Glen Taul
1:00And then we'll get we'll get into now. See, when did you--when did you come to
Georgetown? I mean, when you start school?J. Robert Snyder
Well, my family actually came in 1948. And when I was a junior in high school.
Because my father became the registrar and director of admissions, he spent most of his time at admissions. And then, I graduated from high school here, in 1950. So, I started college in the fall of '51.Glen Taul
2:00Okay, so did you live on campus or off?
J. Robert Snyder
3:00No--we lived at home. In fact my parents kept boarders--kept students as
boarders upstairs.Glen Taul
4:00Oh, that right?
J. Robert Snyder
5:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
6:00Now, where was that?
J. Robert Snyder
7:00At the end of Military Street, just to the south.
Glen Taul
8:00To the south? Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
9:00--A lot of people in this neighborhood kept students.
Glen Taul
10:00Did the most of the professor's back then have--had kidd at college age do that also?
J. Robert Snyder
11:00Not very many. No, I think. No, it was not nor--of course, we had to stop it.
Because the college built the dormitories for students.Glen Taul
12:00So, they were--
J. Robert Snyder
13:00--Particularly male students.
Glen Taul
14:00Okay, so they were requiring even employees and professors who had children that
were going to Georgetown to require them to live in the dormitories after that was done?J. Robert Snyder
15:00In the late 50s. Yeah.
Glen Taul
16:00Okay. Okay, what's the first impressions that---of course, you had some early
impressions about Georgetown, how were they different when you started college as opposed to--of growing up or being exposed to it your high school days?J. Robert Snyder
17:00I don't remember any different, it was a natural progression for me because, you
know, we'd been around the college. My parents, both my parents are graduates here.Glen Taul
18:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
19:00And we just went from one building to another. And I knew most of the faculty
members anyway, because most of them, most of the faculties were members of the same church.Glen Taul
20:00What church was that?
J. Robert Snyder
21:00The Georgetown Baptist--
Glen Taul
22:00Georgetown Baptist Church. That church is sort of seen as the college church,
isn't it?J. Robert Snyder
23:00It was for, maybe 150 years. Yeah.
Glen Taul
24:00Yeah. What do you remember about your first class as a freshman?
J. Robert Snyder
25:00Most of my classes were in the John L. Hill Chapel, where the building had been
modified in the process, to include classrooms in the basement, that was not in the original design. And offices, in fact, the president's and the Dean's office, we're in the rear of that building. Most of that--what was given over to a variety of offices and classrooms, but I think I had most of my classes there in that building.Glen Taul
26:00Okay. What was the most--what was your--what was your impressions as a freshman?
J. Robert Snyder
27:00Well as a freshman, it was a strange combination. We would I mean, if kids look
back now, they would find it rather strange because it was conservative in a lot of ways, but yet fairly liberal in other ways. And it was reflecting the return of the veterans from the Second World War. Some of them still here. We--the college had just gotten into an expanded athletic program, we had a real fine football program, basketball, all that. No, no girls programs to speak of. But, the girls were mostly in one building called Rucker Hall.Glen Taul
28:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
29:00And there, they had rather strict rules, on sign out and signing in and dates.
And men can only be in the lobbies areas--the of parlors they called them, at certain times. And they built an addition onto it while I was here, called Bristow Hall (??)--just an--extended one wing. And the bottom part of that became the cafeteria, they didn't have a cafeteria, I guess when I came--.Glen Taul
30:00Oh, is that right?
J. Robert Snyder
31:00--So they built that, the cafeteria was the lower part. And they
brought--brought in a barracks building from an atomic energy plant. South of us here, in Tennessee. That was the bookstore. It was over here--between the chapel and Giddings.Glen Taul
32:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
33:00It was a bookstore sort of--and grill and it was in this army building.
Glen Taul
34:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
35:00They had a bunch of army buildings. Actually, there was a----the whole biology,
science, some of the music stuff was in a building--in the north west corner of the campus in that low place now, where the--?Glen Taul
36:00Theater's located.
J. Robert Snyder
37:00Theater's located. Yeah, that was big a army. And the whole series of barracks
up here where the maintenance shops are.Glen Taul
38:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
39:00Gosh, there were five or six of them--
Glen Taul
40:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
41:00--They had big barracks out there. And trailers about a--nice 40 or 50 trailers.
Glen Taul
42:00Goodness gracious.
J. Robert Snyder
43:00In rows--for married students. The college, it never had anything like that
before, married students with families.Glen Taul
44:00That was a new phenomenon with, I guess the veterans coming back and they were
getting married right after the war and--.J. Robert Snyder
45:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
46:00--The GI Bill was paying their way through college.
J. Robert Snyder
47:00Right. And it was a lot of older ministerial students, too, I think, mixed in
that too.Glen Taul
48:00Now, where did they come from?
J. Robert Snyder
49:00Well, Georgetown was the primary training ground for ministers in Kentucky and
southern Ohio. And gosh, we may have had 20 or 30 graduate a year, going into the ministry. And it's reflected now in the officials of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. You know, here we are 50 years later. They--just can come from all walks of life. And that's true. But all colleges had the same problem. With that GI Bill--really was the main impetus.Glen Taul
50:00It flooded the campuses with--.
J. Robert Snyder
51:00All and--you had to get trailers and buildings.
Glen Taul
52:00Now, is it your impression that at the beginning of your freshman year, that was
one of the highest enrollments, up to that time?J. Robert Snyder
53:001950-1951? Probably, I've been told 1946 was a real boom year, because of
the--the veterans suddenly showed up and there wasn't anything for them. There were no rooms, dorms anything like that. And a lot of them were housed in the gymnasium, I understand.Glen Taul
54:00Oh, they were?
J. Robert Snyder
55:00At the gym, yeah. So that was a sudden change. Maybe a third increase in one fall.
Glen Taul
56:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
57:00I don't remember any sudden increases. And of course, we went into the Korean
War in the middle of that, before I graduated, and then they were all in a--sort of was stable. I don't remember a lot of people being drafted out of school, but we were eligible for it that way.Glen Taul
58:00What--now the curriculum that you took, had you anticipated going into political
science or to teaching when you came--when you entered Georgetown?J. Robert Snyder
59:00Well, I knew what I enjoyed doing and I just took what I enjoyed, I didn't
really worry about you know, how it fitted in any pattern or anything. I'd always liked history and political science, government. My father had been in the government at Frankfort. We came from Frankfort here, actually.Glen Taul
60:00Oh, okay.
J. Robert Snyder
61:00And then I enjoyed physics and math, too. So I just--and we had a--single
teachers in the subjects too. We don't have that. S--one teacher might be the whole department.Glen Taul
62:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
63:00In math and in physics, it was that way. So I just took what I enjoyed, and I
just, I didn't really worry about it.Glen Taul
64:00So the faculty was rather limited? In those days?
J. Robert Snyder
65:00It was a small faculty.
Glen Taul
66:00A small.
J. Robert Snyder
67:00Maybe 30.
Glen Taul
68:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
69:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
70:00Well, who were some of the more outstanding, in your mind, Faculty?
J. Robert Snyder
71:00Well, we didn't really have anybody in political science, they sort of farmed
that around. --But Dr. Carl Fields was the head of the history department and Horace Hambrick. In--in math, I really enjoyed math a good bit, it was about the most challenging thing I think I've ever done is. And Charles Hatfield was the--he was the only teacher. And he'd been done that for 30 or 40 years when--I came. He actually had memorized the textbooks, you didn't have--you just had to tell him a number and he'd go run it out. [clears throat]Glen Taul
72:00Goodness.
J. Robert Snyder
73:00In all kinds of math and geometry and trigonometry and all that stuff, calculus.
And Dr. H.Y. Mullikan (??) was the physics teacher. He was in the basement of Giddings Hall. That was all physics down there, and he was an interesting teacher. Yeah.Glen Taul
74:00Why were they Interesting?
J. Robert Snyder
75:00Well, he could project--Dr. Hatfield, the challenge was there every day, you
know, it was all memorizing how to, to do math of every kind and it got more complicated as you got into calculus and advancement, stuff like that. And physics, you were just sort of exploring the world. I've never really forgotten. Now--part of my introduction to nuclear physics, which, when I wrote my dissertation, on sharing the atom, which involved some of that.Glen Taul
76:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
77:00So it all fit--fitted together, as I look back. I just did what I enjoyed doing,
but it all fitted together.Glen Taul
78:00So, they didn't have a set curriculum back in those days?
J. Robert Snyder
79:00Oh---yeah. It was, it has been cut back some, but generally, the first two years
were all required courses.Glen Taul
80:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
81:00All required courses, yeah.
Glen Taul
82:00Just to make sure you got a variety or breadth of knowledge?
J. Robert Snyder
83:00Yeah, it was based on I think, what the American clleges and universities in
general did in the 30s and 40s.Glen Taul
84:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
85:00Some of the things they did then, we don't do now. That--they had required two
years in foreign language, for example, we don't do that quite--we're just nine now--.Glen Taul
86:00Oh.
J. Robert Snyder
87:00--But it was 12 hours and it was a required course in history, everybody took
six hours of history. Let's see, English is about the same--didn't, we did not require philosophy or public speaking like we do now. So, what--ours today is probably a little bit more balanced too, yeah.Glen Taul
88:00More balanced in the 50s, you think?
J. Robert Snyder
89:00Yeah--because, like I said, the basic root of all of college education is really
philosophy. And when that was not required---in fact, we didn't teach a whole lot of philosophy.Glen Taul
90:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
91:00And it was--it was part of the religion, part of the Bible department--.
Glen Taul
92:00The Bi---oh, they call it the Bible department.
J. Robert Snyder
93:00Yeah--some--one of them taught philosophy. That's all we had, yeah.
Glen Taul
94:00Now, who was in--who was in the Bible department?
J. Robert Snyder
95:00Dr. George Redding was doing it by himself.
Glen Taul
96:00Oh, he was.
J. Robert Snyder
97:00And then Dr. Dailey (??) came in, he taught Old Testament and philosophy.
Glen Taul
98:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
99:00He later became the editor of The Western Recorder.
Glen Taul
100:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
101:00For the---.
Glen Taul
102:00He was a Georgetown College graduate too?
J. Robert Snyder
103:00No
Glen Taul
104:00Wasn't he?
J. Robert Snyder
105:00No, he came from Georgia.
Glen Taul
106:00Oh, all right. It was his son--.
J. Robert Snyder
107:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
108:00--That came.
J. Robert Snyder
109:00I really don't remember.
Glen Taul
110:00Yeah, he--.
J. Robert Snyder
111:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
112:00--Was here during the 70s.
J. Robert Snyder
113:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
114:00With me.
J. Robert Snyder
115:00He had three boys.
Glen Taul
116:00Yeah. Well, one of them came here. [laughter]
J. Robert Snyder
117:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
118:00What--hat about the social life? What were you involved in as far as the social
activities of the college?J. Robert Snyder
119:00Well, it was different, because you're pretty well confined to the campus. Very
few people had cars and only the veterans and the entertainment was--was here. They were--no one was really worried about it. The BSU [Baptist Student Union], there were all kinds of activities and the Greek groups had their entertainment. We had chapel twice a week, where we all came together. See, we don't do that anymore. The whole--the student body came and had an assigned seat, everybody had an assigned seat.Glen Taul
120:00Oh.
J. Robert Snyder
121:00And everybody came together and it was worship and it was all kinds of other
things. But I'm not awa--that just doesn't happen anymore, that the entire student body comes together in one place, twice a week. When I came, they were doing it in Giddings, and they had to divide the student body, they only took half at one time. In that--over there, there was an auditorium. They only took half of the student body at one time and they had a chapel, once a week and then they.Glen Taul
122:00Now okay, you--your family came in '48?
J. Robert Snyder
123:00Right.
Glen Taul
124:00You weren't going to college then. John L. Hill Chapel was not completed when
you started?J. Robert Snyder
125:00--It was under construction.
Glen Taul
126:00It was under construction when you came.
J. Robert Snyder
127:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
128:00So they did have chapel in Giddings, is that on the first floor?
J. Robert Snyder
129:00Right, yeah. There was an auditorium on the first floor.
Glen Taul
130:00Do you know if that's where they were having chapel after the old chapel
building burned?J. Robert Snyder
131:00Sure. It was the original chapel. Before this--there was a building next door
here that was built, called the Literary Society--Library Building. They had a track and a basketball court in it, actually a gymnasium.Glen Taul
132:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
133:00-It was a small building, you wouldn't believe how it was in that one building.
But when that burned, they went back to the--Giddings originally had a room in the front there.Glen Taul
134:00Of course, Giddings, from the very start when it was built, was an all-purpose building.
J. Robert Snyder
135:00Oh, everything was there.
Glen Taul
136:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
137:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
138:00You had faculty offices, president's office--.
J. Robert Snyder
139:00The registrar.
Glen Taul
140:00Registrar's office--.
J. Robert Snyder
141:00Science laboratories.
Glen Taul
142:00And all those kinds of things in the chapel where, I guess the Maskrafters had to--.
J. Robert Snyder
143:00They weren't around--.
Glen Taul
144:00Perform.
J. Robert Snyder
145:00--Then that--they had, after the John L. Chapel was finished, then they took
that room in Giddings and they converted it into Lewis Auditorium.Glen Taul
146:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
147:00With--with seats and stage and a staircase went downstairs and they dressed
downstairs. In--below all of it.Glen Taul
148:00Yeah. Yeah, I remembered that, when I was here in early 70s. It was right at the
end of my time here, that they had got a grant to restore or renovate--.J. Robert Snyder
149:00Renovate--. Giddings--. --Maybe? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. Right.
Glen Taul
150:00Into what it is now.
J. Robert Snyder
151:00Right.
Glen Taul
152:00So the president's office was in the back of Giddings when you were here. Who
was when you--J. Robert Snyder
153:00President Hill? Samuel Hill.
Glen Taul
154:00He was president all of---during the time you were here.
J. Robert Snyder
155:00Then he moved into the back of John L. Hill Chapel Road, right, gosh, 1952,
somewhere along in there.Glen Taul
156:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
157:00Then they moved over here. But, when I came, his office and the Dean's office
and my father's office, who was registrar and director of admissions, were all in the first floor.Glen Taul
158:00Of John L. Hill Chapel?
J. Robert Snyder
159:00No, no, of Giddings.
Glen Taul
160:00Of Giddings.
J. Robert Snyder
161:00Right.
Glen Taul
162:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
163:00Well, then, then they moved over here to John L. Hill Chapel and the admissions
and director and the registrar and Dean of Men were on the--in the basement, on the west side. And on the east side here, that was the business offices and the president's offices in the back, and the Dean's office, on the first, main floor of it. You can't--walked right into the president's office and the Dean's office.Glen Taul
164:00Okay. Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
165:00But all administrative offices were pretty much in that--in the chapel
built--John L. Hill Chapel building.Glen Taul
166:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
167:00Now, it's there. Yeah.
Glen Taul
168:00Goodness, what were some of the activities that you were involved in?
J. Robert Snyder
169:00Well, I never thought we were cut off or iso--looking back on it. We didn't have
a car. I didn't know how to drive, actually. Because there was so many things going on, and since I was taking a pretty heavy load five, six courses a semester, and all those things. And I was in the chapel choir that and I got into the KA [Kappa Alpha] fraternity for--just one year--and I--.Glen Taul
170:00Only a year?
J. Robert Snyder
171:00Yeah, I was only here three years. I graduated. And I ran track, which , at a
big school, I would never been able to do.Glen Taul
172:00Oh, really?
J. Robert Snyder
173:00Oh, yeah. I ran the two mile.
Glen Taul
174:00You were at--and that was your competition. I mean, your--.
J. Robert Snyder
175:00Athletic.
Glen Taul
176:00--Event?
J. Robert Snyder
177:00Yeah, right.
Glen Taul
178:00How did you do in that?
J. Robert Snyder
179:00Well, lettered. I wasn't really the fastest. It didn't matter how fast you were
in that race. it's just who finished. [chuckles]Glen Taul
180:00It was endurance.
J. Robert Snyder
181:00Yeah. Right, you're right.
Glen Taul
182:00Who was the coach then?
J. Robert Snyder
183:00Brad Jones.
Glen Taul
184:00Okay. What was he like?
J. Robert Snyder
185:00Well, he gave the impression of being a very tough athletic coach. He had a--had
a great reputation in Louisville And he'd been in the state tournament with a basketball team out of Frankfort at one time. So, he'd done it all. And he's the one that's responsible for the fee--on the track and all kinds of things. And he was sort of a gruff kind of fellow, but--he had--had to in what--the business he was. To be sure you kept all the equipment and schedule. He was the athletic director, basically.Glen Taul
186:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
187:00He didn't--really didn't coach much. Ex--he did track. Coached track.
Glen Taul
188:00He coach track then he had other coaches for football and--.
J. Robert Snyder
189:00--And bas---.
Glen Taul
190:00--Tennis and basketball.
J. Robert Snyder
191:00Basketball. They did golf, too.
Glen Taul
192:00And golf and baseball, probably.
J. Robert Snyder
193:00He never messed with baseball, but the baseball field was right out here. He's
the one that arranged that. You wouldn't believe it--that baseball field was right there beside the football field.Glen Taul
194:00Beside it not--they didn't switch--alternate--.
J. Robert Snyder
195:00Well--.
Glen Taul
196:00--Between it.
J. Robert Snyder
197:00Now that--the football field, part of it became the outfield.
Glen Taul
198:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
199:00And they always had to take down a light tower to do that. So, it was an
experience watching that in the--in the spring.Glen Taul
200:00My gosh.
J. Robert Snyder
201:00--Just one of the light poles had been taken down. So they could play baseball.
But it was not a bad idea, really.Glen Taul
202:00Well, that was--it must have been pretty hard ground to play on. I mean, I walk
over that.J. Robert Snyder
203:00Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, no, see, it's not the same as it was then because Brad was
very careful, he carefully nurtured bluegrass sod right--like in the orchard or the fields out here on the farm. It was not laid down grass like we have out here now.Glen Taul
204:00Oh, okay.
J. Robert Snyder
205:00it was about that thick. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
206:00Oh, it was?
J. Robert Snyder
207:00Oh, yeah, it was beautiful, and they tore it all up. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
208:00What they do, put some rock, dirt in there or? To make--it seems like it's harder.
J. Robert Snyder
209:00Yeah--they came in and they cut another ditch on the other side and trying to
crown it, make it kind of a curvature to it. And then they brought in sod, which all died [chuckles] most of it. You can see the remnants of the old field, in the corners, if you're ever out there.Glen Taul
210:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
211:00In the corners, that's what Brad.
Glen Taul
212:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
213:00Filled in, yeah.
Glen Taul
214:00Okay. And he had been here a long time?
J. Robert Snyder
215:00No, not really. He came in 43', 1943. Yeah.
Glen Taul
216:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
217:00So, he'd only been here five years when I came.
Glen Taul
218:00But he was an alumnus.
J. Robert Snyder
219:00Yeah. Yeah.
Glen Taul
220:00Too.
J. Robert Snyder
221:00Right.
Glen Taul
222:00Who else was here of note?
J. Robert Snyder
223:00Well, Dick Scutter (??) came in sociology, I never had a class under him, and in
geography. And Coleman Arnold was my English teacher.Glen Taul
224:00Now he's had--he has a fairly significant reputation on campus?
J. Robert Snyder
225:00Coleman Arnold?
Glen Taul
226:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
227:00Yeah, he was an interesting guy. He--The Georgetonian, and that was under him
and all kinds of stuff like that, yeah.Glen Taul
228:00Well, I mean, what was--what was distinctive about Coleman Arnold? But you've
never had him for class, I take it.J. Robert Snyder
229:00Oh, yeah. Sure--sure.
Glen Taul
230:00Oh, you did? Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
231:00He was just a solid teacher with a good sense of humor. Not even not--I wouldn't
have called him charismatic exactly. He just saw it with a sense of humor, I mean, that's the best way.Glen Taul
232:00Was he primarily a lecturer?
J. Robert Snyder
233:00No, it was sort of half and half, I used his technique today actually. It was
sort of a conversational approach, of course, he was teaching, you know, basic English and--Glen Taul
234:00Basic English.
J. Robert Snyder
235:00Yeah and then English literature.
Glen Taul
236:00Did you have him for English literature?
J. Robert Snyder
237:00I must have, I don't know---no, no, I had Dr. Jones for that. Dr. Jones, he was
still living.Glen Taul
238:00W.B. Jones?
J. Robert Snyder
239:00Yeah. Had him in summer school, acutally
Glen Taul
240:00Okay. But Dr. Arnold, of course, he was here when I was here, in the early 70s.
Still teaching, and he's an alumnus. I mean, he came across very much as a very methodical, quiet type of person.J. Robert Snyder
241:00Right, yeah.
Glen Taul
242:00I mean, how did students I mean, what I mean, what was--how did he teach? I
mean, we've already talked about he wasn't a lecture so much, but?J. Robert Snyder
243:00Well, the best evidence of that is down in the English department area
downstairs, his picture is down there, his portrait is on the first floor of this building. And I think that's the best evidence of how he got along students.Glen Taul
244:00Okay. Was Woodridge (??) Spears here then?
J. Robert Snyder
245:00He came right after that. I--don't I never had him in class, no.
Glen Taul
246:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
247:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
248:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
249:00Orlin Corey came about that--at the end of that period of time. He was the drama
and his wife, Mrs. Cory was the--she had the whole art department by herself.Glen Taul
250:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
251:00And Orlin Corey did the drama. And the tradition had come because of--that they
always have a Shakespearean play. And I think he had a severe conflict with the administration over that. [chuckles] Because that was a major production every year to do the Shakespearian play.Glen Taul
252:00--Play. In other words--.
J. Robert Snyder
253:00Lewis Auditorium, which is nearly not suited for that.
Glen Taul
254:00He didn't want to do a Shakespearean play then?
J. Robert Snyder
255:00No, but it got just too big--a big thing--a big thing.
Glen Taul
256:00It was a big--it was a lot to put together?
J. Robert Snyder
257:00Oh, absoutley, sure.
Glen Taul
258:00--The scenery and--.
J. Robert Snyder
259:00Money.
Glen Taul
260:00--A bit--okay.
J. Robert Snyder
261:00And then he--there were differences with the president, right after I left over
whether the college would be moved. I wasn't invol--Glen Taul
262:00Oh, yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
263:00I wasn't involved in that.
Glen Taul
264:00No, you weren't involved in that.
J. Robert Snyder
265:00Corey, I think and others, were really upset with Dr. [H. Leo] Eddleman about an
attempt to move Georgetown College to Louisville.Glen Taul
266:00What kind of reputation did Dr. Hill have among the college community, during
your time?J. Robert Snyder
267:00I don't think I ever had a conversation with him, I knew his daughter real well,
Janie Hill is her name. And his--an older son, Sam Hill, Jr. My impression was he was rather stiff, very conservative. Autocratic, I think he presented at the faculty meetings and there was no discussion.Glen Taul
268:00Oh, is that right?
J. Robert Snyder
269:00--That's--he just ran it like he had run his churches always like. But, you
really needed somebody like at--at that time tested--who keeps developing and you wanted good relations with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, because money had been cut off in--about 1939 or '40, along in therem the convention had cut all the money off. And Dr--with Dr. Hill, coming in, there was--there was--that was relief--that was stopped and the money had accrued actually, it was in escrow.Glen Taul
270:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
271:00And he took that money and just repaired the campus, is really what they did.
They had to re--every building just about, it was falling down, it was in bad shape.Glen Taul
272:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
273:00They didn't have a drive--Memorial Drive out here. All those things had to be
fixed. And that money--that's the way they got it. And [clears throat] there was a very close relationship between Kentucky Baptist and the school. I would imagine two thirds of the student body, were Kentucky Baptist kids. But there was a third, who were veterans and a lot of other things.Glen Taul
274:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
275:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
276:00Didn't he leave, just as you were graduating, or just a--after--.
J. Robert Snyder
277:00He left after I--after I left.
Glen Taul
278:00Okay. Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
279:00He was up in years and--maybe in his 60s. But at that time, yeah.
Glen Taul
280:00Okay. Somebody--yeah. So--so what were some of the other traditions that you
remember? What were the traditions that the students followed, back in your time?J. Robert Snyder
281:00Well, because of the closeness, and I think you the--BSU was a lot stronger,
among the student body, had a choir of its own The ministerial society was a pretty good sized group. There were a lot of kids that were going to be missionaries. And you know, there was--it was a literally a sub unit to the Southern Seminary in Louisville. We sent maybe 10 or 15 down there every year to the all the schools that they had down there, music and, and theology and all the rest of it there, that's gone. And it's because of the nature, the fact that kids didn't have cars, you had to invent ways to to entertain, and one of the strangest traditions--kids came on the train to school, they would bring their trunks with them. And the train would bring them over here to the station that's just over the hill from the college here. Part of the BSU or student body would meet them and help them get into the dorm. Same with the bus station.Glen Taul
282:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
283:00There might be 200 or 300 would come that way, every first of September.
Glen Taul
284:00So where was the trust--train Station, it was--?
J. Robert Snyder
285:00On Meadow Street, which is the one--two blocks over--two blocks over.
Glen Taul
286:00Okay, toward the east? Or the--.
J. Robert Snyder
287:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
288:00I guess that's the east.
J. Robert Snyder
289:00The railroads had to tear it down because they felt it was too big a liability.
Glen Taul
290:00Oh, really?
J. Robert Snyder
291:00Yeah---there was--.
Glen Taul
292:00Now, where was the bus station located?
J. Robert Snyder
293:00The bus station was right down where the fire station is.
Glen Taul
294:00Downtown?
J. Robert Snyder
295:00Yeah. Actually, that's an old car barn for inner-urban rail transportation.
That's what that was built for. And that was the bus station.Glen Taul
296:00Didn't there used to be, before your time, tracks going on--
J. Robert Snyder
297:00Right.
Glen Taul
298:00Jackson Street. Is that where the railroad came, or was that a inner city transportation?
J. Robert Snyder
299:00No, it was neither. As I was informed by Clem (??) Smith after I had wrote my
book, and he Crit--[chuckles]--said he should--"you didn't have that right." There was a small railroad, I don't think it was near a gauge, a regular gauge, but it was just a small railroad, which ran from the train station, up the hill ,down Jackson here, down to the bottom of the hill, where there was a ice factory down there. They--Glen Taul
300:00Oh.
J. Robert Snyder
301:00--Made ice and then it came back up College Street and went on back out to the
railroad station. There was an interurban, which ran from the fire station, the pl--where the fire station is downtown right now. That was the interurban.Glen Taul
302:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
303:00Which had rather large cars, single cars. And that would take you all the way to
Lexington and back and you could change in Lexington and go to Winchester, Frankfort, Nicholasville all kinds of stuff, Paris.Glen Taul
304:00Now, did any of the students use the Interurban to go to Lexington from time to time?
J. Robert Snyder
305:00---Sure, that was their entertainment, if they had any money. [chuckles] But there--
Glen Taul
306:00How much did it cost to go--?
J. Robert Snyder
307:00I remember seeing--it couldn't have been very much. It was not--they carried
freight--they carried all kinds of stuff. The cars were rather large, maybe the length of this building. And when I came, there was--they weren't some of those things--similar cars were on the F&C [Frankfort and Cincinnati] railway, which ran from Frankfort to Georgetown, came in at the same station. They had single cars and went on to Paris.Glen Taul
308:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
309:00But the main that--we had two other railroads. The one out here is a Norfolk
Southern, it was a Southern Railway at that time and it was one of the best in the United States. In fact, it has never lost money. And it was double-tracked all the way from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, and there were trains all the time out there. Good passenger service. Some of the be--crack passenger trains in the nation came through Georgetown. The Floridian was one of--the Ponce de Leon was another on. The Carolina Special. You know, there were maybe six or eight trains a day, passengers trains.Glen Taul
310:00Goodness.
J. Robert Snyder
311:00You could get all over--the state. And then we had L&N [Louisville and Nashville
Railroad] railway out here at Paynes Depot, that's the origin of that name, Paynes Depot.Glen Taul
312:00Paynes Depot, yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
313:00I don't remember any depot being out there, but when it crossed U.S. 62 out there.
Glen Taul
314:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
315:00That--that probably was a depot of some sort. That was the first one, that was
built in about 1840.Glen Taul
316:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
317:00That came from Louisville to Lexington.
Glen Taul
318:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
319:00So you--you could the--the store in the--catalogs, they say, you can put your
trunk on the dadgum train in Texas and get up here with that trunk on the train until you get to the front of Rucker Hall.Glen Taul
320:00Really?
J. Robert Snyder
321:00Yeah. As--you--have to change trains.
Glen Taul
322:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
323:00But you would always be on a train, on some kind of rail system, all the way to
Rucker or Pawling, either one, this building--.Glen Taul
324:00This building.
J. Robert Snyder
325:00Same thing. Rucker is a little closer to the street, than we are. That was right
on it.Glen Taul
326:00That's true. It was--.
J. Robert Snyder
327:00Right on the street, they didn't have any yard.
Glen Taul
328:00Yeah, that's true. --It really was.
J. Robert Snyder
329:00It may have been built for that purpose, honestly, come to think of it. So, it
was maybe, 15, 20 feet to the street. But it was built in sort of a curve.Glen Taul
330:00Yes, it was--
J. Robert Snyder
331:00It wasn't straight, it was a curve.
Glen Taul
332:00It was--it was like a crescent.
J. Robert Snyder
333:00Had turrets.
Glen Taul
334:00Exactly.
J. Robert Snyder
335:00Above the parlors
Glen Taul
336:00Exactly.
J. Robert Snyder
337:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
338:00What kind of forms of entertainment did the students get involved in--in Lexington?
J. Robert Snyder
339:00Well, some good, some bad. [laughter] I don't remember too much trouble with
that. Sometimes the Greeks would have their meetings over there, social gathering. Since we didn't have much here, just the--the Lancaster Hotel is what was called then, Main and Broadway, where the First National Bank--First National Bank, that was the Lancaster Hotel.Glen Taul
340:00Oh, it was?
J. Robert Snyder
341:00Yeah, it was about five or six stores.
Glen Taul
342:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
343:00And they had a beautiful ballroom, beautiful ballroom. Best dance floor I have
ever seen or like that since. I don't know what kind of wood they had on there. They also had a speakeasy downstairs and a pool hall and all kinds of stuff, so.Glen Taul
344:00They still called them speakeasies back in the 50s?
J. Robert Snyder
345:00No, I think had been closed. There was a room behind the pool room, that I
understand, that was the speakeasy.Glen Taul
346:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
347:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
348:00Well, I mean, Georgetown--was Georgetown dry during your time here?
J. Robert Snyder
349:00Yeah, it had gone dry during the war--Second--.
Glen Taul
350:00World War II--.
J. Robert Snyder
351:00Second World War.
Glen Taul
352:00That must have happened ,and that happened to a lot of communities in Kentucky.
J. Robert Snyder
353:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
354:00They went dry during the war.
J. Robert Snyder
355:00It didn't mean that we were really dry because there was, people would hire
taxis, to go five miles up the road. You know, there was a liquor store on the county lines.Glen Taul
356:00Yeah like there is--. [tape cuts off]
J. Robert Snyder
357:00Things working well.
Glen Taul
358:00What this---what this does is--
J. Robert Snyder
359:00It needed a new microphone.
Glen Taul
360:00Yeah. This is one of those table mics where you and I--
J. Robert Snyder
361:00Oh, yeah.
Glen Taul
362:00can both?
J. Robert Snyder
363:00You don't have to put it up there.
Glen Taul
364:00That's right. They were suggesting that over there at the oral history
commission, of using that kind of a mic.J. Robert Snyder
365:00But, I'm trying to--is this on?
Glen Taul
366:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
367:00I'm just trying to think of some other phenomena. My--when my father was the
director of admissions, the enrollment doubled, while he was doing that.Glen Taul
368:00This was while you were here?
J. Robert Snyder
369:00I think the doubling was made by 67-'68.
Glen Taul
370:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
371:00Somewhere along in there. Or maybe it was a little bit earlier than, that during
the Vietnam War, actually.Glen Taul
372:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
373:00But, you have to remember that the conditions back then--in the 50s, we didn't
have a lot of competition. The Campbellsville and Cumberland were junior colleges, were more like community college. There was no northern school, not even community colleges up there in northern Kentucky.Glen Taul
374:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
375:00And you did have a few community--Ashland was in there and Bethel College at
Russellville, or Hopkinsville, I guess. It went out of business, it was a Baptist school--.Glen Taul
376:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
377:00Or two Bethels, actually. And the universities were not quite as prominent.
There was the University of Kentucky, which is the four-year land grant a&m university. The University of Louisville was fairly small because it was a municipal University. It was--.Glen Taul
378:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
379:00--Financed by the city of Louisville.
Glen Taul
380:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
381:00--In Jefferson County. And, Eastern and Western, Murray, and Moorhead were
colleges, state normal colleges.Glen Taul
382:00They were teachers colleges.
J. Robert Snyder
383:00Yeah, not university.
Glen Taul
384:00What about Transy? [Transylvania University]
J. Robert Snyder
385:00So. Transy was there but, I don't think we ever looked upon them as a--competitor.
Glen Taul
386:00Competitor.
J. Robert Snyder
387:00They had their own problems because they were breaking off from the
Christians--Disciples of Christ Church. They were really a university because they had the=--the Lexington Theological Seminary was right across the street there. But that moves and then was completely separates. And Centre [College] was a very small, very small, maybe 600 people down there. So--I think my father felt we can--come--where the competition came in is when they all switched to universities and the--Cambellsville and Cumberland, in that big fight over whether to move Georgetown College. The resolution of that was to leave Georgetown where it was, to make Cambellsville and Cumberland four-year schools and then put money into Kentucky Southern, a new school, actually in Jefferson County--it was not in--not actually in the city limits of Louisville. Beautiful campus. Totally unrealistic.Glen Taul
388:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
389:00Because the state of Kentucky, the very next year--the next year, it must have
been--the mid-60s. The very next year, when Louie Nunn became Governor of Kentucky, the University of Louisville was taken into the state system and they cut the tuition in half.Glen Taul
390:00Oh!
J. Robert Snyder
391:00And Northern was started and that was a totally new competitor up there.
Glen Taul
392:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
393:00Four year university in that area.
Glen Taul
394:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
395:00So we were lucky to be a alive. [laughter] You know. Enrollment, it sort of
stabilized, I don't think it really dropped a lot, it sort of stabilized. Probably because of the--the federal programs that came in--during the Lyndon Johnson, the Great Society stuff. Where you had all kinds of things you didn't have before, such as work study, national direct student loans. And--.Glen Taul
396:00So, they were basically replacing what the GI Bill did?
J. Robert Snyder
397:00Yeah, and better. It was actually better.. The GI Bill, you didn't make any
money off that. That was about $100 a month. That's all you got.Glen Taul
398:00And that was supposed to pay for housing--.
J. Robert Snyder
399:00Everything.
Glen Taul
400:00--Books.
J. Robert Snyder
401:00Everything.
Glen Taul
402:00everything.
J. Robert Snyder
403:00Sure.
Glen Taul
404:00What kind of entertainment did--did y'all have on campus?
J. Robert Snyder
405:00Well, we every dorm, especially Rucker, and the sororities and others had all
kinds of socials and meetings, and didn't have dances.Glen Taul
406:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
407:00I don't think we ever felt--we really worried about that. Hay rides and, you
were in your group or another group and the interaction was there, you didn't have to date particularly because, I was in the chapel choir.Glen Taul
408:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
409:00Which I--we--everybody got to know each other. We took trips all over the
country. So I don't think--I never really, there were some astounding (??) events, even in athletics. I'll telling Billy Brannock (??). I don't know if you ever talked to him.Glen Taul
410:00Oh, yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
411:00Billy Brannock. I remember him. He's a fairly small fella. He was a halfback on
the football team. He was a veteran and they played Western Kentucky State Normal College out here, which is now Western Kentucky University, and nearly beat them. And they didn't have maybe 30 people on the team. The whole team was only about 30 people.Glen Taul
412:00Because each person played the offense and defense.
J. Robert Snyder
413:00Both ways. Both ways.
Glen Taul
414:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
415:00But, they nearly beat Western out. It was--the score was 12 to 6, was that I
remember, 12 or 13.Glen Taul
416:00That is almost beating them.
J. Robert Snyder
417:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
418:00And y'all didn't have the extra points back then. I guess you didn't have the
extra points?J. Robert Snyder
419:00No, they had extra points.
Glen Taul
420:00Oh they--.
J. Robert Snyder
421:00I don't remember what--what happened. But it was maybe 12, 13, to 6 or 7,
something like that. But it was a very--for-- it was an oustanding [chuckles] was--. The difference was that all the line were veterans --from the army and the Marine Corps and stuff.Glen Taul
422:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
423:00As was Billy. Maybe they had a few fresh, fresh faces [laughter] right out of
high school. But they were all you know, older people.Glen Taul
424:00So what was the track? I mean, how did the track program operate?
J. Robert Snyder
425:00With Brad we competed against--sometimes in triple. You know, you bring three
schools together. And I ran at Morehead, I ran at Berea. Not at Transy, I meant Centre. It was a schedule of schools from all over the state.Glen Taul
426:00Did--.
J. Robert Snyder
427:00All the events. Well, we had some--bad--some--that's one we had to do away with.
They had to javelin, used to the javelin and stopped that because we didn't have an accent here, but I think there was a boy killed in Kentucky someplace at that time. But the track out there was a 440 track.Glen Taul
428:00Now what is a 440 track?
J. Robert Snyder
429:00That's one turn around.
Glen Taul
430:00Okay,
J. Robert Snyder
431:00But, it was, it was a perfect, not what it is today, they've changed it.
Glen Taul
432:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
433:00It was a perfect 440. And then--he Mr. Porter had paid--I think he paid for the
building of 100 yard dash right here. It started there--it came right out this way. That was the 100 yard---.Glen Taul
434:00You mean, it started near the students center?
J. Robert Snyder
435:00Yeah. There was a 100 yards--track.
Glen Taul
436:00And it went out toward the Hinton Field?
J. Robert Snyder
437:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
438:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
439:00And they had--.
Glen Taul
440:00--And it was a straight shot?
J. Robert Snyder
441:00Yeah. 100 yards.
Glen Taul
442:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
443:00I think they ran the 220 there too, for 220, you had to go on out on the
football field.Glen Taul
444:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
445:00And they did the hurdles here too. So we don't do anything like that anymore. We
had low hurdles and we had high levels.Glen Taul
446:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
447:00On this track right here.
Glen Taul
448:00Were the tracks--I mean, what--what were they made of?
J. Robert Snyder
449:00This one was made of cinders.
Glen Taul
450:00The 100 yard dash--?
J. Robert Snyder
451:00Yeah, the 100 yard was cinders. The other one was dirt, primarily.
Glen Taul
452:00Primarily dirt.
J. Robert Snyder
453:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
454:00They didn't know about--.
J. Robert Snyder
455:00Asphalt. They just couldn't afford it. Eventually, they did.
Glen Taul
456:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
457:00It was blacktopped.
Glen Taul
458:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
459:00But--in my memory, it was mostly dirt. But--.
Glen Taul
460:00Is that?
J. Robert Snyder
461:00--You only ran the 440 and 890 and mile-- two mile, just those four, use the big
track. The big oblong track, yeah.Glen Taul
462:00How did he condition you, Brad Jones?
J. Robert Snyder
463:00He left it pretty much up to each individual.
Glen Taul
464:00Is that right?
J. Robert Snyder
465:00You--conditioned year-round. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
466:00Oh, you conditioned year-round.
J. Robert Snyder
467:00Yeah, oh, yeah. I ran--.
Glen Taul
468:00So he didn't give you any kind of guided program to.
J. Robert Snyder
469:00No.
Glen Taul
470:00I mean, you might do it on your own, but no guided program to get into condition.
J. Robert Snyder
471:00No. No. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
472:00And you didn't practice together?
J. Robert Snyder
473:00We didn't do too much practicing together. Not--for what I did, I ran on the
railway, right away. That was the best place to do that. The Southern Railway right away was just excellent. It was cinders and it went for 10 miles out here.Glen Taul
474:00Oh, okay.
J. Robert Snyder
475:00And just to get--you get out there and ran as hard as--long as you could stay
up. That was the way to get in condition.Glen Taul
476:00Okay, so you didn't go lifting weights or--.
J. Robert Snyder
477:00Not for those races.
Glen Taul
478:00--Of that kind?
J. Robert Snyder
479:00No.
Glen Taul
480:00So, that's how you basically conditioned yourself, you just ran long distances--.
J. Robert Snyder
481:00Right.
Glen Taul
482:00--As hard as you could.
J. Robert Snyder
483:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
484:00Every day?
J. Robert Snyder
485:00Well, a few days, it took eight laps, around the track for two mile.
Glen Taul
486:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
487:00And you'd run that 8 times. The mile was 4 times.
Glen Taul
488:00Right.
J. Robert Snyder
489:00880 was two and 440 was four.
Glen Taul
490:00I guess that standard had never changed for--no--for telling when.
J. Robert Snyder
491:00That's based on meters. The mile is a U.S., American invention, to be honest
about it.Glen Taul
492:00Usually, I understand that the inner lane is a forth a mile around.
J. Robert Snyder
493:00Right. Right.
Glen Taul
494:00And then of course, the outer lanes would be a little bit greater--.
J. Robert Snyder
495:00--And he had lanes marked off.
Glen Taul
496:00Oh, even on the cinders in the dirt?
J. Robert Snyder
497:00I'm not sure it went all the way around, maybe at the starting. Where they--you
started right out here in front of the football stadium.Glen Taul
498:00So, it really didn't matter if you were in lanes or not, when you were competing
the two mile--.J. Robert Snyder
499:00Not in all the races races, no it didn't make any difference. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
500:00Everybody has jostling for position.
J. Robert Snyder
501:00Well, you just spread out. [laughter] It never was a problem though. [laughter]
Glen Taul
502:00How--if you were running a track, how was your strategy as far as trying to win?
Was there a strategy?J. Robert Snyder
503:00Yeah, the strategy, you just, you got it in your mind, I was just thinking about
this a while ago, I was out there walking. You've got in your mind that you're not gonna think about it. You just do what you have to do. As long as you can hold out. [chuckles]Glen Taul
504:00As long as you--so you don't really try to pace yourself in any kind of way?
J. Robert Snyder
505:00And, of course--primarily, the strategy was to--in what I did was seven laps
around and on the forth one is where you tried to kick.Glen Taul
506:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
507:00Maybe the half--half way.
Glen Taul
508:00So, you just really, basically try to keep in position--.
J. Robert Snyder
509:00Right.
Glen Taul
510:00--For seven laps, near the front.
J. Robert Snyder
511:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
512:00If you're--if you don't want to really take the lead maybe.
J. Robert Snyder
513:00Not really, no.
Glen Taul
514:00In the early stages.
J. Robert Snyder
515:00You didn't worry about leads, just so you stayed up there. And then--.
Glen Taul
516:00Somewhere in position where you could kick--.
J. Robert Snyder
517:00And it's the last, everybody else would start falling out, [chuckles] exhausted.
Glen Taul
518:00Yeah--well--.
J. Robert Snyder
519:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
520:00--Did many people come out to see track and field events?
J. Robert Snyder
521:00Well, there wasn't a lot else to do on the campus, so you know, yeah, sure, sure.
Glen Taul
522:00I didn't know--.
J. Robert Snyder
523:00--It was right her.
Glen Taul
524:00Right out here.
J. Robert Snyder
525:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
526:00So everybody--.
J. Robert Snyder
527:00Well, maybe a couple hundred here and there. But, all the athletics, football,
basketball, basketball, everything, track, was right here.Glen Taul
528:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
529:00Within eyeshot.
Glen Taul
530:00What was the se--when was the season?
J. Robert Snyder
531:00tTack was usually in the spring.
Glen Taul
532:00Okay. So it really hasn't changed all that much as far as--.
J. Robert Snyder
533:00No--I'm really--I really wish we had kept it. But that was another expense they
didn't want to do, I guess in a new stadium.Glen Taul
534:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
535:00The space is there, by the way.
Glen Taul
536:00If they can pick it up later.
J. Robert Snyder
537:00Well then, most schools are not interested in that. High schools do it, but most
colleges don't.Glen Taul
538:00They're into more soccer now, I guess.
J. Robert Snyder
539:00Soccer.
Glen Taul
540:00That--that--.
J. Robert Snyder
541:00For the kids--
Glen Taul
542:00---To sort of replace track.
J. Robert Snyder
543:00The high school students, soccer--soccer's a tough sport.
Glen Taul
544:00Yeah. It is.
J. Robert Snyder
545:00Well, we do it for both men and women. See, you didn't track for women back
then. You didn't have a whole lot of women's sports period.Glen Taul
546:00Well, what were the women's sports in the--when you were here?
J. Robert Snyder
547:00I don't think they had basketball--or any of those things.
Glen Taul
548:00I was noticing in the early annuals of Georgetown, like the early 1900s, that
women did have basketball.J. Robert Snyder
549:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
550:00--And they had tennis.
J. Robert Snyder
551:00Women's golf--.
Glen Taul
552:00And--
J. Robert Snyder
553:00There was a field hockey field--it was a field behind Rucker Hall, where they
had field hockey or something too.Glen Taul
554:00For women?
J. Robert Snyder
555:00Yeah, Rucker Hall was sort of self--contained then--they were over there.
Glen Taul
556:00I know.
J. Robert Snyder
557:00There was a build room called Eupian (??) Hall, which was for drama and speech,
and I mean, it's not very big, but it was--it served its purpose. The cafeteria was in--in the east side, so called Bristow (??) Hall. And they had to--it was virtually a small college in itself.Glen Taul
558:00Did--you were mentioning about that you didn't have a cafeteria when you came.
Where did the students eat? Their meals.J. Robert Snyder
559:00Well, the--there was a grill, sort of a hamburger place in--but that was with
the bookstore in the army building--between John L. Hill Chapel and Giddings.Glen Taul
560:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
561:00I there was a grill. I guess that's--and a lot of them ate in the homes where
they boarded.Glen Taul
562:00So, a lot of students boarded?
J. Robert Snyder
563:00Yeah, and sometimes--we didn't do that but, sometimes they ate there too. You
got that as a package. [chuckles]Glen Taul
564:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
565:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
566:00Well, that's why they used to call them boarding houses.
J. Robert Snyder
567:00Right.
Glen Taul
568:00Isn't it.
J. Robert Snyder
569:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
570:00Were you ever, now I noticed in the annual that you were president of the KA.
J. Robert Snyder
571:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
572:00That year.
J. Robert Snyder
573:00Yeah--my one year.
Glen Taul
574:00Now had did that get to--how did you get that position?
J. Robert Snyder
575:00Nobody else wanted it.
Glen Taul
576:00Nobody else wanted it?
J. Robert Snyder
577:00Right, yeah.
Glen Taul
578:00Well, what was the reputation of the Kappa Alphas--on campus when you were here?
J. Robert Snyder
579:00Well, it wasn't too bad--that--they did have their parties off campus but nobody
really thought about drinking parties and. They have had a dance, over at Joyland or something like that.Glen Taul
580:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
581:00You--pretty serious, I think now. Everybody's trying to stay in school and
survive and--and get through. You didn't worry about that.Glen Taul
582:00what was their mascot or whatever. Is it anything like it is today?
J. Robert Snyder
583:00No, they didn't mess with the Southern stuff too much, no. The--Robert E. Lee's
birthday and having parties dressed up like Confederate soldiers. Well, they do now, Big South. No, they didn't have any of that stuff, yeah.Glen Taul
584:00So, it was a pretty serious thing.
J. Robert Snyder
585:00Well, and they didn't worry about homecoming and you know, a lot--half the guys
were veterans.Glen Taul
586:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
587:00And they were way beyond that kind of stuff. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
588:00Okay. They had enough partying [laughs] during the war.
J. Robert Snyder
589:00Well, they wanted, they were on GI Bill and they wanted to graduate and you
know, they didn't stay out all night.Glen Taul
590:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
591:00At all hours of the night. You know, they were here to get out. [chuckles]
Glen Taul
592:00Now, the house that they lived in.
J. Robert Snyder
593:00Right.
Glen Taul
594:00Did you ever live--you never did live there?
J. Robert Snyder
595:00No. No
Glen Taul
596:00Did--did some of the KAs live there?
J. Robert Snyder
597:00Oh, yeah sure, about maybe 30.
Glen Taul
598:00Was at that the largest on campus?
J. Robert Snyder
599:00I suspect the Pi Kap House has the biggest.
Glen Taul
600:00The Pi Kap House.
J. Robert Snyder
601:00Yeah, it was right out in front of the president's house.
Glen Taul
602:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
603:00Across the street there.
Glen Taul
604:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
605:00That's-- a pretty good sized building.
Glen Taul
606:00Okay, what was their reputation on campus?
J. Robert Snyder
607:00About the same. They were all about the same. The LCAs were up the street. They were--.
Glen Taul
608:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
609:00--All about the--there wasn't a whole lot of difference.
Glen Taul
610:00Was there any independents?
J. Robert Snyder
611:00Oh yeah--
Glen Taul
612:00Social clubs.
J. Robert Snyder
613:00No--not---no, well, the BSU, [Baptist Student Union] groups like that. Most of
the student body were independent. You know, they were not in the Greeks.Glen Taul
614:00Oh, so the--.
J. Robert Snyder
615:00Oh, yeah.
Glen Taul
616:00--Independents made up most of the--the. Yeah. Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
617:00Of course, Rucker Hall was--that's where the girls were. All were there--.
Glen Taul
618:00And then you had Pawling Hall, that was the men's. The was the only--Pawling
Hall was the only men's dorm on campus--.J. Robert Snyder
619:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
620:00--At the time.
J. Robert Snyder
621:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
622:00Bcause Anderson wasn't built until after you left?
J. Robert Snyder
623:001957.
Glen Taul
624:00Yeah. Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
625:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
626:00So, you had Pawling Hall--was it still--Pawling Hall still meant for ministerial
students or was it just?J. Robert Snyder
627:00Most of them were here, yeah. This was mostly ministerial, not all of them.
Glen Taul
628:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
629:00And then you had the Sigma Kappas and the KDs [Kappa Delta] . Sigma Kappa Houses
was over on Main Street. Right--.Glen Taul
630:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
631:00--Next to the president and the KD house was on Estill Court.
Glen Taul
632:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
633:00And then you had the three fraternities. The KAs [Kappa Alpha] were down here on
South Hamilton. But Pi Kaps [Pi Kappa Alpha] are on--on Main Street--and Chambers Avenue.Glen Taul
634:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
635:00And the LCAs were about a half a block up the street.
Glen Taul
636:00Now, hat were the LCAs?
J. Robert Snyder
637:00Oh, well, they were just another fraternity. Yeah, about halfway.
Glen Taul
638:00Was that a Greek fraternity?
J. Robert Snyder
639:00Yeah, sure.
Glen Taul
640:00Oh, okay.
J. Robert Snyder
641:00Men. Men.
Glen Taul
642:00Okay. Okay. I didn't realize--I'd never heard of LCAs.
J. Robert Snyder
643:00Oh, well--they're still open.
Glen Taul
644:00I was ready--I was ready to get them--call them the Ladies Christian
Association. [laughs]J. Robert Snyder
645:00No--there's they have a building over here now still.
Glen Taul
646:00Oh, okay.
J. Robert Snyder
647:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
648:00Okay. So, you lived at home? You--and so and you were in walking distance?
J. Robert Snyder
649:00Oh, absolutely. Sure.
Glen Taul
650:00Of home, so that really made it nice.
J. Robert Snyder
651:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
652:00The--what some of the other, Dr. Hill started this building program, and I
think, and of course, John L. Chapel is his main--.J. Robert Snyder
653:00Right.
Glen Taul
654:00Project.
J. Robert Snyder
655:00Right.
Glen Taul
656:00Getting it done and then--.
J. Robert Snyder
657:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
658:00Georgetown didn't have a science center until the 60s. Right, so they--all they
had was those barracks down in the southeast.J. Robert Snyder
659:00Well, physics was in the bottom of--basement of Giddings.
Glen Taul
660:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
661:00And math was in what we call Highbaugh Hall, today. That was math upstairs.
Glen Taul
662:00Did you--.
J. Robert Snyder
663:00Foreign language--
Glen Taul
664:00--Have classes in Highbaugh?
J. Robert Snyder
665:00Yeah, sure. Math was--had one room upstairs.
Glen Taul
666:00Okay. Now when I was here, I thought they had two rooms upstairs.
J. Robert Snyder
667:00Well there might--there were a lot of rooms--.
Glen Taul
668:00--I had a literature class.
J. Robert Snyder
669:00Yeah, right. There were other classrooms, but that one room had been
Rucker's--Professor Rucker's classroom.Glen Taul
670:00Is that right?
J. Robert Snyder
671:00For fifty years.
Glen Taul
672:00I didn't realize that.
J. Robert Snyder
673:00Then Dr. Hatfield took that room over.
Glen Taul
674:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
675:00Yeah. That was math.
Glen Taul
676:00So, he taught in that building?
J. Robert Snyder
677:00Right?
Glen Taul
678:00Oh, that's--.
J. Robert Snyder
679:00I never didn't take any biology, but biology was in that army barracks,
building. In the far corner, as was the business by the--all the business classes were down there too.Glen Taul
680:00Okay, what was the library facilities like?
J. Robert Snyder
681:00Well, the main library had burned right next door, had burned in 1930.
Glen Taul
682:00Right.
J. Robert Snyder
683:00Some books--that--it was a slow burn, it was not, like we think of in a a big
fire, kind of thing. It burned that entire day. So, they were able to get in there and get out a good bit of it. And it was put in, what was called The Arts and Crafts Building. That's where the Ensor Libr--learning resource--where your office is.Glen Taul
684:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
685:00There was a building--a very substantial building was sitting there, called the
Arts and Crafts Building.Glen Taul
686:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
687:00It was really built for machinery [chuckles] to produce cloth and--it had looms
and things for the students to work and go to school.Glen Taul
688:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
689:00On the Berea College model, that was their model, it never worked.
Glen Taul
690:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
691:00But, that building was sitting there, so they took the--the books they had left,
maybe 20,000 of them. It was a pretty good chunk, and they put them on the main floor.Glen Taul
692:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
693:00Of that building downstairs, the was religion--there was religion class, that
was the religion classroom. And upstairs on the third, the third floor, I guess originally, it was the periodicals, bound periodicals and things like that. So it wasn't a very big operation, it was enough. We--didn't worry about it that much. And the--Virginia Covington was the librarian throughout that whole period of time.Glen Taul
694:00During your time.
J. Robert Snyder
695:00Oh, yeah.
Glen Taul
696:00--Of course she was during my time.
J. Robert Snyder
697:00Yeah, sure.
Glen Taul
698:00Also, what was she like, in your day? Here?
J. Robert Snyder
699:00Well, I got along with a real well, she was very--.
Glen Taul
700:00What kind of personality she had have?
J. Robert Snyder
701:00Outgoing, sometimes authoritarian, [chuckles] which you had to be to run that
build--that kind of operation down there. But she was--she was right on you in every room and made sure that it was quiet and studying. And with the limited resources that she had, I thought she did a pretty good job. Everything considered, I never felt the need to go anywhere else, actually. On the internet [laughter], didn't have anything like that. No, it was good.Glen Taul
702:00What was the scientific equipment like, do you think?
J. Robert Snyder
703:00Wellm, physics was the one that was--probably could be criticized because it was
basically in two rooms in the bas--basement of Giddings But he was H.Y. Mulligan (??) was a very innovative, creative person. And he brought astronomy to the campus and we had--for the basic experiments we were doning, it was probably enough. And up on the third floor of Giddings were the chemistry labs. I never took chemistry. But they were very creative. Dr. Alexander was the head--did that. He actually converted the fourth floor of Giddings into a lab. That was a chemistry lab.Glen Taul
704:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
705:00We call the Deans Room.
Glen Taul
706:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
707:00That was a chemistry lab that he actually built himself.
Glen Taul
708:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
709:00So it was--the basics were there. It wasn't anything you know, there was a
problem of create--new machinery and inventions and I guess today, but the basics were there, yeah.Glen Taul
710:00Okay. Okay. Were you at the dedication ceremony for the chapel?
J. Robert Snyder
711:00Yeah, sure.
Glen Taul
712:00What was it like?
J. Robert Snyder
713:00Well, it went on a whole week, that's in my book. The--that was an experience
because Dr. [Samuel] Hill tried to bring in top leaders of the Baptist denomination from all over the country. And I remember John L Hill, he was a very distinguished, had white hair. He maybe have been five nine or so, but he was a bulk of a man, big head. And he was--the--he was the first Dean of Georgetown College, when he left. And he became the book editor, an official in the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville. And he taught a Sunday school class for women, which had several hundred women in it. I think it's the First Baptist Church of Nashville.Glen Taul
714:00It was.
J. Robert Snyder
715:00And when he came up for the dedication, those women came with him. A busloads of
them, came up here with him--at--when he spoke. And I think they may have had the president of the Baptist World Alliance, you know, it went on and on there for an entire week. As a church--related exercise which you can, obviously the building was intended as a chapel type church, stained glass windows and all the rest of it. So, it was--and the choir--our choirs were great. The music was great and it was--it was a grand experience.Glen Taul
716:00Now, did your chorale sing there?
J. Robert Snyder
717:00Oh, yeah, sure.
Glen Taul
718:00What were the interior decoration or interior like? We had the stained glass
window, but?J. Robert Snyder
719:00Oh, yeah. Well, there were some basic problems with the design of the building,
which we're gonna have to correct to--came out of (??) The aisles--there was one big aisle down the middle.Glen Taul
720:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
721:00And everybody's complained about that because when the speaker gets up, he's
talking to the aisle. [chuckles]Glen Taul
722:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
723:00What he sees is the big, huge aisle, like a--for a wedding or something.
Glen Taul
724:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
725:00Right up the middle there. And the, the heating system was always a problem. And
the--the sash waist (??) didn't work downstairs, it floods down in the basement even yet still. It was not--there was a problem with that. But it's a substantial building, there's no doubt about that.Glen Taul
726:00rRght.
J. Robert Snyder
727:00And it was built--as a--I think as a philosophy was then, as an extension of the
Kentucky Baptist Convention.Glen Taul
728:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder
729:00Church, that's what it was for.
Glen Taul
730:00Where do you think they got the architect from--I mean, the architecture style
of the buidling.J. Robert Snyder
731:00Well--it's basic church architecture.
Glen Taul
732:00Southern Baptist Church architecture? [chuckles]
J. Robert Snyder
733:00I don't remember where--
Glen Taul
734:00For the 50s?
J. Robert Snyder
735:00Yeah, out of the 50s, that steeple and everything. Sure.
Glen Taul
736:00I remember, it seems like from my childhood, and I grew--well, my first ten
years of life was in the 50s.J. Robert Snyder
737:00Yeah.
Glen Taul
738:00That it seemed like the Southern Baptist Convention, they had the services, they
offered churches if they'd ever build one.J. Robert Snyder
739:00Oh, yeah, sure. Architectural.
Glen Taul
740:00Yeah. And it seems like it was sort of--. Like that. --Something like this.
J. Robert Snyder
741:00Yeah, the--this has the false columns on the front, which sometimes, you had the
real columns, real white. Grecian, actually (??)Glen Taul
742:00Style.
J. Robert Snyder
743:00Ionic forms there. I think this is more Corinthian.
Glen Taul
744:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
745:00The--this is a sort of a false pause in the front, that's the only fusion (??)
The main building itself probably was a standard form, yeah. When it started, but then as they went along, then they had to, add--they put all these things in, like the basement rooms and the offices up the back and all that stuff.Glen Taul
746:00Is that a--because they were starting to get--they got money in.
J. Robert Snyder
747:00Right, or getting bigger, enrollment, sure. The enrollment doubled, actually
enrolled--when that was started in 1946 or so, it probably was sufficien,t but the enrollment doubled within 46-'47. Yeah.Glen Taul
748:00Interesting.
J. Robert Snyder
749:00Now, actually, it's too small today.
Glen Taul
750:00We need it bigger.
J. Robert Snyder
751:00I don't think anybody had any idea that we would be as big as we are now, yeah.
It's more like they were figuring, oh, 500, 600Glen Taul
752:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
753:00And then we're about 1,700, so.
Glen Taul
754:00Yeah. Which is amazing, isn't it?
J. Robert Snyder
755:00Oh, it's amazing we survived.
Glen Taul
756:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
757:00Because the competition is--fierce.
Glen Taul
758:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
759:00It's just absolutely fierce---.
Glen Taul
760:00Hard.
J. Robert Snyder
761:00The other schools in our immediate area. Yeah.
Glen Taul
762:00What do you--when you think about today, it's Georgetown's mission as it--and
compare it to the mission that when you came as a student, how's it different? Or is it any different?J. Robert Snyder
763:00it has moved in the direction [clears throat] of secular education, I.don't
think there's any doubt about that too. But in, we were influenced by things that we didn't have any control over, such as the government's programs for scholarships, and the government regulations on teacher certification was a major change. During that same period of time, the State of Kentucky literally took over certification. And they laid down the law, out of Frankfort. And we got into the teacher education business in a big way, especially in 1950, when we went to a master's program in education, which today. I don't see anything wrong with that, actually, I think it's the best blend of arts and science, Christian, you know, the teaching. But, it crosses sort of a thin line in there, a separation of church and state, but that became a big function. Athletics became a big function as it is today, we're competitive, you know, nationally, in that stuff. And tat sort of thing, and is that related to Christian education, you can argue it, and we'd furnished business people and you know, teacher and lawyers of every form. We'd be--I think we drifted away though from the--from--at that time, there was never any doubt that this was a Kentucky Baptist college, never any doubit. The trustees were picked by the Kentucky Baptist Convention.Glen Taul
764:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder
765:00The president was always more of a theology, usually came out of seminary school.
Glen Taul
766:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
767:00That stopped [clears throat] in 1960. And the teachers, at least the department
heads, were required to be members of Kentucky Baptist churches. Not all the faculty necessarily, but--.Glen Taul 1:
768:00Right.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
769:00There was a--there was a rule, sort of an un--a tradition.
Glen Taul 1:
770:00An unwritten rule.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
771:00Which the trustees enforced. That's not true today. But--there's nothing wrong
with it, if we were--this school were to survive, that's what they had to do they had to--Glen Taul 1:
772:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
773:00--Meet the demand--and for some--but there had to be something here for the kids
to do, right?Glen Taul 1:
774:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
775:00To take--for something---to go on to have a job.
Glen Taul 1:
776:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
777:00The blend is moved away more from the traditional liberal arts, honestly. To
arts and sciences, business, education,Glen Taul 1:
778:00Yeah. Okay.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
779:00Athletic--subsidized athletics. [chuckles]
Glen Taul 1:
780:00--Now that you--what was the role of and we don't have too much tape left, what
was the role of athletics in your day, as far as overall philosophy of the college?J. Robert Snyder 1:
781:00I think we were trying to compete competitively within our class and at that
time, believe it or not, that and--wasn't so far (??) We used to play Louisville, Eastern, Western, maybe once. Eastern in basketball--Morehead, used to play Morehead--.Glen Taul 1:
782:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
783:00--In basketball all the time. And we played UK in the 20s, quit that in about
1930. But there were smaller athletic operations. You didn't have the massive UK Athletics. And we were trying to provide an attraction for men to come here.Glen Taul 1:
784:00Okay.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
785:00To play athletic--the blend of athletics and education was a part, was a
tradition within the American educational community.Glen Taul 1:
786:00Right.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
787:00College community.
Glen Taul 1:
788:00Right.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
789:00Sure. And we were right in that. [laughter]
Glen Taul 1:
790:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
791:00We were right in there. We did a good job--they did a good job.
Glen Taul 1:
792:00Well, and it sure has advanced from just playing high schools and when we first
started football--.J. Robert Snyder 1:
793:00Yeah.
Glen Taul 1:
794:00--In the 1890s. [laughs]
J. Robert Snyder 1:
795:00Oh, we played everybody we even played in the--Miami, Florida. 1925, in the
Orange Bowl. It was same field not--.Glen Taul 1:
796:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
797:00--Didn't have the stadium.
Glen Taul 1:
798:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
799:00But, had the same field.
Glen Taul 1:
800:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
801:00The University of Miami. We used to play Cincinnati. Schools--.
Glen Taul 1:
802:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
803:00--From all over the place.
Glen Taul 1:
804:00Yeah.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
805:00And--.
Glen Taul 1:
806:00Of course, that was in the infancy--of college football.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
807:00Oh, yeah, and was really not subsidized, like it is now.
Glen Taul 1:
808:00Yeah, and it's not big business. [laughs] It wasn't big business back then.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
809:00Well--it was business, to a certain point.
Glen Taul 1:
810:00Yeah, but not like it is today.
J. Robert Snyder 1:
811:00No, no.
Glen Taul 1:
812:00Not like them?
J. Robert Snyder 1:
813:00Yeah.
Glen Taul 1:
814:00Well, let's turn it off. This is an unrehearsed interview with J. Robert Snyder,
class of 1953. On September the 18th, in his office of Pawling Hall at Georgetown College. It was done as part of a project funded by the Kentucky Oral History Commission. 815:00