November 5, 2006

(This article is taken directly from the pages of the 1991 Leader-News supplement created for the WW II Classes Reunion held that year. Most of the articles in the supplement, including this one (minus a few paragraphs for brevity) were written by Bettye Kate Smith, local historian.)

"The old high school, referred to by earlier students as the ‘Alamo’ was constructed in 1924-1925, and was in fact patterned after the original Alamo, as is evidenced in pictures shown. The arches, or domes on the roof, were leveled off in later years and the resemblance was no longer there, which would account for many people who never saw it in its original form to wonder at the reference to the building as the ‘Alamo’.

"The ‘new’ high school consisted of two stories and a basement. The second story had only two areas. One was the ‘study hall’ which was also the school library. This room was also to be known as the detention hall, or the ‘can’ as students called it, where students spent time for all sorts of offenses, from being tardy to cutting classes. If a school year was ended with days still owing to be spent in the ‘can’, the student had to take two ‘licks’ for each day left over. Needless to say, there were some pretty good kids toward the end of the school year!

"The large auditorium was the other area in the upstairs portion of the building. It sloped downward to a stage, and was the largest place in town for a crowd to gather. There were dressing rooms at either side of the stage, and a fire escape that led off the west dressing room. A grand piano that sat at the base of the stage was the pride and joy of the school. The auditorium seated up to 350 people and was often used by the townspeople for community activities, such as Christmas programs, transit magicians and other vaudeville performers.

"The basement was the school gym, with the roof sloping, due to the auditorium floor sloping above it. This wasn’t a deterrent to the Littlefield Wildcats, as they had learned to adjust their play to the sloping ceiling. In fact, it was a home-team advantage as the visiting teams always made high shots which were deflected down to an alert and waiting Littlefield player who knew this was bound to happen.

"The gym had bleachers the length of the basketball court, and even had dressing rooms. However, the dressing rooms shared duty with the ever-necessary boiler room, which was housed in the basement, too.

"The ground floor boasted of not only having ample classrooms, it had a science lab and a home economics room, complete with a dining room, in order for the home economics girls to learn the proper way of setting tables and serving. This dining room was often used faculty affairs, too.

"The Board of Trustees (never referred to as the School Board until many years later) at the beginning of the 1925 school term were: F. A. Butler, A. P. Duggan, W. O. Gray, W. G. Street, E. G. Courtney, Pat H. Boone, G. A. Staggers and C. W. Toews.

"The only reference available for the first school year in the high school in 1925 is a copy of that class’s annual. It lists 58 Seniors, 35 Juniors, 58 Sophomores, and 81 Freshmen, for a total high school enrollment of 192 students. Another source listed only 125 high school students; however, the students are listed by name in the school book, so this would appear to be the more reliable source.

"These students didn’t have to resort to ‘cloak rooms’ to store their belongings, as they had their own private lockers.

"All in all, the Littlefield High School was considered one of the most impressive schools in the area. Along with the other two brick buildings, Littlefield now had a school system any town would have been proud of.

"R. L. Speight was the first superintendent in 1925 and served for a whopping salary of $2,500 a year.

"Edward D. Parnell was the principal, and as all teachers and school officials did, he held classes in addition to his other duties. Mr. Parnell was both the agriculture and the science teacher.

"There were four other faculty members: Miss Mildred Street, who taught Spanish; Mr. Garland Lewis, who not only coached all boys’ sports but also presided over math classes. Mrs. Clayborn Harvey was English teacher, and Mrs. Patsy Levely Brittian (she still resides in Littlefield) was home economics and history teacher. There are two annuals known to still be in existence, one for the year 1925 and one for 1926. They were called ‘El Campito’ which means ‘The Little Camp’, and is an obvious ‘play on words’ meaning ‘Littlefield’ in Spanish. Somewhat of a mystery is that the 1925 annual is listed as Volume II. However, the foreword in this book reads, as follows: (First paragraph) ‘We, the senior class of ’25, in presenting Volume two of the El Campito, hope that you will accept it with sincere appreciation.’ (Second paragraph, and the capitalization is mine) THIS IS OUR FIRST ATTEMPT IN PUBLISHING AN ANNUAL, and it is our heart’s desire that the class of ’26 will surpass our limited efforts, and produce a publication superior to the present edition.’ The mystery is that no one, including Patsy Levely Brittian, knows of there ever having been a ‘first edition’, nor any previous annual, other than the one 1925 book that is being referred to.

"Male chauvinism prevailed during 1925, but not in 1926, since it is known that Littlefield had girls’ basketball and volley ball teams and even tennis prior to 1925. However, no mention is made of them in the 1925 annual, nor are there pictures shown. There is a section devoted to girls’ sports in 1926 along with pictures. The tennis team is even shown in this annual.

"The wildcat as a mascot had evidently been chosen years before, as had the colors, maroon and white. Both the 1925 and 1926 annuals have a wildcat head embossed on them.

"The 1925 annual devotes quite a lot of space to athletics. Some of the teams played in football were Lockney, Idalou, Muleshoe, the Lubbock Westerners, Slaton, Lorenzo and Plainview.

"In basketball, opponents were Sudan, Olton, Plainview, Muleshoe, Wayland College, Petersburg and Wilson.

"Littlefield fielded baseball and track and field teams, although the opponents weren’t listed, and only pictures of the Wildcats in uniform are shown.

"One of the traditions that was passed down until after the class of 1941 were school plays, most especially a junior and a senior play. It appeared to be customary for area schools to ‘take’ their plays to surrounding towns, and the other towns would in turn bring their productions to Littlefield. It is thought the discontinuation of class plays has been a loss in may ways, one of them is in providing talent for local ‘little theatre’ groups, and another more obvious reason is in giving students confidence in speaking before groups. The loss of debate ‘teams’ is mourned, too.

"Though the ‘Alamo’ was demolished in 1963, an estimated 18,000 students had passed through its halls while it was in use as a high school. After the class of 1951 graduated from the old building, the old auditorium would see no more graduates trodding down the center aisle to cross the stage and receive diplomas when their names were called.

"in 1952, the floor of the auditorium was leveled and that portion of the second floor was cut into classrooms. The building was used from 1952 until 1963 for an Elementary II building by kids who neither knew nor cared about the history and events that had taken place there in the old building. The count of 18,000 was for high school students, only. With the Elementary II students there is no way of estimating how many students actually attended classes in the old building.