<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Oral History</TITLE> <META NAME="author" CONTENT=""> <META NAME="generator" CONTENT="NoteTab Pro 4.8"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Oral History"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Oral History"> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#99CC99"> <center><H1>Sammy Joe Gillespie</H1> <img src= "Porch.jpg" width=350 alt="Sammy (left) with brother and father (date unk.)"> <H1>Pleasanton, Texas</H1> <H1>March 16, 2007</H1> <H2>Shaunette Gillespie</H2> <H2>Palo Alto College</H2> <H2>History 1302 - Spring 2007</H2></center> <P>&nbsp;</P> <H1><B><CENTER>INTRODUCTION</CENTER></B></H1> Sammy Gillespie was born October 26, 1954 to Truxton Manning Gillespie and Grace Merrily Kosub. He was raised as a child in <a href="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/LL/hll36.html">Leming, Texas</a> with five other siblings. He later moved a short distance to the outskirts of Pleasanton, Texas when he was married to Bernadette Marie Koerber and had two daughters and a son. He is a high school graduate who has worked in construction his entire life. Him and three brothers are the founders of Gillespie Brothers Construction. He was raised a Catholic and considers himself to be in the low-middle class. He enjoys hobbies of being outdoors including hunting, fishing, and camping. <P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <H1><B><CENTER>TRANSCRIPTION</CENTER></B></H1> What was the house you grew up in like? <br> <B><I>It was a old house. I went up to about, oh probably about eight or nine years old before we had an indoor bathroom, and in the summer we would take a shower under the <a href="http://waltonfeed.com/old/cistern.html">cistern</a>, under the water well until we got the bathroom.</B></I><P> Describe a typical day as a child? <br> <B><I>In the summer we didn't have air conditioning so we spent all our time outside. I had a bunch of brothers and a sister so we were always playing some sort of game outside or else hunting or fishing. Watched very little T.V., so most of the time we spent outside.</B></I><P> What did you and your brothers and sister do for fun as a child? Name some activities or games that you played? <br> <B><I>We woud hunt and fish. Games we would make up our own, we weren't really into sports too much, so we played like rodeo. We would catch our mom's chickens and stuff and rope 'em and play rodeo, catch the roosers and stuff and act like we were in a rodeo. And just, we would play out on the railroad track a lot. There was like caverns and stuff in it, so we would just play in it.</B></I><P> What was your school like through the years and did most people your age attend? <br> <B><I>In elementary it was a small school. We could have some large classes because a lot of people that attended later in the year were migrant farm workers, so classes could get large and the schools were small, everybody knew each othe, until I got up to junior high and went to <a href="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/hfp4.html">Pleasanton</a> school and there was quite a few more people.</B></I><P> <CENTER><img src= "shopbig.jpg" width=350 alt="Sammy (4th from right in Pleasanton High School shop class"></CENTER><br> What type of work and responsibilities did you have in or aroundthe house and at what age? <br> <B><I>Well I can remember being in the second grade helping my dad with the home construction. During the summer and stuff we would work or in the evenings we would make our own money and up to eighth grade, I mean before the eighth grade I was even buying my own clothers and stuff, so we were fortunate enough that our dad was self-employed so we were able to work for him.</B></I><P> What were the occupations of your mom, dad, sister, and brothers? <br> <B><I>Well Mom was just a homemaker, she took care of all the kids in the house. Dad was in the contracting business, general contractor. When we were growing up, one brother was working at an auto mechanic shop and my sister worked at a convenience store that my aunt and uncle owned, and really the rest of us kids worked for our dad.</B></I><P> What type of food was available to you and your family? <br> <B><I>We were kinda on the poor side so we ate good, it was good food but you just you were rash...I mean we didn't go back for seconds or anything and there was just so much there and Mom would stretch out a pound of hamburger meat for eight people in the family but we had gardens and stuff, so we had good fresh produce always.</B></I><P> How was the weather like in most seasons? <br> <B><I>Summer, it was hot like it is now, seemed like it was hot and dry most of the time. The winte about like it is now, just some days were cold and other days were warm. I can't see were the climate has changed that much.</B></I><P> What are some major headlines that you remember growing up in Texas? <br> <B><I>I remember being in third grade and I couldn't understand why my teacher started crying when <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html">Kennedy</a> was shot. Whenever they launched space craft off itwas big news. It was always on T.V., now its no really big deal seem like. Vietnam War.</B></I><P> Did they have an effect on your life? <br> <B><I>Not that I could tell.</B></I><P> What was your view of <a href="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/LL/hll36.html">Leming, Texas</a>? <br> <B><I>It was a small country town, it was kinda divided at the time between mostly Hispanic, but we got along with everybody.</B></I><P> What was included in the town and how close was the neighorhood? <br> <B><I>There was a little gas station and a little convenience store and really that's about it. There wasn't really much.</B></I><P> How and what were you taught about Texas Histoy? <br> <B><I>I was just taught in school, I always enjoyed Texas History. I took it in high school even when it wasn't required and that's about it.</B></I><P> <CENTER><img src= "wedding2.jpg" width=300 alt="Sammy & Bernadette Gillespie Wedding Day (November 21, 1981)"></CENTER><br> Do you have anything to add? <br> <B><I>I could just say when we were growing up we were always on the poor side but we weren't unhappy. I could see we were just as happy then as we are now when I feel like I have a little more, so that's about it.</B></I><P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <CENTER><img src= "Car.jpg" width=300 alt="Sammy Gillespie (2005)"></CENTER> <H1><B><CENTER>ANALYSIS</CENTER></B></H1> I learned more about my father and more about his life in small town Texas. The most important points made in this interview were of his childhood and how he grew up. I knew most of what was aquired in this interview but I did learn more about the town itself. I took him but a short time to remember his past and he did use a lot of "um's" during the interview. These stories taught me more about small town Texas as a poor family may live. The benefits of learning abou the past through the interview process would be more personal stories that are told from someone who was actully a part of what they are talking about. The drawbacks would be only a first person point of view and either lost or untrue memories. Overall I believe this is an effective way to learn about the past because of the personal experience the interviwee had.<P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <H1><B><CENTER>ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY</CENTER></B></H1><P> <a href="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/LL/hll36.html">Leming, Texas</a><b> is <I>a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin.</I> It was produced in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association. Last Updated: May 6, 2004.<br><br> <a href="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/hfp4.html">Pleasanton, Texas</a> is <I>a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin.</I> It was produced in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association. Last Updated: May 6, 2004.<br><br> <a href="http://waltonfeed.com/old/cistern.html">Cistern</a><i> This is a site about a water well cistern.</i> Al Durtschi, E-mail: mark@waltonfeed.com ,Home Page: http://waltonfeed.com/,All contents copyright (C) 1996, Al Durtschi. All rights reserved.,This information may be used by you freely for non-commercial use with my name and E-mail address attached.,Revised: 2 May 96.<br><br> <a href="http://www.google.com/maps?q=Leming,+TX,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title">Map of Leming, Texas</a><i> This shows a map of Leming, Texas.</i><br><br> <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html">Kennedy</a><i> Biography of John F. Kennedy</i><br> <P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <!Link to a website--> <BR> <!--Break - takes text to next line--> <P> <!--Paragraph - skips a line--> <!img src="PHOTO.jpg" width=350 alt=""--> <!Insert a photo or picture--> <H1><B><CENTER></CENTER></B></H1> <CENTER><font size=+1> <A HREF="http://www.accd.edu/pac/faculty/hist1302/OHMain.htm">Return to Oral History Project</A></center> <script language="JavaScript"> //<!-var upDateupDate = document.last Modified;document.write("<P>Last updated on: " + upDate);//-> </script> </CENTER> <HR><SMALL>Created on September 11, 2002, Revised January 29, 2007</SMALL> </BODY> </HTML>