Photo Gallery

"Yellow Jacket Stadium" Mid 1950's (Looking north)

1953 Student Strike at TJ
(Can anyone tell us the reason for this strike?)
(Photo courtesy of Robert Hays .. TJ Class of 1953)

Shelby Pierce ... TJ 50 -- I was out of school then but I seem to remember this was about Coach John "Bud" Tomlin; either his contract not being renewed or he was being fired. He was coach when I Played in 1949 and 1950 and he was a great coach.

Walter Bryon Satterfield -- TJ 66 - I heard from my sister, a Red Hussar, TJ 53, that the strike was about the firing of the coach. An interesting note is about how the strike was ended. All students standing outside of the main school building, refusing to go in during class hours. One girl's mother came through the crowd, found her daughter, and forcibly dragged her into the school building and into class. This ended the strike.
I would love to know who the girl and her mother were and what either of them had to say about it!
Was this the only strike ever? I thought the coach's name was Underwood. (Not Coach Underwood!)

Jack Rains --- TJ 56 -- Coach Bud Tomlin was fired. The team organized and enforced the strike. It shut the school down. The firing stuck, Coach went on to a successful career in Houston, But TJ and Port Arthur were never the same after those days. Note the "strip down in the photo.

Thomas Jefferson's first Baseball team in 1946
Standing (L-R): Jack Alexander, Pete Daws, Richard Resland, Don Lauve, George Sladzek, Tommy Foster, Carlos Rojo
and Coach Fred Mahler.
Kneeling (L-R): Bill Draughon, Curtis Albers, Tommy Dolce, A.D. Bellow and Johnny Land
(Photo submitted by Tommy Dolce)

Does anyone recall why this was changed from "Yellow Jacket" Stadium
to "Public School Stadium"?
What year did this happen?

I seem to remember a move, in the late 1960's or early 1970's, to rename the
stadium in honor of Tom Dennis, the former coach who led Port Arthur to the
State Championship (early 1940's). Tom, of course, was white and the black
population objected. The central administration opted for "Public School Stadium"
as a "compromise". I guess offending everyone is better than offending a few.
Gene Badgett .... gbadgett@gt.rr.com

"Public School Stadium" renamed to "Memorial Stadium" with this monument
in the parking lot of the stadium.