125 Year Archival Retrospective

(1907-1992)

Elithe Hamilton was born on the Big Sky Ranch at White Chapel, west of Coleman, Texas. Ms. Hamilton was a member of her high school debate team and the author of the class prophecy.  After she graduated from Coleman High School as Salutatorian in 1924, she continued her education at North Texas Teachers College (now the University of North Texas). In college Ms. Hamilton continued her participation in school activities. She was a member of the debate team. She was a charter member of the North Texas chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, which she served by being the secretary of the organization.   The local chapter was initiated into the national organization in 1928. She also edited the school’s newspaper, the Campus Chat (1928); was the president of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in 1927; member of the Pen-Type Club (composed college publications staff members and students of journalism); Yucca Staff, College Life Editor in 1927; member of the Dramatic Club; Alpha Psi Omega member; named “One in a Hundred, 1927-1928, as one of the 17 students deemed most valuable to the college; she was a member of the Dolphin Swimming Club; and member of the W. H. Bruce Scholarship Society and the Publications Council (made up of editors and business managers of the college publications). She won a poetry prize and submitted an example of her writing to the Avesta, the college’s literary journal in 1927. As part of the Lillie Bruce Dramatic Club, she took part in a production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida.” She was one of the supporting characters. However, she shared the stage with Rosebud Blondell, who went on to a career in Hollywood as Joan Blondell. Ms. Hamilton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1928.

Ms. Hamilton started her professional writing career while still a student. She published a series of articles in the Dallas Morning News on an experimental coeducational school in Fairhope, Alabama. Upon graduation she worked as a teacher at Mineral Wells High School and later Crane High School. She continued her writing career, working as the editor of the Democratic-Voice and working for the Brady Standard.

She married Roy Folk Beal in 1930. They had one son, James Benjamin Beal. She and Roy were divorced in 1935. After the divorce she worked at a variety of jobs, often holding positions as a teacher and journalist at the same time. She was a freelance writer for Texas Weekly, a publicist for the Texas Centennial, and worked at Iraan High School teaching radio writing and performance (1937-1939). In the late 1930s she worked for the Fort Worth Star Telegram. She also continued her education by enrolling in the University of Texas. She earned a master’s degree in English and education administration in 1940. She then worked for Radio House at the University of Texas, as a script editor, and at the Dallas Times Herald where she covered the Capitol in Austin.

Elithe married Roy DeFoe Kirkland, an osteopathic physician and surgeon, in 1947. They resided in Austin, Texas. Her marriage allowed her to concentrate on her writing. She published her first novel, Divine Average, in 1952. The book concerns the conflict between the Mexican and Anglo-Americans in south Texas from 1838 to 1858. Love is a Wild Assault was published in 1959. The book was based on the memoirs of Harriet Potter Ames, the wife of the secretary of the Texas Navy, Robert Potter. In 1982, A. C. Greene placed this book on his list of “Fifty Best Books of Texas.”  Her third novel, The Edge of Disrepute, would not be published until 1984. This work was set in New Orleans in 1846.

She worked with a co-author, Jenny Lind Porter, to write a book concerning reincarnation, On the Trellis of Memory: A Psychic Journey into Pre-history, in 1971.

She moved to Wimberley in 1985 and died there in 1992. She was buried in the Kirkland family cemetery on the Blanco River near Kyle, Texas.

Elithe Hamilton Kirkland was an author, playwright, teacher, historian, and newspaper reporter. Elithe Hamilton Kirkland was a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship of Evanston, Illinois.  She was inducted into the Texas Woman’s Hall of Fame in 1987.

Elithe Hamilton is pictured in the left image in the center with other members of the YMCA cabinet in the 1927 yearbook, The Yucca.

Elithe Hamilton’s Junior class picture as it appeared in the 1927 Yucca. She is on the left side, on up from the bottom.

Intercollegiate Debaters Albertine Berry and Elithe Hamilton in the 1927 Yucca.

Elith Hamilton was the editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, The Campus Chat. These pages were in the 1927 Yucca.  

Rosebud Blondell, later known as Joan Blondell, was pictured in the 1927 Yucca.

In the 1927 Yucca both Elithe Hamilton and Rosebud Blondell are pictured on the far left of the 3^rd and 4^th rows of the Dramatic Club page.

Dreams, and Whispers were poems by Elithe Hamilton was published in the Spring 1927 Avesta.

Elithe Hamilton appeared as a “College Favorite” in the 1927 Yucca.

A new structure, the Science and Technology Building, is being built on the corner of Mulberry and Avenue C. This is just a recent example of UNT’s focus on the sciences on the UNT campus. Forty-one years earlier another structure was built on Mulberry Street, this one on the corner of Avenue B. The Science Research Building opened in 1985, with 60,000 square feet spread over two floors. The architect was Preston Geren of Fort Worth.

The block where the building would sit was originally the site of single-family houses. Over the years the homes were replaced by small businesses and parking lots. At least one house was moved, by Littrell House Moving, to make room for the new science building.

Talks to build a structure for science research started under President Vandiver. However, the Coordinating Board was not willing to approve the building in 1980 because they felt the university was overbuilt. In 1981, the Board of Regents proposed a 60,000 square foot building. The Coordinating Board approved a 30,000 square foot building. Bruce Street, Board of Regents member, stated, “I am disappointed in the board’s decision, but I think their approval for a 30,000 square foot building was an important recognition on their part of the importance in updating NT’s research facilities.” [North Texas Daily, 1981-07-16]. The vice president of academic affairs, Howard Smith, referred to the Coordinating Board’s action as a preliminary approval. Dr. Smith said that the university planned to resubmit the request for the larger structure with an architect’s plan.

The Texas Legislature approved the construction of the larger Science Research Building in 1982. However, Governor Bill Clements asked that projects with legislative approval also had to receive Coordinating Board approval to proceed. UNT joined other colleges and universities in an appeal of the Clements’ rule. Waiting for the Texas attorney general to rule postponed the university’s request for construction bids.

Despite the difficulties getting the project approved, it finally got underway. The Science Research Building, one of four projects the university undertook in 1982, started before President Hurley’ s inauguration. The Great Southwest Construction Company was building the structure. The groundbreaking for the Science Research Building was held in the Administration Building (now the Hurley Administration Building) due to freezing weather. Two large dirt filled containers were placed in the building. President Hurley and members of the Board of Regents dug earth from those canisters.

The new building was planned to hold offices and laboratories for chemistry, physics, and biology departments and the Institute of Applied Sciences. The primary use of the space was for laboratories, each of which was equipped with an emergency shower and safety exhaust hoods. The exterior of the building was finished with large panels of bricks which were bolted on. Each panel had 96 bricks held together with steel rods and concrete.

The construction was not without controversy. Two workmen were fired from the project due to yelling, whistling, and harassing behavior toward women who walked past the construction site. 

By July 1984, the bulk of the construction was completed. The remaining work on the structure was on the interior and the grounds. The estimated finish date was the fall of 1984. Departments finished moving into the building in May 1985. The official opening took place in October 1985 with Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby as the featured speaker. “Our economic strength and health depend critically on the support of great institutions of higher education. In Texas, we have become dependent on oil revenues to support many of the things we want to do. For various reasons, oil revenues will become less dominant as time goes on, and we must find appropriate substitutes.”  Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby [North Texas Daily, 1985-10-23]

By 1995, Dr. Nora Bell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, stated that the Science Research Building “is full and bursting at the seams….” The structure has been targeted for renovations over the years. Renovations took place on the second floor which included mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades. The second floor was also altered to provide open space laboratories similar to those on the first floor.  In 2011 renovations of $12 million were used to expand the structure. The work reflected the increase of science faculty who in turn needed more science labs.  Renovations also took place during 2015-2017. This work focused on the laboratory space on the first floor. The exterior was also replaced due to deterioration. The building was given a new brick finish as well as façade changes.

The campus will continue to develop to provide growth opportunities for the sciences. Research was enhanced by the construction of the Science Research Building. The experiences with this structure will inform the expansion of science faculty and structures on campus.

The campus in the 1940s shows the Auditorium Building in the lower left. To the right of that building is the President’s House and across Avenue B is the block that would eventually house the Science Research Building.

This shows the campus at the time of the construction of the General Academic Building in 1977. It shows the block where the Science Research Building and the Chemistry Building would eventually be located. Originally, this block was covered with single family houses. At the time this image was taken, the houses had given way to small businesses and parking lots.

A campus aerial image that starts at the Performing Arts and Art Building and then looks west. The Science Research Building is on the right – to the right of the GAB.

Clubs were a popular way for students with common interests to meet on the North Texas State Teacher College (now the University of North Texas). Where to get together was the problem. In the 1920s two campus clubs, the Girl Scouts and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA,) joined forces to raise money for a common meeting place on campus. They ran a small store, known as the “Little Co-op,” in the basement of the Library (now known as Curry Hall). By 1925, they had raised $9,000 and set about buying a house just east of campus, on Avenue A and Sycamore. The house was purchased from Dr. Ruby Smith, of the Foreign Language Department, and R. W. Smith. By 1926, the house had been remodeled and opened as the College Club House. The first floor had a large living room, a kitchen, and bathroom. The living room was decorated with yellow and orange lamps, polished wood tables, and overstuffed divans and chairs. The second floor used the former bedrooms as meeting rooms. There was a porch which was decorated with red and green wicker furniture.  At the time there were 35 clubs on campus. All but two clubs used the house for meetings and events. The Mary Arden Club had their own house down the street from the club house. The Talons owned a house on West Oak and Welch.

Up until 1944 it was used as a temporary Union Building. The structure was called the Student Center. Once the first Union Building was opened in 1948-1949, the facility was used as the Men’s Building. By 1958-1959, the building was being called the Athletic Building. The structure was no longer on the aerial photograph of the campus in 1962. Parking lots replaced the houses on this block until the Speech and Drama Building (now the Radio, Television, Film and Performing Arts Building) and the Art Building were constructed in 1968 and 1973.

The interior of the College Club House is seen on this yearbook page from the 1930 Yucca.

Dr. Ruby Smith

Parking lots replaced the houses that formerly sat across from the campus. The College Club House was one of the buildings that was razed to make way for parking. This photograph is from circa 1964.

Aerial photo of the campus in 1930. This image shows the houses that sat across from the school. The College Club House is on the far left.

1919 image of the campus showing the houses across Ave A from the campus. The house that would become the College Club House is in the lower right corner.

The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights, was passed to ease the military members resumption of civilian life. The bill covered healthcare, loans, unemployment compensation, education and housing. The education section was successful and popular with veterans. Unfortunately, large numbers of new students created a housing crisis on college and university campuses across the country. North Texas State College dealt with this by accepting repurposed barracks and a set of prefabricated hutments intended to house married veterans. These housing units were considered temporary, both by the college and by the federal government

The prefabricated hutments were located on five acres on Bradley Street. The site was two blocks north and six blocks west of campus. They were constructed over the Christmas break in 1945-1946.  The apartments could only be rented to married veterans. The name “Vet Village” was chosen by the people who lived there. The complex housed 50 veterans and their families. There were ten single bedroom units which combined a living room and dining room with a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It rented for $25 a month.  A double unit had two bedrooms and rented for $32.50. For most of the tenets this became home for as long as they were students. They planted gardens and lawns. There was also a playground for the children which grew to include a merry-go-round, swings, and a slide.

Residents and Denton citizens referred to the complex as “fertile valley,” due to the high birthrate at the complex. The first baby born to a resident was a boy born on August 18, 1946, to Mr. and Mrs. C. Manire. The family later added a daughter while still residents at Vet Village. The first twins were born to Mr. and Mrs. W. Caperton in 1951.

The village had three streets, named after Joan Blondell, Ann Sheridan, and Nancy Gates. Each woman was either an alumna or had performed on campus. The speed limit on the streets was 10 mph due to the number of children in the complex.

By 1947, twenty-nine residents contributed $10.00 per household to create a co-operative grocery store. The store was founded by William Kamenista and Edwin Worley.  The store’s name was the Community Co-operative Association of Denton and was housed at 313 Sheridan Street.  The store was incorporated, and Jack Dial was elected president, V. G. Marshal was vice president, and Elgin Phillips was secretary-treasurer. The shelving was made of apple and orange crates. They eventually added a refrigerator. The merchandise was sold at retail prices and profits were divided among the investors. Originally meant to serve the Vet Village residents, service was expanded to Denton residents by 1948.

A fire destroyed one of the prefabricated units at 111 Blondell Ave, which was occupied by Robert C. Sherman, a teacher at the Demonstration School and supervisor of the village. The family was not at home when the fire started. They were moved to a unit next door.

Residents met in the co-op store to elect a mayor and four councilmen to serve the Village. A burglary was what prompted the desire for village governance and complex improvements. William Kamenista was named mayor, and the council consisted of Bob Breckenridge, John Murphy, and Bruce Willson. The council passed a request for UNT to install additional streetlights on the complex site.

The mothers of Vet Village requested a space to be put to multiple uses – a nursery and general meeting site for the residents. Wall board was ordered to divide the storage room to create the necessary space in 1949.

Women residents could divide their time between looking after children, attending classes, and taking part in craft classes at Vet Village.

By the early fifties the school administration thought that it might become harder to fill the complex as the World War II veterans finished their educations. However, they were followed by veterans of the Korean War and non-veteran married students.

By 1959, the Board of Regents voted to tear down the hutments. An apartment complex was the planned replacement. The new structures were to be known as the Graduate Apartments. The complex would have 52, one story, units targeted to married graduate students. The school newspaper, The Campus Chat, stated that there were about 900 married students attending school at the time. Wilson, Patterson, Sowden, Dunlap and Epperly of Fort Worth designed the new complex. The Campus Chat describe the units as “diminutive.” It would contain one- and two-bedroom efficiency apartments. The new complex cost about $325,000. The complex included seven brick veneered buildings that had 53 units. The apartments had heaters, but residents wanting air-conditioning needed to install window units which added $8 in rent to cover the extra utility costs. The new complex opened in the summer of 1961. Although open to all married students, preference was given to graduate students. The residents also had access to a coin operated laundry.

By 1982, the complex was losing money. The Board of Regents raised the rent by $15.00 and made residents pay their own utility bills. Even with the small apartments, upkeep problems, and higher rent, the complex continued to have a waiting list.

The apartments were demolished in 2006. UNT, the Texas Veterans Hall of Fame, and Denton Parks and Recreation have explored the possibility of turning the lot into park to honor veterans and the area’s role in housing returning military members.

An aerial view of Vet Village in 1947.

The Catalog for 1951 -1952 gave a short description of Vet Village.

The 1948 Yucca had a two page spread that showed images of life at Vet Village.

The second page showed the children, social time for the residents, and one family at their kitchen table.

Sixty years ago, a student who was involved in a sorority, Green Jackets, who was a winning golfer, and a cheerleader was named Homecoming Queen. She would go on to a stellar career as a professional golfer.

Sandra Palmer, a native of Fort Worth, grew up in Bangor, Maine. She first played golf at the age of thirteen. At that age she won the Lucerne Country Club and Maine State Junior Amateur titles. Her family returned to Fort Worth, Texas when she was fifteen. She continued to play golf and win tournaments, becoming the City of Fort Worth champion in 1959.

Although Odessa Junior College offered her a scholarship to play on their girls’ golf team, she decided to attend NTSU.

            “But I had heard a lot about the good physical

            education department and teachers at North Texas,

            and I was interested in obtaining a good background.”

            [Campus Chat, 1961-04-26]

She was the first person in her immediate family to earn a college degree, receiving her Bachelor of Science in physical education in 1964. After graduation she spent a year teaching physical education in a high school in Arlington, Texas.

 While a student, she played golf under the Women’s Athletic Association. This was the organizing body for women’s intramural athletics on campus. Women athletes were not part of the varsity system and would not be until the passage of Title IX in 1972. Ms. Palmer made her desire to play on a team known in a statement to the school newspaper:

            “I would like to see North Texas initiate a girls’ golf team.

            Although the boys often let me play with them, they haven’t

            admitted me to the team.”

            Sandra Palmer [Campus Chat, 1961-04-26]

Sandra Palmer was an active and involved student on campus. She was elected as the treasurer of the sophomore class in 1960. She was also a cheerleader. She was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, which she pledged in 1960, and went on to serve as the chair of rush. She was a member of the Women’s Recreational Association and a Green Jackets member (which she joined in 1960). As a physical education major, she spent part of her time helping her fellow students learn how to golf. In addition, in 1961 she served as the sports manager for intramural basketball for dormitories and sororities.

She was named Homecoming Queen in 1961. A change was made by student leaders during the 1961 Homecoming when it was decided to name the Homecoming Queen once the votes were counted.  The newly elected queen was announced at the Bonfire and Pep Rally. This modification allowed her to reign throughout the Homecoming festivities and be identified as Queen on a float during the parade. Among her duties as Queen was helping Talon President Ray Williamson ignite the bonfire. Tradition was followed when she was crowned during half-time by Mike Koury, United Students of North Texas president. Her escort was football player and junior class president, Larry Sullivant. The other Queen finalists were Mary Bowers, Karen Koncak, Joan Kingsbury, and Julie Davis. They made up the Queen’s court. The theme of Homecoming was “University Year” to celebrate the school’s move from a college to university status. The university had an enrollment of 8,815 students at the time.

Also, in 1961, she was the runner-up in the National Collegiate Championship. Ms. Palmer was a four-time winner of the West Texas Amateur and won The Texas State Amateur in 1963. She also was the winner of the West Texas Golf Tournament championship for four years in a row (1960-1963).

Golf was not the only sport Ms. Palmer played during her time as a student. In 1962, she participated in the fifth annual Double B Invitational Collegiate tournament, which was sponsored by the women’s division of the physical education department. There were two sports played at the tournament, bowling, and basketball. Ms. Palmer was a member of the North Texas State University basketball team.

            “I enjoy basketball, swimming, and water skiing, but I

             seldom have time because of my practice hours.”

            [Campus Chat, 1961-04-26]

She turned professional in 1964. She participated in the LPG Tour from 1964-1997 with twenty-eight professional wins. Her wins were on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) Tour (19), with the LPGA of Japan (7), and with other tours (7). In 1972, she won the Titleholders Championship. She had one of her best years in 1975, when she won the U. S. Women’s Open. In that year, she was the Ladies Professional Golfers Association Tour Money winner, the LPGA Player of the Year, and the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year.

In September 1977, Ms. Palmer was honored as a Distinguished Alumni during the Alumni Association Awards Banquet. Also honored that year were architect O’Neil Ford and journalist Bill Moyers. During her speech, she paid tribute to the faculty members who helped her development as a professional golfer. “These people gave me the winning attitude. They don’t realize the influence they have had on my life.” [North Texas Daily, 1977-09-20]

Recognition of her success and impact on golf continued when she was named to the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1985. Ms. Palmer was inducted into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame in 1988.

Sandra Palmer is crowned Homecoming Queen in 1961.

Sandra Palmer was photographed with architect O’Neil Ford at the Alumni Awards Banquet in 1977.

Sandra Palmer is seen as a cheerleader (front row, far right) in the 1962 Yucca.

Sandra Palmer is shown with her fellow Green Jackets in the 1962 Yucca. Ms. Palmer is on the front row, third from the right.

Nic Nicosia, a native of Dallas, Texas, is an alumnus of the University of North Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Science in radio-television-film, with a concentration in motion pictures, in 1974. As an artist, he has become known for his photographs, films, drawings and sculpture.

Nicosia’s father loaned him money to open a camera shop, Denton Photo, located at 105 Ave A, near the UNT campus. In 1977, Nicosia was one of thirteen photographers that exhibited at the White Mule Photographic Gallery, located at 101 Ave. A. in Denton. In 1978, Nicosia’s photographs focused on images people’s backs. In 1980, Nicosia, a graduate student at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), won the purchase award in the annual Spring Competition for the Voertman Awards. The titles of his two photographs were City Scape #1, Denton, Texas and Cedar Trees. Nicosia has been recognized as being an early practitioner of staged photographic images, in both color and black and white. This development, generally dated to 1980, and lets the photographer construct the details in the image to convey an idea or a story to the viewer. He has produced work that explores his view of life in the suburbs. His photographs, unique and sometimes disturbing, quickly came to the attention of the art world. In 1983 he was selected to participate in the Whitney Biennial. He would also take part in the Whitney Biennial in 2000.

In 1983, he took part in the North Texas Photographic Invitation exhibition, which focused on staged, rather than spontaneous, images. He would also display his works in Concentrations 13: Nic Nicosia, at the Dallas Museum of Art in 1986.

Nicosia has kept his ties to Denton and the University of North Texas. He has placed his photographs on display in the Art Building and given lectures to the students. (1991). He has also served as a judge, on multiple occasions, for the Visual Arts Society of Texas, a Denton art organization that promotes local, regional, and national artists.

Nicosia began to make sculptures in 2009-2010. His sculptures, twins, was commissioned by the Austin Contemporary. The commission made it possible for Nicosia to enlarge smaller works and cast them in stainless steel. The figures were displayed on the Katy Trail.  In 2020, the Nasher Sculpture Center acquired Nicosia’s bighands. The piece was commissioned by the Nasher and was made possible by a group of Nicosia’s patrons.

Nicosia was honored with a retrospective of his films at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, “Nic Nicosia: Real Pictures 1979-1999.” Among the films shown were “Domestic Drama,” 1982, “Near (modern) Disasters,” 1983, “Love + Lust,” 1990-1991, “Middletown,” 1997, and the series “Life As We Know It,” 1986.

Nicosia’s photographs are part of the following collections: Chase Manhattan Bank, The Atlantic Richfield Company, The New Orleans Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Gernsheim Collection at the University of Texas, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

He first burst onto the art scene with photography but has expanded to sculpture and film. Nicosia is an artist who has been open to learning new formats to express his singular vision.

Denton Photo Store advertised regularly in the UNT school paper, the North Texas Daily, This ad appeared on February 19, 1975.

The NT Daily alerted their readers to a Nic Nicosia exhibit on campus and lecture on campus on March, 21, 1991.

Nic Nicosia was highlighted on the North Texan web site.

Movies have long provided a place to gather with friends or go on a date. The films allow audiences to experience a story well told and see images of a wider world. Denton’s first exposure to films shown in town occurred in 1910. A. N. Moorman’s Majestic Theater had a short life and was quickly replaced by the Airdrome Theater. Located on a corner at East Hickory and Austin Streets, the Airdrome was an open-air theater that provided bleachers for the audience. 

The first permanent movie theaters were established on the Denton square in 1913. The Princess was opened on the north side. The Dreamland Theater and the Palace were located on the west side.

The Princess Theater originally seated its audience on folding chairs. Among the first feature films shown was “Ivanhoe.” In 1922, the Princess showed the first colored photoplay (a play that was adapted into a movie) in Denton. Damaged in a fire in 1924, the Princess was repaired and reopened in that same year with a new name, the Camel Theater.  The theater ceased operations in 1926.

The Dreamland produced music to accompany the films by using a “Wurlitzer orchestra.”  This was an automatic piano that could provide an hour and a half of music by using up to six rolls of music that were changed mechanically.  The Dreamland also held the distinction of showing the first hand-colored movie shown in Denton, “The Serpent of Eden,” which was shown in 1914.  The Dreamland closed in 1956.

Advertising for the theaters in the school newspaper, the Campus Chat, liked to reassure their customers that their money was being well spent. In 1919 the Dreamland was touted as “Dreamland Theater – Always a Good Show.”  An early advertisement (1929) for Princess Theater read, “Always a Good Show, Sometimes a Great One!”  Another ad for the Princess, which ran in 1948, stated that it “shows the best pictures that money and brains can buy.”

The Palace Theater, was the first to show a film with recorded sound on May 14,1929, using Thomas Edison’s Vitaphone system. The system used a disc of recorded sound. The feature shown was, “Saturday’s Children,” featuring Corinne Griffith. Al Jolson was presented in Vitaphone at the Palace in “The Singing Fool,” two weeks later. The first full length talkie shown in Denton, “Alibi,” also played at The Palace in 1929. It also showed the first musical in Denton, “Desert Song.” The Palace was sold in 1932 and continued to operate as a move theater until 1950. It then became a special events venue before closing in 1956.

In 1934 the east side of the square acquired a movie theater. The Ritz Theater was located in the Paschall Building.  The Ritz stopped operating in 1936. The structure was renovated and reopened as the Plaza Theater.

In 1935, The Texas Theater joined the theater line-up on the west side of the square. At one time the site housed an opera house. The Graham Opera House, constructed in 1877, was operated by George and Henry Fastorff. The opera house was torn down in 1890 and replaced, in that same year, by the structure that was operated as a furniture store before being remodeled to become a movie theater in 1935. The Texas Theater’s sound equipment was built by R. C. A. The theater seats were decorated with imitation leather with backs covered with chromium. The interior was decorated by Nena Claiborn of Dallas in dark purple, yellow, and cream on a background of green. It had a cooling system for summer and heating for the winter.  By 1939, Denton’s local paper listed four theaters: the Plaza, the Texas, the Palace, and the Dreamland as venues on Theater Row.

In 1949, the Campus Theater was added to the theater choices for the citizens of Denton. The theater seated 1,147 people and opened with the Texas premiere of “I Was a Male War Bride” with Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan (a former resident of Denton).  It would show movies until it closed in 1985. In 1990 it was purchased by the Greater Denton Arts Council and the Denton Community Theatre. After renovation, it was re-opened in July 1995. It became the home of the Denton Community Theatre and other performing arts groups in Denton.

In 1957, the Texas Theater was renamed as the Fine Arts Theater. The theater was redecorated with a pair of paintings by a Dallas artist. One was a cityscape of London and the other showed an elephant beside the Eiffel Tower. It could seat 767 people. After closing as a movie theater in 1981, it was used as a church, a performance space, and a dollar theater. In 1982 the theater was damaged by a fire. New owners, Aviation Cinemas and Talented Friends, have said that they have plans to preserve the structure and continue with movie screenings and live performances.

The citizens of Denton and the student population were first exposed to movies in the commercial center of their town, the Denton square. The movies brought people into town to eat a meal, shop, and see a movie. The movie theaters were important part of the economic and cultural life of the city.

The Texas Theater, which was later renamed the Fine Arts Theater, is seen in  1942. The Theater was located on Elm Street.

Theater Row was advertised on the side of a building near the Duke and Ayers Store. Duke and Ayers was located on Hickory Street.

Military units march past Theater Row on Elm Street in 1942.

Women march past Theater Row on Elm Street in 1942.

The Fine Arts Theater as seen from the area around the Courthouse looking across Elm Street. The photo is undated.

The sign for the Campus Theatre peeks out on the left on Hickory Street, 2015. The photo was taken by Junebug Clark.

The Campus Theater is lit up after dark in 2003-2004. The photo was by Randy Mallory.

This undated photo shows the Fine Arts Theatre, at this time probably being used as a church. The building on the left was built to fill a space left after a fire on the square in 1994. The photo is by Jim Bell.

In 2016, the UNT Homecoming Parade passed the Campus Theatre on Hickory Street. UNT President Neal Smatresk waves at the crowd from his car.

Students participate in a pep rally in front of the Texas Theater, later the Fine Arts Theater. In 1951.

Theater Row in 1942

Students had the option of studying agriculture in the early years of the university. The department was intended to prepare students to teach agriculture in secondary schools in rural areas. Some of the courses offered were in animal husbandry, gardening, soil and water conservation. A portion of campus was set aside for an experimental garden.

The professor most closely associated with the agriculture program was J. H. Legett. He first set foot on the campus as a North Texas student. Legett was an active participant in campus activities.  He played in the unofficial sports that were organized by the students in the early years of the school, playing both football and basketball. The football players had no regular uniforms at that time. He told the student newspaper, the Campus Chat, that he showed up for a game “dressed in some old clothes and wearing a mackintosh.” Legett published two short compositions in the North Texas State Normal Journal in 1904, when he was a junior. He was also member of the Glee Club in 1905.

After graduating in 1905, he worked at the Humble Oil Field for several months. He then wrote to the school requesting a teaching position in the Science Department. President J. S. Kendall hired him at a lab assistant on November 1, 1905. The classes he was first assigned to included chemistry, physics and English.  Legett  would advance to became the head of the Agricultural Department, which was organized in 1912.

During 1907, he was away from campus to attend the University of Chicago. During his absence, the Normal Building burned down. This destroyed all the scientific equipment owned by the school. His first task upon his return was to help purchase replacement equipment.

He continued the pattern set while he was a student and worked to be an active faculty member on campus.  In 1921, Legett served on the Faculty-Student Council and was chair of the Committee on the Schedule of Examinations. While a member of the Biology Department, he served as the president of the North Texas Biological Society, which was made up of the faculty of North and Central Texas Colleges and Universities. He would also hold the position of president of the Biologica Club of Texas. By 1928, he was the head of the Biology Department.  In 1933, Legett and Professor J. R. Swenson were honored by the Ex-Students at that organization’s annual banquet. In 1939, he was a member of the steering committee for the North Texas Teachers College Golden Jubilee Program to celebrate the school’s fiftieth year.

Legett served on committees and boards outside of the college. He was a member of the board of directors of the Denton County Livestock Show (1928). He showed his own dairy cattle in that same year.  He also held various offices in the Denton Commandery No. 45 Knights Templar. Legett served as a member of the board of directors of the Denton County Teachers Federal Credit Union.

After World War II, UNT was short on places to house the influx of former soldiers returning to civilian life and entering the college.  To house them the college purchased two military surplus structures.  The buildings had been previously used as Bachelor Officers Quarters in the Naval Air base at Eagle Mountain Lake in Tarrant County. They were disassembled and trucked to Denton and then rebuilt on land purchased from Professor Legett. The buildings became known as Legett Halls, to honor the former professor. The structures stood on the west side of Avenue E, between West Sycamore and West Prairie Streets.  The two-story frame buildings were used to house 200 men. Unfortunately, the structures were not popular with those housed in them. They were too evocative of military life, which the men were trying to leave behind them. The buildings were used until 1956, when they were torn down to make way for a new dormitory building, West Hall.

Legett retired in the summer of 1946.  The Department Agricultural ended at the same time.  J. H. Legett died in 1952.

Agricultural students worked on a garden plot as part of their studies. The Denton Courthouse could be seen in the distance.

Jesse Legett, the far left on the back row, is pictured with members of the Spring Oratorical Contest members, 1902.

J. H. Legett, assistant in Science, is pictured in the 1908 Yucca.

Legett Hall was marked by the number 37 on this 1953 photograph.

Students on today’s University of North Texas campus join campus organizations in large numbers. These groups include fraternities, sororities, academic-focused groups, and intermural sports, among other groups. In the early days of the university, groups included club sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and groups formed around music performances. An early array of clubs were the county clubs. Every student was immediately a member of the club for their home county. If the number of students from a specific county was not high enough to form a county club, then the counties formed a regional club, such as the West Texas Club.

“Old friends like old books are the ones we love most, and these friends are usually the ones whom we have loved from childhood – those from ‘home.’ When we enter college, we make new acquaintances, we form new friendships, but there is no tie that binds our hearts like the home ties. This fact we recognize in our county clubs. “ – 1923 Yucca

Documentation for county clubs first shows up in the 1911 school yearbook, the Yucca, with the West Texas Club. In 1912, the clubs included the following counties, Van Zandt, Collin, Ellis, Hill, and Wise. In 1913, Parker, Dallas, and Tarrant Counties joined the expanding list of clubs.

The clubs often had their own colors, flowers, and mottos. Palo-Pinto County Club’s motto was “Let us fail in trying to do something rather than sit still and do nothing.” West Texas Counties Club’s motto was “To give everyone the glad hand and smile to beat the band.” They chose the sunflower and brown and gold as the club’s colors. Collin County did not list a motto, but the Black-eyed Susan was their flower, and turquoise and gold were their colors.

Clubs elected officers and a reporter, who was expected to correspond with newspapers in the county/counties, as well as keep in touch with former members. The reporters became members of the Scribes Club, one of the largest literary organizations on campus.

Not all county clubs were active, something the students recognized. However, many enjoyed the social life and support these clubs provided students. Their activities included sunrise breakfasts, parties, athletic games, and picnics. Members also helped organize conferences, Re-Assembly Week (when ex-student information was updated and the alumni welcomed back on campus), and later Homecoming activities.

Many members went on to have prominent careers. As a student, Ben Wooten was a member of the Pine Burr Club, made up of students from Panola, Rusk, and Shelby counties. Wooten later became a banker and then served as the chair of the North Texas Board of Regents. W. A. (William Alfred) Meacham was the Tarrant County Club president. He went on to have a career as an educator in Fort Worth. His efforts were honored by having a school named after him.  C. A. Bridges was the president of the Cooke-Grayson County Club. He would become a faculty member at North Texas and write the History of Denton. A. O. Calhoun was the president of the Denton County Club. He had a career in education, becoming the first principal of Denton High. He would be recognized by having his name placed on the Calhoun Middle School.

After World War II, the focus of the school broadened. The concentration on teacher training expanded to embrace diverse majors and career options for the students. County clubs were slowly replaced by organizations that focused on the future employment of each club’s members. One of the last recorded county clubs was Jefferson and Jack Counties Club which was mentioned in the school newspaper, the Campus Chat, in 1951.

The 1915 Dallas County Club

The 1915 West Texas Club

The Pine Burr Club drew members from Rusk, Shelby, Panola, and Nacogdoches Counties in 1923 [1923 Yucca]

The 1920 Van Zandt County Club

The 1920 Cooke-Grayson County Club had C. A. Bridges as a member. He is seated second from the left.

Collin County Club members had their individual photographs in the 1932 Yucca.

In 1939 the name of the Van Zandt County Club was changed to the Free State Club. An explanation of the name change was published in the 1941 Yucca.

The University of North Texas was founded in Denton, a town that was largely built of wood and had a long history of fires. Denton endeavored to deal with the problem by replacing wood with brick and organizing a Fire Department in 1874. The firefighters were volunteers who were equipped with buckets and a hand drawn hook and ladder wagon which was added in 1876. Between 1880 and 1882, cisterns were installed on each side of the square to collect the runoff from the surrounding buildings. The water was intended to only be used to fight fires.

The first fire station opened in 1882 on the north-west corner of North Locust and McKinney Streets. The equipment included a new La France steam fired engine which was pulled by two horses. The engine burned coal to produce the steam that “threw” the water as far as 120 feet high.

In 1890, the same year UNT was founded, Denton purchased a former grocery store on the north side of Oak Street between Cedar and Bolivar Streets. The structure was altered to provide office space for the city government, a jail, and a fire station. This arrangement would continue until 1928.

In 1891, UNT opened its first building on campus, the Normal Building, a brick and stone building. The following year the city replaced the cisterns with proper water connections (standpipe, fire plugs, etc.). The Denton Water, Light, and Power Company, a private firm, started the powerhouse pump.

In 1907, lightning struck the Normal Building. The advancements in water pressure and firefighting had not made it out to the campus, and the building burned down. The loss prompted the school to start its own fire company. The manager of the Athletic Department and chief of the city fire department worked together to create the Independent Volunteer Fire Company.  Forty-five male students made up the new company. They worked with a hundred feet of hose, nozzles and wrenches donated by the city.  

The first officers listed for the Normal College Volunteer fire company were: J. B. Jackson, chief; J. T. Milam, first assistant; F. A. Ashmore, second assistant; R. B. Bigham, secretary; G. F. Wimberly, assistant secretary and treasurer.

The Normal College firefighters fought fires at several boarding houses (Sigler, Simmons, and Ball), the High School, and the Cottage Hotel. The school yearbook, the Yucca, noted that during first year that the student firefighters responded to around eight fires. By the second year, they ran to help fight up to twelve fires.

The first proposal made to establish a fire station on the city’s west side was submitted in 1913. It was noted that since the Normal Building burned down around twenty-three fires had broken out in the surrounding area with only one building saved. The lack of water pressure was identified as the primary problem. This was the same year that the Denton Fire Department hired college students to supplement their force. The students were expected to participate in firefighting whenever they were not in class. They were trained in the same manner as other beginner firefighters. For their efforts they received a salary and had room and board in the fire stations.

Denton built two substations in 1930. One was located near the campus, at 117 Avenue B.

During World War II, as men were called up to serve in the war, the Department of Civil Defense hosted a course at the college to teach women to fight fires.

The hiring of students to serve as firefighters for the Denton Fire Department ended in 1967. A student firefighter, Kenneth Kramer, died on June 14 after being buried by a collapsed wall of the Kimbell-Diamon Milling Company. He was 21 years old. The remaining student firefighters on the force were transferred to the Central Fire Station to work in dispatching.

The growth of the City of Denton and the University of North Texas has been intertwined, especially in firefighting. Students stepped up to protect their campus and the surrounding community. Their work as volunteers and paid firefighters provided them with community involvement, positions of responsibility, and funds to continue their educations.

The men of the Independent Volunteer Fire Company pose with their hoses in the 1909 Yucca.

The Independent Volunteer Fire Company, 1910 Yucca.

The Independent Volunteer Fire Company poses in front of the Science Building with President Bruce (second in on the right).

1916 Yucca ran a picture of the company and the members’ names.

When men were leaving to fight in World War II, women stepped in to work as volunteer firefighters. This photo shows women participating in a training drill.

Kenneth Kramer, a sophomore, is seen in the 1966 Yucca.

The Normal Building, the first building on the University of North Texas campus.