Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 12, Number 2, Fall, 2000 Page: 28
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The appointment of Sam "Pop" Davis, the
new associate headmaster, to supervise the athletic
department accelerated an increasing
emphasis on athletics at the expense of the
school's academic standing. Although it isn't
clear when the practice began, two former students
who attended Terrill in the late I920S confirm
the fact that scholarships were given to
athletically promising students. When asked in
an interview conducted by former St. Marks
headmaster David V. Hicks how a small school
like Terrill was able to achieve athletic superiority
over larger schools, a former student who
requested anonymity said, "It's simple. They [the
athletes] were subsidized. . . . [Terrill] offered
scholarships . . . for four years, or whatever
amount of time necessary to secure whatever
degree or diploma that Terrill School gave."31
Irion Worsham, who graduated from the Terrill
School in 1928, says school athletics were "very
important" and that some of the students were in
reality "semi-professional players." A number of
these students went on to win recognition as AllAmericans.
Worsham recalls several players from
those days of football glory:
We had this fellow Lilly [Louis] Jennings, I
think he was an Oklahoma Indian. His reputation
was, and I guess I saw him do it, that
he could stand in the middle of the football
field and drop-kick a field goal and then turn
around and drop-kick one through the other
goal. And I'm not sure but that he didn't use
one foot for one and one foot for the other.
Dexter Shelly, who was one of the great running
backs at the University of Texas, was
recruited [by Terrill School], I think, from
Austin....Paul Hardcastle came up from
Beaumont, and he played quarterback [at
Terrill] for two or three years. They were
brought in and I'm sure they didn't pay
tuition or anything.32
Terrill's I930 athletic season was outstanding.
The varsity football team played an undefeated,
unscored-upon season, and the school basketball
team brought home a trophy for winning thenational preparatory school championship.33
That kind of athletic prowess earned widespread
recognition for Terrill, although it's unlikely the
school's athletic record scored many points for
Terrill graduates who wanted to attend Ivy
League colleges.
Even before the banner sports year of 1930, it
was clear to some parents that the school's focus
had shifted. This perception prompted a few parents
to take action. In 1926, a small group of
wealthy Dallas businessmen persuaded Menter
and Ada Terrill to come out of retirement and
teach their sons. Terrill constructed a small
building containing three tiny classrooms on the
grounds of his home on Live Oak Street. James
DeLoache recalls the school when his older
brother attended: "Mr. Terrill... had twelve students
in his garage on Live Oak Street, and my
brother [Averill] went there. He never went to
Terrill School. It was almost like tutoring as I
remember.34 This final teaching venture of
Menter Terrill lasted until his death on February
24, I93I.
Meanwhile, the Terrill School moved to 5Ioo
Ross Avenue in September I930. A junior college
was added two years later, and the school
changed its name to Terrill Preparatory School
and Junior College. The new location was ideal
for Terrill's purposes, because it took over the
school facilities formerly occupied by St. Mary's
College, which closed its doors in June I930. The
twelve-acre block of property and buildings was
owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas.
Besides the school, St. Matthew's Cathedral and
the diocesan administrative offices were located
there. A year later, in I93i, after fifteen years as
headmaster, Bogarte retired and sold out to Sam
Davis, who assumed the top position. Two years
later John Kirby, a member of the Terrill faculty,
bought an interest in the school and became
assistant headmaster.35
The change in location and headmasters
failed to improve the school's growing image as a
second-rate educational institution. "Terrill fell
on hard times during the depression ... lost their
student body and ... had serious financial trou28
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Dallas Historical Society. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 12, Number 2, Fall, 2000, periodical, 2000; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35101/m1/30/?rotate=90: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Historical Society.