LIVING THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. Donald E. Wilson

five pairs of well worn shoes and each son would pick out the pair that best matched his foot. Dad said, he never had shoes that came close to fitting. By the time Dexter, his younger brother, received the last pair, the choice was a very well worn weather beaten shoe.

      Dad’s lunch usually consisted of cold biscuits or corn bread, fried salt pork, and stewed tomatoes that he carried to school in a lard bucket. He often tried to get off by himself to eat so others couldn’t see what he was eating from his lard bucket.

      Sixteenth Birthday

      July 7, 1918, was a significant day in Dad’s life. Not only was it his sixteenth birthday, but also the day his life took a different turn; the day he left the mountain home, and the coal mines and brothers and sisters behind to venture out on his own. His two older brothers had already made the move and had gone to work for the L&N railroad.

      There is no record as to exactly when Dad made that decision to leave his mountain existence behind, but I do know he had no interest in following in his father’s footsteps to work in the coal mines. Such a life was not for him. One day he watched the miners come home at the end of their work day, and he spotted a man covered from head to toe with coal dust. It was his father, and the only part of him not covered by the dust was his eyes and the teeth when he smiled. Perhaps it was that moment that Dad realized there had to be something better.

      Also, unlike others in his family and the many other children in coal mining country who quit school following completion of the eighth grade, Dad loved learning and never missed a day of school even in the harshest weather. I believe his teacher was so amazed at his willingness to learn, she apparently advised him of the opportunities awaiting him, if he stayed in school. But, in order to follow his dream and attend high school and beyond, he had to move into nearby Corbin.

      Since Corbin was located not too far from his home, he had on occasion hitched a ride into town, and scouted the area looking for a possible job. In his search he located employment at the YMCA as a “call boy” on the L&N Railroad. The job included room and board in the sleeping facilities of the YMCA, and a meager wage. Since he had absolutely no money he would never have called it “meager.” Most importantly, he had enough to get by and could also live a few blocks from Corbin High School.

      Corbin was a major railroad hub and “round house” at the end of the line for trains to receive routine maintenance and reversal of directions and the YMCA answered the engineers need to bed down. Dad’s job entailed waking crews; often late at night, to meet their schedule. Since he had always been a light sleeper and morning person, the job was made to order.

      By fall he was settled in and had earned enough money to buy a pair of shoes that fit, along with some decent clothing.

      While no records exist about his high school days, I do know that no young person was any more appreciative of the opportunity to go to school than he was. Along with his busy school schedule and his work, he discovered the newly organized high school football team, a sport he knew very little about, but one that was to be his key to entrance to college. Football in those days was a very rough and unregulated sport and did not attract very many interested students. But the sport fascinated Dad, and even though he was not a large man, he played the guard position. With virtually no regulations, players at the high school level had virtually no protective clothing or helmet. Years later I was rummaging through an old trunk and found his old helmet. It offered precious little protection except to keep his head warm. In one game a player on the opposing team was killed and several others were hurt. But Dad survived with nothing more than bruises, and his prowess, and ability and determination was such as to earn him a partial football scholarship to Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky.

      Transylvania was founded in 1788 and was the oldest college in Kentucky. It was affiliated with the Christian Church, often referred to as “Disciples of Christ.” Henry Clay, famous Kentucky congressman and early American patriot, was among the school’s most notable graduates. During his high school years he had joined the Christian Church, and next to his family, his fierce devotion to his faith was his greatest love. His pastor along with his football coach apparently recognized some special qualities in him and helped him attain a scholarship that made college a reality. While tuition at that time was only 125 dollars a semester, to him that was a fortune. Though he devoted part of every day working at odd jobs from selling magazines to working in the school cafeteria in order to pay his living expenses, that scholarship was the key to obtaining his education.

      It is difficult to imagine what it must have been like for a country boy such as Dad, who had never traveled far from the edge of the Cumberland Mountains, to enroll in one of the premier colleges in the South. It must have been an awesome experience to enter that shady historical campus, and realize that ‘dreams do come true’ and for him, open the gateway to a productive future. And he certainly made the most of every day he was there.

      With his warm and engaging personality he had little trouble fitting into the campus environment and participating in every campus event that he could work into his busy work and football schedule. He even managed to scrape up enough money to join the prestigious Alpha Gamma Chi social fraternity, where he gained some reputation and attention from the girls. He enjoyed dancing and could be found at most social functions.

      Membership in his fraternity proved to be especially valuable to him, in that he attracted a friendship with one of the school’s most important alumni, Happy Chandler, who later became one of Kentucky’s most respected governors, and then U.S. Senator from the state. In the 1960’s Chandler became National baseball commissioner and was responsible for Jackie Robinson’s entrance to major league baseball. Chandler arranged for Dad’s room and board with his parents and he showed his appreciation by helping him win his election to the United States Senate.

      In his excellent book, Transylvania: Tutor to the West, historian John D. Wright Jr. describes student life in the 1920’s on the Transylvania Campus:

       “The majority of students preserved their youthful idealism in the face of growing cynicism among intellectuals and the conservative patterns of behavior in the midst of all kinds of challenges being by many Americans. There was a lot of foolishness being thrown at such patterns by many Americans…

       “There was a lot of foolish talk about the revolt of youth, one student wrote,” “but it is also true that behind the so called revolt was an ideal, an ideal that a few young spirited youth can see a bigger, happier, and more truthful world;” not a view far removed from the youth of every generation.

      In line with the national progressive views of the Post War era, the major topic on campus of the 1920’s was prohibition, which most students (including Dad) supported. However, while Christian Church beliefs were prominent in the school, he like most students was not a fundamentalist in his beliefs. Of the many admirable traits passed on to him, and later to me, was his refusal to ever take a drink. I will say, that while “teetotaler” status was later a challenge to me, abstinence never hindered my career.

      Another topic prominent in America in the 1920’s was the teaching of evolution. In fact, its teaching in schools and colleges in Kentucky failed to pass in the 1926 legislature. While I cannot be sure, I am confident Dad agreed with the legislative action. The student paper, The Rambler, published a lengthy article indicating that prohibition in higher institutions of learning such as Transylvania was not the prevailing view of a majority of students and faculty.

      Dad also enjoyed the academic side of college, at first attempting a pre-law curriculum, but soon realizing that while he enjoyed law courses, his first love was history. So, he majored in history, a subject that became part of his life and led to teaching following graduation. I am proud to say I must have inherited that love for history and country. While I could not locate his college transcript, he must have done very well, and in his senior year was selected for membership in the very prestigious “Books and Bones,” the closest thing on the campus to Phi Kappa Phi. Then in 1929 he was selected for membership in Lampas Honor Society for his academic work.

      Of course, it was football that occupied much of his campus life. His coach, Jim Elam, was a full blooded native