Southwestern University, 1920 “Hiking Club”
Last year I completed my Master degree in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies (at University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, Scotland). My dissertation focused on the experiences of women who attended three Texas religious colleges between 1920-1929. I used the college yearbooks (all digitized) to select the women for the research. What I learned was eye-opening, not only for the historical context of that period in Texas, but also for the women themselves. I studied 41 of these women extensively, gathering genealogical and historical information about their lives. Check the blog from last year to learn more about using digitized yearbooks for your genealogical research.
The majority of the women studied in the dissertation graduated and became teachers in Texas, a well-respected profession for educated women, a rarity in the 1920s. This series will feature a mini-biography of one Texas schoolteacher each week; today’s focus is Martha Ersyl Battle.
The photographs below are divided into her college yearbook photos (top row), 1920, and 2nd row, a picture of her in 1948 and the 1954 English Department group picture (she’s the third from left in front row), both from Reagan High School in Houston, Texas, where she taught for many years; see references below.
Martha Ersyl Battle was born 6 May 1901 in Normangee, Leon County, Texas[i] to Thomas (T. P.) Battle (age 24, of Texas) and Jeanie Lewis (age 19, of Mississippi).[ii] Her parents had married the year prior in Brazos County, Texas on 20 June 1900.[iii]
Ersyl grew up in Normangee, a small town in East Central Texas, which was the site of two railroads that were built in 1905 and 1907 for westward expansion. At its peak, Normangee had 1,100 citizens in 1914.[iv]
She was the oldest child (with 3 younger brothers) and lived on Wooley Avenue. Her father was an agent for Houston and Texas Central Railroad station.[v] In her elementary years, she joined the Happyhammers Club, a club sponsored by The Houston Post, which encouraged children to “hammer happiness when and wherever possible.” Ersyl joined the club and submitted a letter which was published 28 November 1909.[vi] Transcribed, it reads:
“Normangee, Texas. – Dear Mrs. Foster and other Happyhammers: Will you let another little girl into your happy band? I am 8 years old and am in the third grade. My teacher’s name is Miss Maud Rogers. Our school house is a brick one. We have five teachers and a music teacher. I go to Sunday school every Sunday. I have two borthers (sp.). One is 6 years old and one 3. Their names are Lewis and Carlos. As my letter is getting long, I will stop. Now, little letter, jump old Mr. Waste Basket. A new Happpyhammer. Ersyl Battle.”
(The reply)
“Your name is familiar to me as my people are related to the Battles of North Carolina. Try to improve with every letter, taking your share of the club’s work. – Ed.”
Ersyl wrote again, as a fifth grader in 1910, and provided key information about the teachers and her school, as well as her cousin’s name; more key genealogical clues.[vii]
Ersyl left Normangee after high school to attend Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, about 125 miles away. In college, her 1920 yearbook stated she had accomplished an A. B. Degree (similar to the Bachelor of Arts degree today). [viii]
She participated on the Megaphone newspaper staff, ’18-‘19 and as General Assistant Editor her last year. She was also in the Choral Club, ’18-’20, Hiking Club, ’19-’20, Tennis Club, ’19-’20, Press Club, ’18-’19-’20, Greek Club, University Honour Council, Scholarship Society ’20 and the Phi Mu sorority. She graduated early after 3 years of college, in the summer session of 1920.[ix]
After college, in September 1920, she began teaching in the high school in Normangee.[x] Following that first year, she also taught during the 2-month summer session (June 1921), along with Professor J. H. Wright and four other teachers. By the Fall of 1922, she had taken an English high school teaching position in Alvin, Texas, south of Houston.[xi] She exceeded at this school and received a published commendation and resolution by the Alvin School District. She had worked to ensure that the Alvin Public School English department received four full credits by the University of Texas, the first ranks for this department in Texas. In the resolution, it stated “Whereas, We feel that this gain is solely due to the efficient, untiring and loyal efforts of our English teacher, Miss Ersyl Battle; therefore Be It Resolved, That we as a body, and individually, and in the name of patrons of the school, give her a vote of confidence and thanks for her splendid service. [followed by signatures].”[xii] By that fall, she was still employed as an English teacher, but was also a student at Columbia University, English Department.[xiii]
In June of 1924, a newspaper announced the engagement of Miss Ersyl Battle to Mr. J. H. Wright, of Paris, Texas.[xiv] He had been the professor she had met in her first teaching assignment, at Normangee. They married 23 June 1924 in Houston.[xv] They remained there as they both taught at a public high school, where he was also an assistant principal. In his later years, J. Herbert (as he was known), worked as the personnel director for the Houston Public School system while Ersyl worked as an English instructor,[xvi] through the 1954 school year.[xvii] [xviii]They had two children, daughter, Margaret J. and son, John H. Wright, Jr.
Martha Ersyl Battle Wright (age 94) died 7 March 1995 and was buried at Forest Park Cemetery, in Houston, Texas, next to her husband, who died (aged 67) on 1 September 1964. She was widowed 31 years and outlived her daughter, Margaret, who passed in 1963.[xix]
References:
[i] Deaths Index (CR) USA. Texas. 7 March 1995. (Birth: 6 May 1901). WRIGHT, Ersyl B. [Transcriptions] Collection: U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 8 January 2022.
[ii] Census Records. USA. Leon County, Texas. 15 April 1910. BATTLE, Erstle (Ersyl) E. ED 0133. Roll: T624_1571. FN 1375584. p. 4B. Collection: 1910 United States Federal Census. https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 8 January 2022.
[iii] Marriages Index (CR) USA. Brazos County, Texas. 20 June 1920. LEWIS, Jeanie and BATTLE, T. P. FHL Film: 1020034. [Transcriptions] Collection: Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1965. https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 8 January 2022.
[iv] Texas State Historical Association. Normangee, TX. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/normangee-tx : accessed 30 August 2023.
[v] Census Records. USA. Leon County, Texas. 1 January 1920. BATTLE, Erayl (Ersyl). ED 76. Roll: T625_1828. p. 4A. Collection: 1920 United States Federal Census. https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 8 January 2022.
[vi] The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 25, Ed. 1 Sunday, November 28, 1909, p. 31b&c, newspaper, November 28, 1909; Houston, Texas. Haps Page. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth604318/m1/31/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.
[vii] The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 26, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 12, 1910, p. 7d, newspaper, June 12, 1910; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth604447/m1/7/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.
[viii] Southwestern University (1920). The Sou’wester, 1920. Georgetown, Texas: Southwestern University. p. 46. Collection: Southwestern University, A. Frank Smith Jr. Library, Special Collections and Archives. https://archive.org/details/souwesteryearboo1920sout/page/n45/mode/1up : accessed 1 September 2021.
[ix] Southwestern University (1920). The Sou’wester, 1920. Georgetown, Texas: Southwestern University. p. 46. Collection: Southwestern University, A. Frank Smith Jr. Library, Special Collections and Archives. https://archive.org/details/souwesteryearboo1920sout/page/n45/mode/1up : accessed 1 September 2021.
[x] The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 134, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 15, 1920, p. 22e, newspaper, August 15, 1920; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth607588/m1/22/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.
[xi] Beck, John P. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, September 29, 1922, newspaper, September 29, 1922, p. 1B; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1246002/m1/1/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Alvin Community College.
[xii] Beck, John P. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, July 13, 1923, p. 1e, newspaper, July 13, 1923; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1249897/m1/1/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Alvin Community College.
[xiii] Beck, John P. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 7, 1923, p.1a, newspaper, September 7, 1923; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1249503/m1/1/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Alvin Community College.
[xiv] The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 79, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 22, 1924, p.29h, newspaper, June 22, 1924; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth610552/m1/29/?q=%22Ersyl%20Battle%22: accessed August 30, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu
[xv] Marriages Index (CR) USA. Houston, Harris County, Texas. 20 (23) June 1924. SHAW (BATTLE), Ersyl and WRIGHT, J. H. [Transcriptions] Collection: U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current. https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 8 January 2022.
[xvi] Ancestry. U.S., School Yearbooks, Reagan High School, Houston, Texas, 1948, p. 14. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/685134169:1265 : accessed 30 August 2023.
[xvii] Census Records. USA. Houston, Harris County, Texas. 1 April 1950. Wright, John H. ED 263-323. Roll: 573. Image 59. Collection: 1950 United States Federal Census. https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Houston%2C%20Harris&ed=263-323&name=John%20Wright&page=1&state=TX : accessed 30 August 2023.
[xviii] Ancestry. U.S., School Yearbooks, Reagan High School, Houston, Texas, 1954, p. 16. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/sid_578_1954_0016 : accessed 30 August 2023.
[xix] Monumental Inscriptions. USA. Forest Park Cemetery, Houston, Harris County, Texas. 7 March 1995. (Birth: 6 May 1901). WRIGHT, Martha, Ersyl Battle. Photos added by Deana Hickman. Find A Grave Memorial: 255495708. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/255495708/martha-ersyl-wright : accessed 30 August 2023.
- Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/) was used for all genealogical research.
- Southwestern University (SU),[ix] Methodist affiliation, in Georgetown, Williamson County, chartered in 1875[x], with 1920 city population of 2,871[xi], decade of yearbooks[xii]
[ix] Southwestern University. https://www.southwestern.edu/ : accessed 29 August 2023.
[x] WOBLOG. Early Texas Colleges. Washington on the Brazos Historical Foundation Blog. [blog]. http://wheretexasbecametexas.org/category/early-texas-colleges/ : accessed 29 August 2023.
[xi] Texas Almanac. City Population History from 1850 – 2000: Georgetown. https://www.texasalmanac.com/drupal-backup/images/CityPopHist%20web.pdf : accessed 29 August 2023.
[xii] Southwestern University. Yearbooks for Years 1920-1929. Collection: Southwestern University, A. Frank Smith Jr. Library, Special Collections and Archives. https://archive.org/details/southwesternuniversity?and%5B%5D=year%3A%221929%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221928%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221927%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221926%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221925%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221924%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221923%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221922%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221921%22&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221920%22&sort=date : accessed 29 August 2023.
Featured image, captured from:
Southwestern University (1920). The Sou’wester, Yearbook of Southwestern University, 1920, Hiking Club. Georgetown, Texas: Southwestern University. p. 151. https://archive.org/details/souwesteryearboo1920sout/page/n153/mode/2up : accessed 29 August 2023.