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Printed From North Texas e-News == ntxe-news.com Lifestyles In the June 29, 1921 Bonham ISD school board meeting many issues were discussed: hiring teachers, buildings, budget concerns, etc. Another key item was the resignation of the interim superintendent, I.W. Evans. The board decided that a logical replacement for Evans would be Bonham High School's principal, L.H. Rather. In the following day's Bonham Daily Favorite, Evans was quoted as saying that he resigned because Bonham schools had "an unpromising financial outlook" due to the City of Bonham's reduced property valuations.
Undaunted by Evans's gloomy forecast, Rather took the reigns of the Bonham Independent School District. His starting salary was $2,600.00 for the year.
Louis Herbert Rather was born on August 5, 1888 in the little central Texas town of Nolanville, located between Temple and Killeen, to John T. and Nettie Rather. (I have to admit that the name Nettie is a best guess on my part; census takers didn't always have the best handwriting.)
Rather's family was a relatively mobile group. The 1900 census shows them living in Copperas Cove, and the 1910 shows them living a little farther east in Belton with John T. as a bank clerk, and Nettie with the formidable task of housewife.
In a biographical sketch of her husband prepared many years ago for her children and grandchildren, Rather's wife, Juanita, wrote that when L.H. was a youngster he delivered the Houston Post "by foot" in the Belton area, and later worked after school at a local drugstore to earn money.
Internet records show that Rather graduated from Belton High School in 1906. (Those records also show that many, if not all, Rather children managed to graduate high school. That was no small feat in the early twentieth century, perhaps indicating that education was highly stressed in the Rather household.)
Rather then borrowed one hundred dollars in order to start classes at the University of Texas at Austin. "Of course," wrote Mrs. Rather, "he had to work, so he tutored other students, pressed their pants and finally worked for the school newspaper, The Daily Texan . . . ending up as assistant editor."
In late 1910, before finishing his classes and getting a degree, L.H. Rather hopped a train for Bonham, having been hired to teach English and History at Bonham High School. In a telephone interview with the author, L.H. Rather Jr. stated that his father wanted to start earning extra money to help put a couple of his siblings through college as well.
The Bonham that Rather saw when he first arrived was, obviously, quite different from today. Most folks still got around by horse and buggy, or they used the trolley car that traveled north-south on Main Street. Erwin Smith might be seen snapping some of his now-legendary photographs of old Bonham. The regal 1888 courthouse was at the center of the square, and Bonham High School was a three-story brick structure located where the Sam Rayburn Library is now.
According to his wife's biography, Rather further busied himself while working at Bonham High finishing his course work at UT Austin, managing to get his Bachelor of Arts degree by June 1917.
1917 also marked the year that the United States entered World War I. Rather was required to register for possible military service. Both his Registration Card and the Registrar's Report stated that he was "blind in left eye". (In our phone conversation, L.H. Rather Jr. stated that he had no knowledge of such blindness. Perhaps the military got it wrong? Or, maybe the military's definition of "blindness" was actually just a partial loss of vision.)
The 1920 census shows that Rather's residence in Bonham was a rooming house on West Sixth Street that belonged to J.W. and Macie Lowry. Rather's younger brother of six years, Nathaniel Hawthorne Rather – a name sure to warm the hearts of American Literature fans - was also staying there. The census taker listed him as a teacher/lawyer. Did Nathaniel perhaps teach in Bonham? It's not easy to say because relevant yearbooks are missing. Moreover, Bonham ISD record books from that period are incomplete.
As noted in the opening paragraphs, by 1921 Rather was appointed superintendent of Bonham Schools. In an extensive research paper entitled "A History of Bonham, Texas," Bonham High School's American History Class of 1928-29 wrote the following about Rather's time as superintendent:
During his administration much advancement was attained toward making Bonham schools among the best. Mr. Rather shortened the period of study from four o'clock until three-fifteen in order to give the teachers a chance to help the pupils in their work and made it possible that one credit should be received for the study of domestic art instead of one-half credit, as had been the case. Quite a number of additional credits were (also) obtained.
June 29, 1927, was a very busy day for L.H. Rather. Family records indicate that was the day that he married Juanita Burnett, a Bonhamite who had been working for some time as his secretary. Moreover, at the school board meeting that evening he announced his resignation as superintendent, exactly six years from the day he was hired for the job, in order to take a position in the private business world.
With their bags packed, L.H. and Juanita Rather moved to Houston so he could accept a position with the Star Engraving company. According to Mrs. Rather's biography, it was a company started by some of L.H.'s friends "who used to sell rings, diplomas and invitations and yearbooks to the Bonham schools." According to the current owner of Star Engraving, John Stephens, Rather assisted in the marketing of school-related items.
In 1930 they became parents with the birth of their only child, Louis Herbert Rather Jr. (Education was apparently stressed again, for LHR Jr. became an architect.)
L.H. Rather's years with Star Engraving were apparently good ones. He stayed with the company as a manager and vice president for over thirty-eight years. Record books show that from the late 1920s to the 1960s Bonham ISD was a regular Star Engraving customer, no doubt due to Rather's influence.
Although Rather's time in Bonham lasted only seventeen years, and although he was gone for almost forty years, his influence and popularity continued to be felt here until the end of his life. It was due largely to the fact that he and his wife made it a point to make all of the Bonhi reunions they could. This was especially important to Mrs. Rather inasmuch as she was a BHS graduate (Class of 1921), and it gave L.H. the opportunity to keep up with former students and fellow employees.
In June 1965 a major reunion of Bonhi exes was organized. Many former superintendents were invited to speak, including L.H. Rather. For Rather the reunion must have been a most happy affair since his years in Bonham, according to his wife, "were some of the happiest in his life."
Almost sixty years after its namesake first stepped off the train in Bonham, L.H. Rather Junior High opened its doors to students with the beginning of the 1967-68 schoolyear. Devastated by fire just ten years later, it was quickly rebuilt and currently enjoys the status of a TEA Recognized school. L.H. Rather would no doubt be proud.
I would like to thank the following people for aiding in my research: Kim Burpo of the Sam Rayburn Library for getting the whole process started; the ladies behind the desk at the Bonham Public Library, their value cannot be overstated; Mr. Ricky Gatlin, Debbie Horton and Freda Simpson at the Bonham ISD administration building; Suzie Henderson and Susan Hawkins with internet research.
Last, but by no means least, Mr. L.H. Rather Jr., for patiently enduring my many intrusions and questions. © Copyright 2002-2005 by North Texas e-News, llc. |
