The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, December 8, 1950 Page: 1 of 6
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Entered as second class mailing matter, October 17. 1916. at the Post Office, Houston, under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOLUME THIRTY-EIGHT — NUMBER TWELVE HOUSTON. TEXAS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1950
New Autry Court Opens Tomorrow
Frosh To Elect
Class Officers
December 14
Thursday, December 14, the an-
nual freshmen elections will be held
announced the Election Committee.
The candidates began a campaign
yesterday at 7 a.m. which will end
The candidates for offices in
the Freshman Class will be given
an opportunity to speak to the
members of their class and the
rest of the school in the Chem-
istry Lecture Hall, 12:15, Wed-
nesday. These speeches are spon-
sored by the Forum committee.
This is primarily a measure to
aid the freshmen to get to know
their candidates. The speeches
will be short and will outline
briefly the candidates' ideas for
the Freshman Class.
mmmm
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I
Wednesday night. Included in the REHEARSING THEIR MODERN DANCE STEPS for the OWLS' Follies skit are Georgia Hink and
campaign wi be a program 0 Jean Cornelius, chorus members in the foreground, and M. E. Kinzbach, Doug Sneed, .lanie Studdert and
speeches by the candidates on Wed- -p p \rner) f_wo 0f couples who are participating in the "St. Louis Nocturne."
(Continued on Page 2)
Ballad Collector Will OWLS' Follies Skit Entertains
Be On Forum Tonight Students At Mortuary
By Werner Grunbaum
John A. Lomax, Jr., the son of the famous ballad collector,
John A. Lomax, Sr. will present a program of American folk
music tonight at 8:00 p.m. in the Lecture Lounge of the Fon-
dren Library. He will endeavor to show why American folk mu-
sic is an integral contribution to American literature and music.
He will sing about twenty examples of American folk music.
This lecture is open to the pub-
lie free of charge. , , ,
popular among both Negro and white
Although Mr. Lomax is an ama- American jailbirds. John and Alan
teur, he frequently accompanied his Lomax learned this song at the Tex-
father on ballad collecting trips and as Penitentiary in Sugar Land, Tex-
in this way has acquired a first hand
acquaintance with folk music. Mr.
Lomax attended A&M College and
graduated from the University of
Texas where his father taught Eng-
lish and served as secretary of the
faculty.
Mr. Lomax will sing and comment
on such ballads as, "Irene" (The
popular version of this song is
"<£ood Night Irene"),."Midnight Spe-
cial," and "Take a Whiff on Me."
as. It is one of the few American
ballads which mention Houston:
"Ef you ever go to Houston,
Boy, you better walk right,
Well, you better not squabble,
An' you better not fight.
Bason an' Brock wil arres' you,
Payton an' Boone will take you
down;
The judge will sentence you,
An' you Sugar Lan' boun.' "
"Take a Whiff on Me" follows
He will also sing songs of the cow the tradition of such songs as "Co-
trail, the camp fire, the Southwest, caine Lil."
W. folk songs, and prison songs. _ ^ m
"Irene" is an old ballad, which touch to the program by singing a
Mr. Lomax learned from Lead Belly, corruption of "Cowboy's Lament"
"king of the twelve-stringed guitar" and "Barbara Allen" (an old Eng-
and long time convict in the peni- Ush ballad), which he leamed from
tentiaries of Texas and Louisiana, his father.
Lead Belly learned the song from
his Uncle Terril, adding verses as
Mr. Lomax's father, John A. Lo-
max, Sr., received his B.A. and M.A.
ke thought of thorn. This «ng tells d lfcom ^ HniM„ity ol Tex; the East,
the realistic, sultry story .of Negro received taother M-A d ,t
It4?a UAWAtrAv rAnotra
By Ruey Boone
Sexy (pardon the expression) dancing, negro spirituals
and pickled cadavers provide the setting for a very interesting
bit of Follies' activities these days.
For a few nights every week since last month, students
of the Landig Mortuary School at 201 Drew Street have been
entertained delightfully by par-
ticipants in the OWLS' Follies
act, "St. Louis Nocturne." No,
this situation isn't part of a good-
will tour, but has developed because
of a need for a rehearsal site for
the members of the society and
their dancing partners.
Surrounded by a strong aroma
of formaldehyde and wet paint,
Gene Van Grona, director of the
skit who is former director of the
Texas Stage here in Houston, shouts
"Get up and move! There must be
more reaction," while his vivacious
wife shows the cast of twenty-five
ciety on February 17, announced Bob dancers just how those up-and-down
Bradbury, president of the Society. shofd made' , .
While several of the embalming
The setting of the costume affair (not embalmed) students watch the
will be the lavish court of Sultan goings-on accompanlied by the poig-
El Azziz, an early Saracen colla- " nt „'trains of 'he ITis
t... ... . , . . Blues," cast members admit that
borationist, who entertained the they are „ faadnated by their ob.
Western crusaders . . . conquerars servers' lab work as "the boys" are
of Try El-k'hari, the Syrian town by the dance routines. Most of them
which was captured and set up as have wondered "why are they mor-
an outpost of the Western world in tu^ ?" .
,ono Q . The OWLS' attitude toward their
the year 1202. The Sarcen ruler «rehear8al studio„
may be summed
showed his "guests" for the first Up the words of one of the cast
time the rich wealth and beauty of members: "It's just fine as long
as none of us goes to sleep while
we're here!"
West, East To Meet
At Archi-Arts Ball
And Pageant Feb. 17
"Tyr El-k'hari 1202" will be the
theme of the 1951 version of Achi-
Arts, the annual gala pageant and
dance, which will be presented this
year by the Rice Architecture So-
married life. However, today's popu-
Harvard, and attended the Univer-
lar Torsion of «ie song makes no s- ^ CMca Mr ^ Sr.
sense because rt l^ves out ttie stan- xiveJ „ Honorary Curator of the
ta which Leda Belly spoke. Lead Archiv(i f Americ>„ Polk Song anad
Btfy began thU song mth the foU Consultant in the Li-
lowing spoken Itoes: "This here Congress from 1984 until
"H?™ -!*■ ' hia death to Janiuiry, 1948. Ho wa.
girl was waOdn along one Sunday . .t .v- Amaric n Folk.
Sketches of costume suggestions
for Achi-Arts will be posted in the
entrance of Anderson Hall before
the Christmas holidays, so that stu-
dents may plan their costumes dur
Directorieso
«venin' . . .
"De Midnight Special" is a song
also president of the American Folk-
lore Society in 1912 and in 1913, and
(Continued on Pagfe 2)
Student Directories will be given
out in the Lounge Friday, Saturday,
ing the vacation if they wish. Court Monday to those who paid for
.T^totnen, ^11 i« „witr, theirs durin& wtfrtwrtion. After
spectators will be clothed in cos- that) the directories wiU be sold to
tumes of either western or eastern those who have not already paid.
influence, pagan or Christian. The price is $.25.
Rice Gym Will Be
Site of Tulane
Basketball Contest
By Nick Athas
For the first time in the his-
tory of The Rice Institute, the
Owls' basketball squad will play
big name opponents on its home
court this year. The team starts
its climb to basketball prominence
when it meets the Tulane Green
Wave cagers on the new Autry
Court in the nearly completed Rice
Gymnasium tomorrow night at 8:15
p.m.
In addition to being the first home
game of 1950, and the first game o'ri
Rice's beautiful new basketball court
which is named in honor of Mrs.
James L. Autry, who was a long-
time Rice supporter. Her daughter,
Mrs. Edward W. Kelley, gave $250,-
000 for the gymnasium construction.
Tomorrow night's contest will be a
real test for the up and coming Rice
cagers. The Tulane Greenies are al-
ways a Southern basketball power
and should provide a stubborn ob-
stacle for the Owls.
"We figure to be much improved
over last season" is the optimistic
outlook at the current Ric.e cage
campaign expressed by Don Suman,
who at 30 years is the youngest
coach in the Southwest Conference.
Last year a young Rice team, with
no really big man on the roster,
short on experience, and with a new
coach at the helm, finished in the
conference cellar, unusual for the
Owls, who won or shared in the bas-
ketball crown many times during the
'40s.
Rice has the honor of being the
first SWC school to schedule such
prominent non-conference teams as
Tulane, Columbia, Northwestern and
Georgia Tech on its home court.
This is largely possible because of
the new Rice gym, which cost $1
million, and seats 6500 fans.
Only one letterman was lost from
last year's -Ow'l loop team—Warren
Switzer, the captain. Also missing
this year will be Tommy Hudgens,
who lettered in '46, but played little
after that because of a knee injury.
Returning are five letter-men from
the '49-50 squad. Coach Don Suman
has a fine framework in letterman
(Continued on Page 5)
0
Engineers Present
All-School Formal
The first formal dance of the
year will be presented by the Engi-
neering Society tomorrow night
from 10:00 to 2:00 at the Houston
Club in the Commerce Building, cor-
ner of Main and Walker. Students
are urged to attend the "Engineer"
and have a "final big fling before the
Army grabs them."
During the dance, the queen of
the ball, "Miss Engineer" will be
presented. Karl Doerner's orchestra
plus a floor show given by Follies
entertainers will provide the other
main attractions of the evening.
Tables are reserved when tickets
are bought, $3.25, couple or stag.
There will be'a definite limit to at-
tendance, so students are urged to
buy their tickets in the Student
Lounge as soon as possible. No cor-
sages will be allowed.
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The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, December 8, 1950, newspaper, December 8, 1950; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230856/m1/1/?q=lomax&rotate=90: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.