ON MAY 27,1913  L.R. PIETZSCH TOOK OVER AS THE FIRST SOUTH PARK SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. THE NAMING OF PROFESSOR PIETZSCH TO LEAD AND GUIDE THE EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS PROBABLY THE WISEST MOVE THE TRUSTEES EVER MADE. HE WAS QUICK TO
REALIZE THAT THE SOUTH PARK AREA WAS GOING TO GROW, AND THAT THE OIL INDUSTRY WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS COMMUNITY.

     HE KNEW THAT MORE BUILDINGS WOULD BE NEEDED, AND THE RECORDS SHOW THAT AS EARLY AS SEPTEMBER, 1913, HE BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBILITY OF ISSUING BONDS FOR NEW BUILDINGS.

     IN 1921 A $300,000.00 BOND ISSUE WAS PASSED, AND OUT OF IT CAME MANY  THINGS-ONE BEING A NEW THREE STORY HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, WHICH WAS A COMPLETE EDUCATIONAL PLANT.

     IN 1918 PROFESSOR PIETZSCH HAD ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN THE SUMMER AND CAME BACK ENTHUSED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A JUNIOR COLLEGE FOR SOUTH PARK AND BEAUMONT. IN JANUARY, 1922 PROFESSOR PIETZSCH WAS GRANTED AUTHORITY TO VISIT
COLLEGES IN TEXAS TO DETERMINE THE ADVISABILITY OF ORGANIZING A JUNIOR COLLEGE.

     ON MARCH 8, 1923  A "SPECIAL" MEETING OF THE SCHOOL BOARD WAS CALLED, WHICH MEETING WAS ATTENDED BY L. M. HEBERT, TOBE HAHN, S. B. EDDY, WILLIAM WHITE, J. L. GILES, W. T. WHERRY AND SUPERINTENDENT, L. R. PIETZSCH, AND IT WAS ON THIS NIGHT THAT THE FORERUNNER OF
LAMAR UNIVERSITY CAME INTO EXISTENCE.

     THE BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE AND CITIZENS OF BEAUMONT NEVER PAID MUCH HEED TO SOUTH PARK, BUT TWO THINGS WOULD COME ABOUT IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS THAT WERE TO FOCUS ATTENTION ON THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE SOUTH END OF BEAUMONT.

     THE FIRST WAS ITS FOOTBALL TEAM AND A PLAYER NAMED LOUIE " DUTCH" FEHL. IN THE FIRST 5 GAMES THE " PARKERS " SCORED 195 POINTS - " DUTCH "SCORED MOST OF THEM.

     THE SECOND EVENT WAS THE NEW BUILDINGS NEARING COMPLETION ON VIRGINIA AND HIGHLAND AVENUE WHICH WOULD OPEN IN SEPTEMBER 1923, WITH A STUDENT BODY OF 400 IN HIGH SCHOOL, AND WOULD ALSO CONTAIN  A JUNIOR COLLEGE.

     PROFESSOR PIETZSCH WOULD BE THE HEAD OF THE COLLEGE, AND HE WAS ENTHUSED OVER THE LAUNCHING OF THE BIG EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURE. IN SEPTEMBER, 1923  THE SOUTH PARK JUNIOR COLLEGE OPENED, WITH MOST OF THE CLASSES BEING HELD ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE NEW SOUTH PARK HIGH SCHOOL.  THE LIBRARY, GYM AND CAFETERIA WERE SHARED BY COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. MORE THAN 100 STUDENTS ENROLLED FOR THIS FIRST YEAR OF SOUTH PARK COLLEGE.

     L. R. PIETZSCH HAD DELIVERED - THE SOUTH PARK INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT COULD BOAST THAT IT OFFERED AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FROM  THE FIRST GRADE THROUGH TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE. ONLY ONE OTHER SCHOOL IN TEXAS COULD MATCH THIS ACHIEVEMENT, WICHITA
FALLS  INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT.

     BY MID SUMMER OF 1924, MORE THAN 200 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES HAD APPLIED FOR ADMISSION FOR THE FALL TERM. LOUIS R. PIETZSCH DIRECTED THE SOUTH PARK SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR 11 YEARS. HE PLANNED AND SERVED IT WELL.

     ON APRIL 15, 1924, HE ACCEPTED THE POSITION OF CITY MANAGER WITH THE CITY OF BEAUMONT. HE WAS CALLED THE "NAVIGATOR" OF SOUTH PARK, LEFT THE SOUTH PARK COMMUNITY WITH THEIR VERY BEST WISHES, AND STANDS TALL IN THE MEMORY OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE
STUDENTS AT SOUTH PARK.

     THE BEAUMONT NEWSPAPER IN AN ARTICLE ENCOURAGING THE CONSOLIDATION OF SOUTH PARK WITH BEAUMONT AND FRENCH SCHOOL DISTRICTS, HAD STATED THAT THERE WHOULD BE A WELL DEFINED PLAN WORKED OUT CAREFULLY FOR THE COLLEGE.

      BUT SUCH A PLAN WAS TO BE FORTHCOMING FOR THE COLLEGE. ITS LEADER WOULD BE A SOUTH PARK PRODUCT: A MAN REARED, EDUCATED AND TRAINED BY THE SOUTH PARK EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND YOU MIGHT SAY "DESTINED" TO ACCOMPLISH THE VERY DREAM THAT LOUIS R. PIETZSCH HAD SO MASTERFULLY ORIGINATED. THIS "WELL DEFINED PLAN" WAS STILL A
GENERATION AWAY, BUT A LITTLE "COUNTRY BOY" FROM DAYTON TEXAS WHO CAME TO LIVE IN SOUTH PARK AND ATTEND ITS SCHOOL IN 1916, WOULD FURNISH THE LEADERSHIP, AS WELL AS POSSESS THE WISDOM TO GUIDE A GREAT DREAM INTO BECOMING A REALITY.

     CARL W. BINGMAN HAD COME TO SOUTH PARK IN 1919,  WAS THE MAN  TO SUCCEED PROFESSOR PIETZSCH AS THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT AND COLLEGE PRESIDENT, AND WAS TO BE KNOWN AS "SKIPPER." SOUTH PARK JUNIOR COLLEGE HELD ITS FIRST COMMENCEMENT ON MAY 30, 1924, HAVING GRADUATED 67 STUDENTS ON MAY 22, 1924.

     THE SOUTH PARK TAXPAYERS WERE FOR THE MOST PART LABORING PEOPLE, BUT THEY HAD A VERY STRONG FEELING ABOUT THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM AND WERE READY TO SUPPORT IT IN ANY WAY NEEDED. THEREFORE, IN JUNE, 1924, WHEN A TAX INCREASE WAS NEEDED, THEY WENT TO THE
POLLS AND VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE INCREASE.

     " SKIPPER " BINGMAN STRENGTHENED THE COLLEGE STAFF BY HIRING D. W. BEOTNOTT TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND MISS MARY CAMPBELL AS DEAN OF WOMEN. BOTH WOULD REMAIN WITH THE UNIVERSITY UNTIL THEIR RETIREMENT. ALSO, THE INFLUENCE OF O. B. ARCHER, DEAN OF THE COLLEGE, WOULD BE SEEN IN THE LIVES OF THREE GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS AS THEY PASSED THROUGH EITHER SOUTH PARK JUNIOR COLLEGE,  LAMAR JUNIOR COLLEGE, LAMAR TECH AND FINALLY LAMAR UNIVERSITY. THE FOURTH MEMBER OF THIS TEAM WAS STILL IN HIS
TEENS IN 1924.

     IN 1932, THERE WERE TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS-FOOTBALL WOULD BEGIN AT SOUTH PARK JUNIOR COLLEGE, AND JOHN E. GRAY WAS NAMED HEAD COACH  AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL SYSTEM.

     THE SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT WAS A NAME CHANGE - THERE WERE TOO MANY SCHOOLS USING THE NAME SOUTH PARK. THE TRUSTEES DECIDED TO LET THE PUBLIC CHOOSE THE NAME, AND THE WINNER WOULD BE GIVEN A YEAR’S SCHOLARSHIP TO THE COLLEGE.

     A GRADUATE OF THE FORMER SOUTH PARK JUNIOR COLLEGE, OTHO PLUMMBER, SUGGESTED THE NAME OF LAMAR COLLEGE, IN HONOR OF MIRABEAU B. LAMAR, THE SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, AND THE NAME LAMAR COLLEGE WAS CHOSEN. OTHO PASSED ON THE
SCHOLARSHIP TO HIS BROTHER WESLEY, AND JOHN E. GRAY CHOSE A BRIGHT NAME FOR THIS FOOTBALL TEAM-" CARDINALS ".

     IN 1933 NEW BUILDINGS WERE ERECTED BY SOUTH PARK ON WOODROW STREET STRICTLY FOR COLLEGE USE,  IN 1935 MORE BUILDINGS FOLLOWED, AND THE COLLEGE WAS PRETTY MUCH A SEPARATE INSTITUTION FROM SOUTH PARK HIGH. HOWEVER, USE OF FACILITIES STlLL OVERLAPPED.
THE GYM, THE STADIUM, THE FIELD HOUSE AND OTHER AREAS COUNTINUED TO BE USED BY BOTH HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS.

     IN 1938 THE TRUSTEES TOOK A BIG STEP AND PURCHASED A 58 ACRE TRACT OF LAND, JUST 3 BLOCKS EAST OF THE PRESENT SOUTH PARK CAMPUS, FRONTING THE PORT ARTHUR HIGHWAY, FROM THE TEXAS OIL COMPANY FOR $18,000.00.

     THUS WAS THE BEGINNING OF LAMAR UNIVERSITY. THE VOTE TO ESTABLISH LAMAR COLLEGE ON ITS OWN CAMPUS WAS HELD SEPTEMBER 21, 1940. J. M. COMBS WAS ELECTED THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE BOARD, AND ON SEPTEMBER 26, 1940  THE TRUSTEES MET WITH THE SOUTH PARK BOARD TO WORK OUT A SMOOTH TRANSITION. AGREEMENT WAS REACHED FOR THE NEW COLLEGE TO PURCHASE THE 58 ACRES AT A PRICE OF $25,536.53, WHICH INCLUDED INTEREST, LEGAL FEES AND CLEARING EXPENSE. CERTAIN EQUIPMENT WAS ALSO SOLD TO THE COLLEGE FOR $8,485.00.

     ON MARCH 27, 1941 , BOTH BOARDS OF TRUSTEES ANNOUNCED THAT JOHN E. GRAY WOULD ASSUME THE DUTIES OF DEAN OF MEN TO HEAD THE NEW COLLEGE. HE WAS CALLED " DIRECTOR, ^" AS " SKIPPER" BINGMAN WAS STILL PRESIDENT UNTIL THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR WAS FINISHED.

     THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SURPRISED NO ONE. JOHN E. GRAY NOT ONLY DESERVED THE POSITION, BUT HE HAD EARNED IT. IT HAD BEEN APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER OF A CENTURY SINCE THE LITTLE "COUNTRY BOY" HAD WALKED INTO L. R. PIETZSCH'S OFFICE TO ENROLL IN 4TH GRADE OF SOUTH PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

     SOME 10 YEARS LATER, THE STATE GRANTED LAMAR ITS FOUR YEAR CHARTER - GIVING REALIZATION TO THE DREAM OF BOTH PROFESSOR PIETZSCH AND C. W. BINGMAN, BOTH OF WHOM HAD PASSED AWAY, AND IN 1971 GOVERNOR PRESTON SMITH SIGNED THE BILL MAKING LAMAR A FULL UNIVERSITY.  JOHN E. GRAY WAS A GUIDING FORCE BEHIND LAMAR UNIVERSITY UNTIL HIS  RETIREMENT, AND RAN THE UNIVERSITY WITH DIGNITY AND HONOR.

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