980's nearly every school and church sponsored some form of scouts - Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts or both. Along the way girls organized and alternative youth groups formed but the Boy Scouts emerged at a time when many feared young boys would lose the skills that had helped people survive as urban life took over, lose the inner compass ingrained in earlier generations, and lose the sense of honor and ethics gained from personal struggle and achievement. 

Generations of youth gained positive outlets for abounding energy, gained direction in personal discipline and accomplishment, learned new skills, and the value of helping others. For over a century....they have achieved personal merit, aided their communities, and provided youth with skills to be people of integrity and honor.

The Classen Corridor: Just beyond Route 66, Kamps Court

In Oklahoma City, along the broad Classen Blvd. north and south of the juncture of NW 23rd and Classen are many historical gems. They hark back to days when this area was 'out in the country' and on the edge of the growing community.  They remind of heady expansion and opportunity and growth: all things well worth remembering as a new century dawns and continued renewal and rebirth occurs in its rediscovered neighborhoods and business districts.  They are examples of small businesses that succeeded and contributed to the development of the capitol city of Oklahoma.

Kamp's Grocery and Kamp's Courts - In 1910 two German immigrants discovered what was then the outskirts of Oklahoma City and settled down to establish business. Kamp Brothers Grocery at NW 25th and Classen Boulevard was well known for top quality groceries, deli, breads, and service.

In 1928, the  business name was used  in ads appearin local newspapers.  The image of the cute apartments solicited a short ride to see the area.  The urged people to come discover the cozy but green living space where every one had their own garden.   "Kamp Courtyard" advertized they were  bringing a new style of living along NW 25.    They actually purchased the land from Wesley Methodist who were using a building there for "overflow" classes and events.

More recently, the business transformed.  The original Kamp's moved to Bill Kamp's Meat Market at 7310 N. Western over 12 years ago and state "we are still going strong after 103 years."   The Cafe is not related to Bill Kamp who is the third generation of butchers, continuing the same business at a different location. The Midtown ("Kamps1910 Cafe."; 10 N.E. 10th ) is not related.  A new business featuring Peruvian food is now there at the corner of Classen and NW 25th.

Yet, the history lingers on along the corridor, hinting at a past worth preserving and remembering.

Mystery and Money

It is the eternal connection and cause of crime - money. The love of it, the shortage of it, and desire for more of it has been the spark causing trouble and discord since it was invented.  Attempts at social programs designed to equailize access to it and the things it provides are often as riddled with corruption as the piece of Swiss cheese in the fridge for lunch is filled with holes. There is an often seen problem of the inability to use the money of others with sanity and efficiency found in local, state, and federal government offices and agencies.  The government, on any level, does not have any money of its own (it does not produce) but rather is dependent on the money (taxes, fees) placed on the citizens (producers).   As a result, some of the most absurd waste occurs in and through government agencies.

People were aghast in the 1970's and 1980's when government excess, overspending, and bad business practices were uncovered.  The government, which has no money of its own, was spending over $600 dollars for toilet seats!  The history and track record of such poor business management and purchasing practices can be traced throughout school districts, government offices, and federal programs over decades.

"Community Action Program" (CAP) was a part of the Johnson era 'war on poverty' program.  In the 1970's and early 1980's one program rented space in an empty wing of a local building.  They transferred to a 'new building' in an old school building and when they left - they left.  The rental space contained metal desks, chairs, filing cabinets, various office furnishings, equipment and supplies.  The file cabinets were still full of records, resources, names and addresses.  There were files packed with 'plays' about the need for revolution, the need for programs to help addicts by supplying drugs instead of criminalizing them and celebrations of the ability to have free love and safe abortions.

 They were getting 'new' furnishings in the new location.  Boxes of pencils, pens, paper, paperclips, staples, staplers, and typing/copy paper was simply left behind to be replaced by brand new supplies.  Chairs, desks, tables, lamps, electronic pencil sharpeners, file cabinets, trash cans, clocks, and other items were simply left to be replaced by new items in the new location.  Who paid for this collossel waste and abuse of publicaly supplied funding?  

Take a look in the mirror.  The mystery here is one of continued lack of oversight (apparently the government oversight agence catching the military overspending in the 1980's never looked into other domestic agencies).   As one of those hired by the building owners, I saw this all first hand, as we cleaned and got ride of the extra 'stuff' the renters left behind.  So, stay cautious when you hear some government agencies talk about how efficiently they use their budgets, how cost conscience they are.  Waste is easy when it is someone else's dollar and conservation near impossible.  The mystery is why we so often continue to allow such abuses to go on without more accountibility.