E. R. Minchew
| Elmer Reid Minchew (Speech professor at | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | January 26, 1908 Taylor, Bienville Parish Louisiana, USA | ||
| Died | July 1, 2001 (aged 93) Ruston, Louisiana | ||
| Spouse | Gladys Crawford Minchew (married 1934-1987, her death) Children : | ||
| Religion | Southern Baptist | ||
Elmer Reid Minchew, usually known as E. R. Minchew (January 26, 1908 – July 1, 2001), was a prominent Louisiana educator whose career spanned the forty-six years from 1929 to 1975.
Background
Minchew was born in rural Taylor in Bienville Parish] in northwestern Louisiana to Elmer Minchew (1879–1971), a railroad employee, and the former Sallie Reid (1881–1975). Elmer and Sallie Minchew are interred at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery near Gibsland in Bienville Parish.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
Minchew graduated from Castor High School in Castor in Bienville Parish, where in 1925, he was the senior class president. In 1929, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville, at which he was president of the junior and senior classes and the state collegiate champion in oratory and debate.[1]
Minchew subsequently received his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in 1938 and 1955, respectively, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.[2] He began his teaching career as assistant principal and coach from 1929 to 1930 at Bienville High School in Bienville, followed by two years in the same capacities at Lisbon High School in Claiborne Parish.
Castor High School
In 1932, Minchew returned to his alma mater, Castor High School, as principal, coach, and debate sponsor, a position that he held until 1964, except for three years of service in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3] Among Minchew's top debate students was Doris Lacy Barnes (1925-2020), the oldest of the three daughters of state Representative Len Lacy of Castor. Another debate student was DeWitt T. Methvin, Jr., a 1940 Castor High School graduate who later became an attorney in his native Alexandria, Louisiana. Methvin's mother, Myrtis Lucille Gregory Methvin, was the mayor of Castor from 1933 to 1945, the second woman mayor in the state.[4]
A Methvin grandson describes Castor as "one of the most progressive schools in Bienville Parish. Dr. E. R. Minchew was the principal there from 1932 to 1964, and he was well respected. Castor High School had one of the best debate teams in the state at the time." Another Castor student during Minchew's tenure as principal was Enoch T. Nix, later a banker from Bossier City and a 30-year member of the Louisiana State Board of Education and its replacement body, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Nix died six months after Minchew's passing.[5]
In 1938, Minchew published a short article entitled, "Integrated Teaching in the Secondary School," in the Quarterly Journal of Speech.[6]
Minchew's educational career was interrupted by three years of service in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.[7]
During most of Minchew's tenure, Clovis Holley Pullig (1917-2013), was a Castor High School faculty member. She was later a two-term alderman and three-term mayor of the nearby village of Ashland in northern Natchitoches Parish.[8]
At Louisiana Tech
After his tenure in Castor, Minchew became professor and chairman of the speech department at Louisiana Tech University, under president Foster Jay Taylor, Jr. (1923-2011), also a native of Bienville Parish. He remained in that role for eleven years until his final retirement, effective August 31, 1975.[9]
Minchew was a past president of the Louisiana Teachers Association and attended national conventions[10] before the organization was desegregated and became the Louisiana Association of Educators. By that time, he had already joined the Louisiana Tech faculty. Minchew was also a past president of Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, president of the Bienville Teacher's Association, and in 1972 the president of the Louisiana Tech Faculty Senate.[11] Minchew was a worthy grand master of the Masonic lodge and director of education for the Grand Lodge of Louisiana.[12] Minchew was a deacon at the First Baptist Church in downtown Ruston.
As a speech professor, Minchew was known to require students to pronounce "Louisiana" as LOU ZHE ANA, the common reference in the northern part of the state, rather than LA WEE ZEE ANA, a pronunciation more common in the south. Either is considered correct. An unidentified student of Minchew's writes: "If the broadcasters in Louisiana had from the beginning of time taken Dr. Minchew's correct pronunciation of the word ... we wouldn't have the national media saying that the name has too many syllables. ... I have done commercial production and voice work throughout our state and other states and always use Dr. Minchew's pronunciation--never had it thrown back at me for a re-do."
After retirement, Minchew continued to speak before civic groups in his state, having made more than a thousand such addresses in his lifetime.[3]
Family and death
On June 5, 1934, Minchew married the former Gladys Crawford (April 2, 1913 – December 15, 1987), who was an elementary schoolteacher at Castor. The couple had two children, Michael Bert Minchew, I (born 1938), and his wife, the former Norma Jean Ellis (born 1939), of Richardson, Texas, and Mary Lynn Hooper (born 1944) and husband Robert Lee Hooper (born 1939), of Mancos in far southwestern Colorado, previously of Lordsburg in southern New Mexico. Mary was formerly married to Howard Merrill Goodwyn (born 1940) of Arlington, Texas.[2] Minchew had a sister, Lois M. Perritt (1919–2011), a 1936 graduate of Castor High School; a nephew, Ronald Perritt of Baton Rouge,[13] seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
Minchew died at his home in Ruston at the age of ninety-three. Services were held on July 3, 2001, at First Baptist Church in Ruston. He is interred beside his wife at Springhill Cemetery in Ringgold in Bienville Parish.[14]
References
- ↑ Elmer Minchew obituary.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "E.R. Minchew," Who's Who in America, Vol 2, 38th ed. (1974–1975), p. 2166.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Minchew to appear," Minden Press-Herald, January 21, 1976, p. 1.
- ↑ Lula Wardlow of Montgomery in Grant Parish, however, preceded Methvin as a female mayor, having served from 1926 to 1930.
- ↑ Enoch T. Nix obituary, The Shreveport Times, December 14, 2001, accessed June 9, 2011}}
- ↑ Integrated Teaching in the Secondary School. Quarterly Journal of Speech Vol. 24, Issue 3 (October 1938), pp. 373-375. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.
- ↑ "Castor Principal Will Be Speaker at Men's Club", Minden Press, July 20, 1959, p. 1.
- ↑ Clovis Pullig obituary. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on January 13, 2013.
- ↑ Confirmed by the human resources department at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.
- ↑ Carol F. Karpinski. A Visible Company of Professionals: African Americans and the National Education Association During the Civil Rights Movement. New York City: Peter Lang, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4331-0025-3. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.
- ↑ Past Presidents of the Louisiana Tech University Faculty Senate. latech.edu. Retrieved on December 2, 2010; no longer on-line..
- ↑ Stemming the Flow. masonicworld.com. Retrieved on September 18, 2019.
- ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=lois-minchew-perritt&pid=150212718%7Ctitle=Lois Minchew Perritt|publisher=[[Alexandria Town Talk]|date=April 12, 2011|accessdate=April 12, 2011}}
- ↑ Burials at Springhill Cemetery. files.usgwarchives.net. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.