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Vanesa Navarro

English 102

Dr. Carter

16 December 2009

Through the Eyes of the Students: The East Texan during World War II

Housed in the Special Collections Office on the fourth floor of the James G. Gee Library

of Texas A&M University-Commerce lies the archives of The East Texan, the student written

and produced newspaper that has been in circulation since 1915. These newspapers are bounded

together in long portfolios, and stacked in powder blue boxes. They are divided up according to

the amount of space available in the long powder blue boxes. Lifting the lid to one of the boxes

and hauling out one of the surprisingly heavy portfolios, unleashes a plethora of small pieces of

paper from the edges of the decaying and fragile newspaper, plus a musty scent to accompany

the almost seventy year old newspapers. Printed on the pages of The East Texan, lays a textual

portrait of the life and times of the average college student at East Texas State Teachers College

(now Texas A&M University-Commerce) during World War II. I settle into the mahogany

stained wooden chair, and feast my eyes on the grandeur that is the student newspaper.

The East Texan, undoubtedly, has documented the history of the East Texas campus

along with the world outside this small rural college town through the eyes of the student

reporters. These newspapers are rich in information about student and campus at the then East

Texas State Teachers College. Its articles document the joy and the strife of the average college

student, and adding joy to this experience are the humorous articles meant to lift their spirits.

Clothing advertisements give insight to the types of fashions popular to that time. Movie

showings are also included, documenting the who’s who of Tinseltown. The fashions may be
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different, but college students will be college students. Parties and love interests (in other words,

their social life) will always be second (although sometimes preceding) to their studies.

For the Purpose of Literacy

The purpose of the student newspaper is to inform the students and the faculty of what’s

happening on campus and the world outside of Commerce, Texas. According to Lauren B.

Resnick, The East Texan is classified as informational literacy, “using print to convey or acquire

knowledge” (Resnick 119). By incorporating Resnick’s “who, why, how, and what” (Resnick

119) questions, we can delve into the purpose of The East Texan even further. The readers and

journalists are the people engaging themselves with the newspaper. The journalists are the

fellow peers of the student readers and may be the pupils of the professors that read the

newspapers. “In actual literacy practice, authors writing informational texts have, in the best

cases, a lively sense of their audience.” (Resnick 124) Being so closely tied to the ETSTC

campus, gives the journalists an advantage to what to write in the weekly newspaper. The

journalists provide the information in organized articles for the readers to read. The readers want

to read these articles in order to keep up with the community, and in this case, the world around

them. Students read the paper either for leisure or to critically develop their own opinions on

topics. Because Resnick argues that literacy is also a social practice in her article “Literacy In

School and Out”, students read the paper either for leisure or to critically develop their own

opinions on topics. Resnick states that, “In this kind of literacy activity, the only likely

immediate activity after reading is discussion with others.” Journalists report the news in order

to give their readers the option of doing this. The texts are written in the obligatory formal

structure that anyone can identify, whether they are reading an article from today’s newspaper or

from a newspaper printed in the 1940s.

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Using Resnick’s literacy lenses, we can also classify the newspaper as pleasurable

literacy. The inclusion of humorous and lighthearted articles makes this to be true. Or, perhaps,

readers simply read this newspaper for leisure.

Whatever the case is for reading this student newspaper, The East Texan provides a

common denominator for students and teachers to gather over an edition to read, learn, and

discuss their community.

Change

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in the early morning of December 7, 1941, America’s

history was forever changed. The immediate effects were drastic. Young and fit men were

shipped overseas to fight in a war that they previously assumed they would not be involved in.

The people left behind did all they could to help the war effort, whether it was buying war bonds,

working in factories, or simply complying with the meager rationing enforced, their government

mandated patriotic duty changed the way they lived for the short, but significant era in American

history. Mainstream America was heavily affected by the onslaught of this Second World War,

but could the same be said for Commerce, Texas, a small east Texas rural college town?

The answer to this question lies in yellowed pages of The East Texan. The almost

seventy year old newspapers have been preserved for this specific reason: to open the door to

current generations to study what life was like for the people who lived before them. What better

way to understand the state of the campus during that time than through the perspective of the

students who interact with each other and their campus day by day? The transition from pre-

World War II days to the aftermath of the war is drastic in itself. Armed with a pen, spiral

notebook, and digital camera, I have flipped through many of the fragile pages in order to come
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to a conclusion about life at the ETSTC campus. Through extensive research I have pieced

together what campus and student life were like during that major time in American history.

Pre-World War II: 1935-1938

My research begins with the year 1935. The world was still suffering from the Great

Depression, but students still went to school. On June 28, 1935, an article entitled, “’Depression

Nothing! I’m Going to College!’ Students Learn to Make Way at East Texas”, made its way onto

the second page of the newspaper. This article was about the different types of ways students

lessened their cost of attending school. For instance, some girls did light housekeeping, students

from farms brought jarred food to school with them, and everyone tried to be frugal. There was

even a mention about a guy who brought a cow with him to school in order to sell its milk for

rent money. Despite that article, I did not see much about the Depression. The tone of the

newspapers was breezy and happy-go-lucky.

Early World War II: 1939-1940

Once I had gotten to the newspapers printed in 1939, I was sure I would find some

mention about the war in Europe. On my first run-through I was sadly disappointed. The

newspapers seemed to have carried on in their usual merry way despite the international conflict.

Upon closer examination, I stumbled upon a weekly “Parade of Opinion” editorial; this one was

entitled “Hitler”. Printed in the April 5, 1939 issue of The East Texan, the article talked about

the opinions and stances of other collegians around the nation on Adolf Hitler’s advances. The

article began with, “Collegians last week continued their rigorous denunciation of Hitler and his

continued drive against the weaker nations of eastern Europe.” The article ended with, “But, as

most collegians believe, time will tell the future of Europe—and of democracy throughout the

world!” This article was located on the far left side of the second page of the paper, underneath
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the usual listing of the reporters. Excitedly, I flipped back through the newspapers to see if I

could catch any more of these war related articles. I found one more “Parade of Opinion”

editorial entitled “War and Peace”. This article was printed a week before the article on Hitler,

on March 29, 1939.

I had finally figured out where all the war-related articles were printed. These “Parade of

Opinion” editorials make up less than one percent of all the articles printed in The East Texan.

The threat of World War II, however, was new. As the war in Europe raged on, debates over

whether or not the U.S. should enter in the war and the cost of entering was the primary

possibility Americans had to worry about. Articles concerning this threat sprang up more

frequently from 1939 to 1941.

Toward the end of 1940, the likelihood of America becoming involved with the European

conflict increased dramatically. On June 13, 1940, an article entitled, “Whitley Reveals

Seriousness of Allied Defeat in Welcome Talk—President urges Students to Remain Calm

During Crisis; Nazi to Claim British Lands in America”, was printed on the front page.

“Sincerely suggesting that the students go about their studies as calmly and deliberately as

possible, despite the grave European crisis, Dr. Whitley said, ‘United States students should be

trained so thoroughly in the principle of democracy, that there will never be a single opportunity

for a fifth-column unit to exist in this country.” That was the first ominous article about the

possibility of war for Americans. Next was the possibility of military training and drafting into

the Armed Forces for men. The front page of The East Texan printed on September 26, 1940,

read, “College Students Will Not Be Drafted Before July 1st, 1941—Registration Under Military

Draft Bill Confuses East Texas State Boys”. The “draft bill” refers to the passing of the Burke—

Wadsworth Bill. Then, a couple of weeks later on October 10, 1940, the front page headline
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read, “Over 200 Men Register on Campus for Military Service.” Yes, like the rest of the United

States, the East Texas State Teachers College campus was preparing for the oncoming world

war.

U.S. Involvement in World War II: 1941-1945

As I began my study of the newspapers from the year 1941, apprehension settled into my

stomach. This was the year Pearl Harbor was bombed, and all those Americans lost their lives.

As I was turning the pages of the newspapers, a rush of foreboding swept over me as I saw the

usual campus and society news nestled in the papers. I knew what was to come, yet the

immortalized students in the newspaper did not know that their world was to change so suddenly

by the horrific national disaster. I got to the end of

November, turned the last page, and was astonished…to

find a newspaper from the middle of December. This

important day in American history was missing from the

portfolio. Were students even aware of the tragedy that

happened hundreds of miles away from them? Then I

found a “Remember Pearl Harbor” picture in a newspaper

from 1942, and my thoughts were put to rest.

From then on, I noticed more military and

political oriented pictures consuming the pages of the newspapers. Propaganda was evident.

Everything from urging people to purchase war bonds to putting the fear of the enemy into the

eyes of the readers was portrayed through drawings and comics. These helped push readers into

the rightfully patriotic mind frame.

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Enlistment ads also sprang up frequently. Enlisting into the Navy, Air Force, Army, and

Marine Corps were pushed with snazzy pictures and catchy patriotic slogans. Encouragement

for women to join the Red Cross was also put into picture form

and in some articles. On June 14, 1944, an article entitled,

“Millions of Women Serve as Red Cross Volunteers” was printed.

“Young and old, married and single, rich and poor, on farms, in

small towns, and in large cities, they labor day and night in Red

Cross chapter houses in every part of the United States.” This

proud sentence blatantly encourages women to sign up and

volunteer.

The war news increased toward 1943. A full page titled,

“Tench-Hut!” was dedicated to the relaying of the war to the

readers. With the inclusion of war news, came the decrease in amount of other genres of articles,

such as sports news, campus news, society news, and the some of the humorous articles were

gone. The newspaper was dedicated to the war effort just as the people reading it were.

The End of World War II: 1945

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It is 1945, and World War II is slowly coming to an end. There is hope of the end with

peace celebration preparations beginning. Finally on May 11, 1945, The East Texan proudly

proclaimed that Victory in Europe is announced. This significant headline brings hope to the

families who have loved ones in the war. Then on August 17, 1945, the front headline

proclaims,

“Japan Gives

Up”. Finally

American

soldiers are able

to come home.

Hope is in the air as a large influx of students, both new and ex-servicemen start school in

September of 1945. Everyone is delighted and proud of them. Football is to be reinstated at East

Texas and recreational activities are to go about their normal route.

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Works Cited

1) Resnick, Lauren B. "Literacy in School and Out." Literacies in Context. 2nd. Fountainhead

Press, 2008. Print.