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| Cena Christopher Draper |
Writers in the university town of Warrensburg have made important contributions to the state's literary history. The late children's author and playwright Cena Christopher Draper set many of her books in the Warrensburg area. William Foley, author of The Genesis of Missouri and other histories, is editor-in-chief of the Missouri Biography Series, published by the University of Missouri Press. Perry McCandless also writes about Missouri history. Arthur McClure has written many books on American film history.
Warrensburg hosts the annual Children's Literature Festival, which began in 1968 and has been under the direction of Philip Sadler since that time. Each year, the festival brings thousands of children to Central Missouri State University where they have the opportunity to meet their favorite authors.
W.L. Ripley of Knob Noster has written several well-received mystereis; Carol Lee Sanchez of Hughesville publishes poetry dealing with Native American and women's issues; and Vicki Grove of Ionia writes books for young readers. June Rae Wood of Windsor won the 1995 Mark Twain Award for The Man who Loved Clowns, a book for young adults.
Books by Missouri authors can be found in libraries, bookstores, and schools across the state and throughout the world, attesting to the diversity of talent in the Show-Me State. We hope this brief and necessarily incomplete overview of Missouri's literary heritage will encourage readers of all ages, backgrounds, and interests to explore the exciting literary legacy of Missouri's native and adopted writers, past and present.
Created by treaty in 1948, the US-UK Fulbright Commission is the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship program, offering awards for study or research in any field, at any accredited US or UK university.
The Commission is part of the Fulbright program conceived by Senator J. William Fulbright in the aftermath of World War II to promote leadership, learning and empathy between nations through educational exchange. Award recipients will be the future leaders for tomorrow and support the “special relationship” between the US and UK.
Miller is the author of three poetry collections: The City, Our City, The Book of Props, and Only the Senses Sleep. He also co-translated Moikom Zeqo’s I Don’t Believe in Ghosts from Albanian and co-edited both New European Poets and Tamura Ryuichi: On the Life & Work of a 20th Century Master.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Wayne received a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. from the University of Houston. In the interim he worked as a paralegal for the District Attorney’s Office in New York City.
He now lives with his wife and daughter in Kansas City and is an associate professor at the University of Central Missouri, where he edits Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing (& Reviews). As a Fulbright Scholar, he will be teaching, working on his fourth collection of poems, and editing a feature on emerging UK and Irish writers for Pleiades.
“I feel really honored,” Miller said. “The Fulbright program has such a distinguished history—it’s validating to join the ranks of so many extraordinary past and present Scholars. The time I’ll spend in Belfast will be wonderfully valuable for my writing, for my thinking about the cultural and historical connections between cities, and for my understanding of the relationships between American and UK/Irish poetries. I’m also thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside the terrific and important writers at the Seamus Heaney Centre—this sort of cultural and literary exchange with prominent non-American writers and thinkers will be an invaluable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Read more: http://www.kmzu.com/ucm-professor-receives-fulbright/#ixzz2dXjO3OHk
© 2013 KMZU. All rights reserved.
David Baker
David Baker was born in Bangor, Maine, on December 27, 1954. He was raised in Missouri and has spent more than forty years of his life in the Midwest.
Baker received degrees in English from the University of Central Missouri before earning a Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah in 1983.
His first collection of poems, Laws of the Land, was published by Ahsahta/Boise State University in 1981, followed by Haunts (Cleveland State University) in 1985. Since then, Baker has published several collections of poetry, including Never-Ending Birds (W. W. Norton, 2009), Treatise on Touch: Selected Poems (Arc Publications, 2007), Midwest Eclogue (W. W. Norton, 2005), Changeable Thunder (University of Arkansas, 2001), The Truth about Small Towns (1998), After the Reunion (1994), and Sweet Home, Saturday Night (1991).
Baker is also the author of three books of criticism: Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry (Graywolf, 2007), Heresy and the Ideal: On Contemporary Poetry (University of Arkansas, 2000), and Meter in English: A Critical Engagement (1996).
About Baker, the poet Linda Gregerson has said "[He] writes with the distilled, distinguished attentiveness only the finest poets can reliably command," and Marilyn Hacker has called him "the most expansive and moving poet to come out of the American Midwest since James Wright."
Among Baker's awards are fellowships and prizes from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, Poetry Society of America, Society of Midland Authors, and the Pushcart Foundation.
He is currently a Professor of English and the Thomas B. Fordham Chair of Creative Writing at Denison University and is a faculty member in the M.F.A. program for writers at Warren Wilson College.
Baker currently resides in Granville, Ohio, where he serves as Poetry Editor of The Kenyon Review.
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| Written by Arthur F. McClure, Alfred E. Twomey, Ken Jones |
BIOGRAPHY of Arthur F. McClure
Arthur F. McClure was born about 1909. For a short time after college, he published the Leavenworth Independent, a small newspaper. McClure later ran a small print shop, Art Press; he also gave art lessons out of his home. He married Dorothy Davis, who died in the 1940s; he later married Helen Louise (1921-2003). McClure had four children: Arthur F. II, James D., Kathleen, and Kirk. Arthur F. McClure died July 31, 2000.
Arthur F. McClure II was born January 24, 1936 in Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1958 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Kansas; he then earned a Master of Arts in History in 1960 from the University of Colorado. Five years later, he earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Kansas; that year he also began teaching history at Central Missouri State University. McClure became Chair of the CMSU History Department in 1971 and, in 1981, became Chair of that school's History and Anthropology Department; he held that position until his death. He also served as University Archivist beginning in 1985.
A well published scholar, McClure was also highly active in the community. He served on the Board of Directors for the Warrensburg Meals on Wheels, the Warrensburg Youth Services, and the Bank of Warrensburg. He was also on the Community Advisory Board for KMOS-TV, public television and an active member of Christ Episcopal Church. McClure earned a number of awards and honors for his academic and community work, including the 1997 University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.
McClure and wife Judith had four children. Arthur F. McClure II died January 20, 1998.
ARTHUR F. McCLURE II ARCHIVES SCHOLARSHIP
Established 1999 The Arthur F. McClure II Archives Scholarship is available through the University of Central MissouriFoundation for a student pursuing a degree in history with an interest in historical archives. This scholarship is made possible by way of a gift from Judith H. McClure in memory of her husband, Arthur F. McClure II.
BACKGROUND:
Arthur F. McClure II was Chair of the Department of History and Anthropology and University Archivist at Central Missouri State University. A specialist in the field of twentieth-century America, McClure was best known for his writings about politics and popular culture in the American heartland. He was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1936, and developed life-long interests in U.S. history and American movies while growing up in the Middle West during the 1940’s and 1950’s. McClure graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. degree in history. After receiving an M.A. degree in history at the University of Colorado, he returned to the University of Kansas where he completed his Ph.D. under the tutelage of Donald R. McCoy. His dissertation on the Truman Administration and labor relations became his first book, The Truman Administration and Problems of Postwar Labor, 1945-1948, published in 1969. His lengthy list of publications included 18 books that he authored, co-authored, or edited; 50 articles and essays; and more than 40 book reviews. An avid moviegoer, McClure researched and wrote extensively about American motion pictures. His many books serve as references for film history and include Ronald Reagan: His First Career, A Bibliography of the Movie Years; The Versatiles: A Study of Supporting Players in the American Motion Picture, 1930-1955; Hollywood at War: The American Motion Picture and World War II, 1939-1945; International Film Necrology; and Research Guide to Film History. He developed a special interest in the works of his fellow Kansan, playwright William Inge, and in 1989 the Kansas Historical Society published McClure’s Memories of Splendor: the Midwestern Works of William Inge, McClure was a mainstay at the William Inge Festival in Independence, Kansas, and annual gathering that attracts luminaries from the worlds of theatre and film. His interest in popular culture extended to sports, and at his death he was at work on a biography of Forest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach of his beloved Kansas Jayhawks. McClure joined the Department of History and Anthropology at Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, in 1965, became chairman in 1971, and held that position until his death. He also had served as University Archivist since 1985. His calm thoughtful leadership, unerring good judgment, generous concern for others, and rare sense of humor made him one of the most esteemed members of the campus community and a model departmental chair renowned for his ability to stimulate intellectual development and collegiality. Despite the many demands on his time andenergy, he was never too busy to be a friend, a listener, or a consolation to those around him.
In addition to his active roles on campus, McClure also found time to serve on important state boards and support community activities. His service included membership on the Missouri Committee for the Humanities, the Missouri State Historical Records Advisory Board, the Missouri Commission on the Status of Women, and the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee. He garnered on numerous awards and accolades. The University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences honored him with its 1997 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award. He was also a recipient of the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award at Central Missouri State University. Arthur McClure was a devoted and loving husband and father who died January 20, 1998, of cancer at the age of 62.
He was survived by his wife, Judy McClure, as well as their four children, Allison Cheesebrough and husband Craig Cheesebrough, Kyle McClure and wife Jennifer McClure, Amy Swearingen and husband Fritz Swearingen, Steven (Sam) McClure and two grandchildren, Samuel Joseph Cheesebrough and Frederick Alan Sweringen.
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| Written by Arthur F. McClure, Ken D, Jones |
Arthur F. McClure II
Historian
Dr. Arthur F. McClure II received his Ph.D. in history at KU in 1966. He went on to become a distinguished author, historian, teacher, and public servant. McClure has many published works such as his first book, The Truman Administration and the Problems of Postwar Labor, 1945-1948.McClure mentored many students as a professor of History and Anthropology at Central Missouri State University. During that time he directed and organized the Central Archives at the National Archives in Washington D.C. McClure showed energetic involvement in Warrensburg, Missouri community efforts in activities such as the Historic Preservation Committee, Meals on Wheels, Youth Service Program, and his Church.
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Gotcha! A Murder in Warrensburg, Wayne Hancock About the Book An heir of Arthur Conan Doyle has written a new book, one which takes on the state of American crime during the decade after the bravura stars of American criminal society had their heyday – Bugsy Seigel, Al Capone, Ma Baker and Bonnie and Clyde easily come to mind. The time is the thirties, several years after Depression pressed its heavy boots on the American economic spine. Wayne Hancock’s The Hard Way is unlike what many readers would expect of an American detective/crime novel. In fact, Hancock has crossed the Atlantic to write this novel in the mode of the great European masters. Like Sherlock Holmes, the original model for “armchair detective,” the criminal organization being subjected to investigation in the book is being investigated with cool logic by a diverse group of citizens who had once gotten together to solve the infamous murder of Margaret Wilson in 1936, more than a year before. Warrensburg, Missouri is no stranger to Prohibition-era dives and the people who frequent them. The group of volunteer criminal investigators led by Warrensburg’s police chief Buck Pettit delve into this world after Elizabeth Breckenridge’s Breckenridge State Bank is held up and robbed. Ms. Breckenridge also happens to be a member of the Pettit group: vigilant and determined citizens bonded together to stand up against crime. As it happens, Warrensburg is also the county of Hancock’s imagination, like Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha. |
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| Along Came Bill, Another Murder in Warrensburg, Wayne Hancock |
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| Lucille D. Gress
Source:
"An Informal History of the Black People of
the Warrensburg Area"
by Lucille D. GRESS 1993
Page 7-- The history of a number of black families in
the Warrensburg area began in Mt. Olive (12 mi NE of
Warrensburg) in what became Simpson TWP... and also
in "Old Town" Warrensburg. ... Rachel BOONE,
mother of pianist 'Blind' BOONE, was b a slave ... rec'd
surname of owners ... those being descendants of 'the'
Daniel BOONE
Our wonderful friend, Lucille D. Gress, sitting on the stone that we placed in front of UMB bank downtown. We were waiting for the Blind Boone sculpture to arrive, as this was the location of the sculpture while we finished work on the park. What a happy day.
Reflections
This morning, I stepped out onto the landing and looked toward the east, part of my ritual for greeting a new day. Wisps of light gray clouds stood in sharp relief against the pinkish-lavender sky....As I watched, the orange red sun arced above the horizon, beginning yet another day. How like the events of my life, I reflected. Ordinary happenings become highlighted by the special meanings of experiences and turn events into memories.....
In my mind's eye, I look down the road, which disappears over the next rise. I am curious. I wonder what lies ahead....
I believe that the frontier yet to be developed lies in the area of human relations. While we have made advances in such areas as agriculture, technology, and space exploration, incidents of road rage and of abuse of human beings by human beings, the current illiteracy rates-all these indicate a lack of advancement in human relations.
Development of the ability to live together peacefully and productively becomes imperative for the welfare of people of various cultures, often living in crowded conditions. I would like to become a part of the movement to advance the field of human relations.
My memorial will consist of vestiges of whatever I may have contributed toward the common good of people, as I traveled life's highway. The legacy will pass on to succeeding generations. I believe that my immortality is part of an on-going intergenerational process.
~Lucille D. Gress / 1920-2003
Lucille was so generous.. She supported my efforts with the park project in so many ways and gave me strength to continue when I was unsure of my next step. Lucille was a driving force, constant supporter, inspiration, mentor and friend. I miss her greatly, but am still able to look to her for inspiration.
~Sandy
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Robert C. Jones, Editor
Robert C. Jones, Editor, Mid-America Literary Review, Mid-America Poetry Review
Robert C. Jones, born in Troup, Texas in 1931, earned three degrees from the University of Texas-Austin. He has taught at the University of Texas-Austin, at the University of Colorado-Boulder, at William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, and Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg. He has been an American Fulbright lecturer in American Literature in Timisoara, Romania (1982-83) and Thessaloniki, Greece (1986-87); resident director of The Missouri London Program (Fall 1984); Exchange Professor of American Literature at Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Hungary (Fall 1991); and a Poet-in-Residence, Writing Workshop director, and Writing Workshop leader in elementary and secondary schools and at colleges and universities throughout the midwest. He is the co-author of The Generative English Handbook (Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1968); the co-author of Ismene, a mixed-media opera presented in 1969 as part of Sight/Sound 2 Festival of the Arts at CMSU; and the author of 100 Years, A Pictorial History of CMS(Central Missouri State University, 1971). His poems and other writings have appeared inCollege English, New Letters, The Chariton Review, English Journal, Polish-AngloSaxon Studies, Studii de Literatura Romana si Comparata, and more recently in such journals and periodicals as Cappers, the Christian Science Monitor, The American Scholar, The Boston Review, The Black Warrior Review, America, Sisters Today, Bird Watchers Digest, Naval History, The Sewanee Review, The Horn Book, Cicada. Robert Jones is co-chair of the Warrensburg Writers Circle, editor of The Mid-America Press, Inc., and editor of The Mid-America Poetry Review. The Mid-America Poetry Review, publishes well-crafted poetry primarily from -- but not limited to -- poets living in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.
Dr. Robert C. Jones
Dr. Robert C. Jones, 81, died at his home in Warrensburg, Mo., on June 17, 2013
A private memorial will be planned in the future.
He was born July 20, 1931, in Troup, Texas, the son of Paul David and Frances Hixon Jones. He married Nancy Dale Torrance on June 6, 1953, at the University Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. The couple had four children, Susannah Louise, of St. Louis, Mo.; Christopher Michael and Amy Robin, of Santa Fe, N.M.; and Elizabeth Ann, of Chester County, Pa. Their son, Chris, died Aug. 15, 2012. He is also survived by his brother, Paul Dale Jones, of Austin, Texas, and four grandchildren, Brent E. Jones and Ben R. Jones, of Baltimore, Md.; Michael R. Hanley, of Chester County, Pa.; and Abagael Weberjones, of Santa Fe, N.M.
Jones graduated from Longview, Texas, high school and finished a two-year course at Kilgore Junior College. He then went to The University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Bachelor of Journalism degree, a Master of Journalism degree, and, in 1957, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in English.
While in graduate journalism school, Jones edited the university humor magazine, The Texas Ranger. As a doctoral candidate, he edited the satirical Grub Street Anthologie of Literarie Ballades.
In the fall of 1957, he became an associate professor of English at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was a contributing editor of Abstracts of English Studies. After a year, he went to William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., for three years. Dr. Jones joined the faculty of Central Missouri State College in the fall of 1961, rose to full professor of English and retired in the spring of 1991.
While at CMSC, Jones focused on teaching modern literature and creative writing, published student writing and sponsored the English Club and the English honorary Sigma Tau Delta, advising the fine arts magazine Cemost. He initiated a system of contract grading and individual student tutorials. Among his publications was “Generative English Handbook,” with Dr. Herb Eschliman and Dr. Tommy Burkett, and “Police English,” with Dr. Patrick Smith, of School of the Ozarks. He wrote the libretto for the mixed-media opera “Ismene,” with music by Dr. Donald Bohlen and design by Richard Monson. He wrote texts for music written by Charles Theis and Walter Halen. In 1970, as chair of the Committee on Centennial Publications, he produced the centennial history of Central Missouri State College, “100 Years.“ In the late 1960s, Dr. Jones initiated the Sight/Sound Fine Arts Festival on campus, and for several years directed the university films program. He enjoyed participating in plays presented on the campus by English faculty. In the 1970s, Jones was nominated by the Danforth Foundation of St. Louis to be a Danforth representative on the Warrensburg campus, and as such he received grants from the foundation for various creative activities on campus and for yearly weekend-long retreats where students and other faculty members spent time in the country discussing a chosen topic among themselves and with well-known guests. For several years, Jones was a member of the Poetry Committee of the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City, where he helped sponsor and choose readings by locally and nationally known poets. Among his honors at CMSU, Dr. Jones received the Faculty Distinguished Lecture Award, the Kansas City Star Poetry Award, the CMSU college of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award, and in 1989 the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award. In 1986, he delivered the Greer-Oppenheimer lecture, describing his experiences in Romania and comparing Romania academics with those in the United States. In 2003, he received a Missouri Arts Award from the Missouri Arts Council. In the school year of 1980-81, Jones participated in the Training Teachers of Teachers program in Lincoln, focusing on teaching English language and creative writing skills for students of education. The next year he coordinated a Title III program called Tapes and Techniques, using songs and taped programs to focus on content areas and techniques of teaching and learning for teachers and students of junior high level. With other Missouri poets and teachers, he for many years gave workshops and presentations at public schools and colleges across the state, and colleagues David Anstaett, of Baptiste Junior High School; Maryfrances Wagner, of Raytown High School; Helyn Strickland, songwriter and performer; and David Baker, performer and poet, joined Jones to give programs at community organizations including the Writers’ Place in Kansas City and the Renaissance Festival. He was an active member of The Writers Place, organizer of The Missouri Association for Teachers of English, participated in television documentaries for Friends of Literature, Poets Corner, Writers on Writing, and The American Poetry Series, sponsored by UMKC. He founded the Warrensburg Writers Circle. In 2011, he edited the novel “Tourniquet,” by Warrensburg artist and writer Richard Monson. In the same year, he had a singing role in Anne Mallinson’s Civil War drama “Murder in the Courthouse,” in the historical original Johnson County courthouse in Warrensburg.
In 1982, Jones was awarded a Fulbright Lectureship at the University of Timisoara in Timisoara, Romania, and in 1986 he was Visiting Fulbright Lecturer at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. In the fall of 1984, he was director of the first Missouri London Program, organized by a consortium of Missouri colleges to teach Missouri students on a campus in London, England. In connection with that endeavor, he joined with Richard A. Luehrman, professor of art, to produce “The London Sketchbook, a Diary of Places and Things from 1984 and 1986.“ In 1990, Jones was an exchange professor at Budapest University of Economic Sciences in Budapest, Hungary.
In 1997, Jones was a founding editor of the not-for-profit Mid-America Press. A major output of MAP was the Mid-America Poetry Review, published three times a year, and books by local poets and writers Brian Daldorph, Greg Field, Cecile M. Franking, Elizabeth Jones Hanley, Ronald W. McReynolds, Judith T. Roberts, Maryfrances Wagner, Jeanie and Thomas Zvi Wilson, Bill Bauer, Victoria Anderson, Ardyth Bradley, Serina Allison Hearn, William Ford, Jo Kurtz, Deborah Mann, John Mark Eberhart, Rose Smith, Dan Stryk, C. Allison and S. Starr, Sharon Hanson and Charles Guenther.
Jones’s own publications include “Within This Center,” “The Flower Growers,” “The Van Gogh Poems and Other Plain Songs,” “Like a Kind of Flower Growing,” “Dances for the Voice,” and “Tellemann in Missouri.” His poetry has been published in The Sewanee Review, The Christian Science Monitor, the American Scholar, Sisters Today, The Horn Book, Cicada, and Pleiades, as well as area newspapers.
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A Paddler's Guide to Missouri, Featuring 58 Streams to Canoe and KayakJoan and Oz HawksleyOz Hawksley named Master Conservationist
This content is archived
Published on: Apr. 20, 2012
Posted by Jim Low
JEFFERSON CITY–Oscar “Oz” Hawksley, known to thousands of Missourians whom he taught about the outdoors during a six-decade career, received the title of “Master Conservationist” at a ceremony in Jefferson City April 11.
Hawksley, 91, is Missouri’s 59th Master Conservationist. The award is among the highest honors given by the Conservation Commission. The Commission established the award in 1941 to honor living or deceased citizen conservationists, former Conservation Commissioners and employees of conservation-related agencies who have made substantial and lasting contributions to the fisheries, forestry or wildlife conservation effort of the state.
Conservation Commission Chairman Don Johnson said Hawksley played an important role in shaping the future of conservation. Bob Ziehmer, director of the Missouri Department of Conservation, thanked Hawksley for his “tireless work sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge with future generations of Missourians and Americans.”
Hawksley graduated with honors from Principia College in 1942 and served in the First Allied Airborne Army during World War II. Upon his return from service, he earned a master’s degree and PhD in Wildlife Management, Fisheries Biology and Conservation Education from Cornell University.
He taught for many years at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, where he developed wildlife conservation courses for recreation majors and students preparing for careers in field biology. He also developed a field-zoology course with emphasis on wildlife and fisheries management, field biology for elementary education, and the first course on the characteristic behavior patterns of animals in Missouri. Over the course of 30 years, he introduced Missourians to backpacking, canoeing and spelunking through field trips.
Hawksley is a founding member of the Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club and American Whitewater, a fellow of the National Speleological Society and co-founder of the Missouri Speleological Survey. He is also a founding member of American Rivers, a national organization instrumental in saving threatened rivers.
As a long-time member of the Missouri Prairie Foundation, he has been active in prairie preservation and established a 7-acre demonstration prairie in Warrensburg that’s used for studies at the University and by the public school system.
Perhaps his best-known achievement was writing Missouri Ozark Waterways. This paddler’s guide has encouraged generations of Missourians to develop a personal connection to the state’s float streams. This helped lay a foundation for one of the nation’s most dynamic citizen-led conservation movements. Evidence for this can be found in the Missouri Stream Team program, which currently boasts 3,842 teams and 77,000 individual members.
For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/node/7763/.
-Jim Low-
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| Oz Hawksley
Oscar “Oz” Hawksley, World War II vet, is our Member of the Month
(Editor’s Note: Dr. Oz Hawksley was kind enough to answer the following questions by email and provided more information during my visit to his home in Ashland, where he moved last February from Missouri to be close to his son and his family. All editor’s notes below are in italics. Any errors are the fault of your editor and not of Dr. Hawksley.)
1. Where were you born and raised? Describe your life before the military. I was born in Kingston, NY. As a child I travelled extensively (by Pullman train) in U.S. with my parents. My father was in Vaudeville (singer). When I was about seven years old, my family returned to Kingston, NY, to live (and I began public school). I attended public grade schools, then we moved and I went to junior and senior high school at The Principia Upper School in St. Louis, followed by four years at The Principia College, in Elsah, Ill. (on the Mississippi River, a few miles north of St. Louis, Mo. The Principia is a Christian Science institution.) I majored in Biology, graduated with honors. And I married Janet McHugh (another biologist) on Commencement Day, 1942.
2. When were you inducted into the military? Which service? Describe how and why you went into the military. I was inducted into Army in November 1942 and sent to the newly forming 104th ("Timberwolf") Infantry Division. I was assigned to the 104th’s Recon Troop (mechanized cavalry).
In June 1943 I was sent to a re-assignment center in Salt Lake City, then assigned to an Army Specialized Training (ASTP) unit at Pomona College in California for intensive language training in Spanish. The idea might have been invading Europe from North Africa via Spain, which was logistically nearly impossible. Spain has wide gauge RRs and the rest of Europe is narrow gauge.
At completion of the program, we were re-assigned, this time to the Military Intelligence Training School, Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Three types of units were trained there: IPW (Interrogation Prisoners of War); Order of Battle (these guys had to memorize the entire organization and personnel of the German army); and PI (aerial photo interpretation), to which I was assigned. Each PI team consisted of a captain, a 1st lieutenant, a master sergeant, a staff sergeant (me) and two T-3s.
We were sent to Boston POE and were transported to England aboard British ships. We ended up in London during the height of the "buzz bomb" (V-1 rocket) attacks. There we worked on interpreting current photos, which included some of the "buzz" bomb launching sites in France. On our night shifts (we were three floors above the basement of the building), we took turns keeping watch for buzz bombs by peeking out the blackout curtains from a stair landing. One night I could see six of them headed our way. When they came down, there was terrific blast and more people were probably killed by glass and other flying fragments than anything else. At first, the AA gunners in Hyde Park were shooting some of them down with the 90mm AAs, but they quickly learned it was better to let them go on by to less densely populated areas.
Our official branch of the Service was Military Intelligence Service, but during war time we wore the blue (Infantry) braid. Right after D-Day (6-6-44), the Allies organized the First Allied Airborne Army, composed of the 1st and 6th British Airborne divisions, the 10lst and 82nd U.S Airborne (and later the 17th), a Polish brigade and a French regiment. As far as I know, the French were never involved in an operation. Our 82nd and 101st, of course, saw plenty of action during the invasion, including night-time landings of the jumpers on D minus one.
The First Allied Airborne was only used twice: once in the fiasco at the bridge during the Battle of Arnhem, where the Poles were wiped out and some of the British survivors had to swim the river at night to escape. The 101st landed at Eindhoven in the south of Holland and fought their way north to clear a path for the British armor (which was rather ineffective) and the 82nd landed in the area of Nijmegen and succeeded in saving the highway bridge, but German "frogmen" succeeded in blowing up the railroad bridge.
The final airborne operation was carried out by the British airborne and our 17th AB Division at Wesel the following Spring. MIS personnel were forbidden to go along. A captain from the 17th AB PI team did manage to go, was wounded, lost an arm and was court-martialed.
3. How long were you in the military? Did you consider re-enlisting? What was your rank upon discharge? I had one hash mark -- about 3-plus years. I was ready for civilian life and continuing my education. I was still a staff sergeant at discharge.
4. Were you wounded? Have any residual effects? Metals earned? No Purple Heart and no medals except for the usual campaign bars and marksman stuff. I was "Expert' with the Thompson sub-machine gun, so I got to go on the payroll detail to the bank in Corvallis for the 104th Division payrolls when we returned to the U.S.
5. Can you describe your experiences when you first returned to the U.S.? What lessons to you feel you’ve learned? I had a wife (Janet) waiting for me and there was no rejection of veterans that I ever saw after World War II.
6. After discharge did you go to college or technical school? Pick up any degrees? I used the GI Bill to help to get an MS and Ph.D. at Cornell University in New York state.
7. What have you done for a living in the years since you were in the military? Describe your occupation(s) after discharge and list any accomplishments you'd like to share with your fellow VFP members. (Books written? Awards received?) After completing the MS and part of the Ph.D., I took a teaching job at a state college in Missouri (Central Missouri State College, now the University of Central Missouri), and after a couple years, I got a leave and finished the Ph.D. I then returned to the college and taught life sciences and ecology courses for over 30 years until I retired in 1979. (Editor’s note: Dr. Hawksley was a co-founder of the Missouri Speleological Survey. He got interested in exploring caves because of his passion for canoeing the rivers and waterways of Missouri, along which are located many caves and caverns, which he explored for many decades. The website of the Illinois State Museum has a photo of a large metal cabinet with many shelves, all filled with the bones of small animals, like bats and mice, found by Dr. Hawksley in caves.)
I published in several scientific fields (ornithology, speleology, vertebrate paleontology and recreation. My Ph.D. research, on the arctic tern and a number of other articles were published in national publications. My most popular publication was a guidebook to the canoe-able rivers of the Ozarks, which I donated to the Missouri Department of Conservation. I was told several years ago that they had sold, or distributed, at least 500,000 copies. (Editor’s note: The title of the book is: “Missouri Ozark Waterways: A Detailed Guide to 37 Major Float Streams in the Missouri Ozark Highlands.”)
8. Are you in touch with any of your fellow service members from your time in the military? No, I don't know if any of them are still living. One fellow (Albert Terrice), who was my closest friend, became a rather well-known sculptor. His father-in-law had given him a revolver that he carried in World War I, and he carried it with him sometimes in Europe. Once when we were questioning German prisoners, Al interrogated them in Yiddish! Two other members of our team were fluent in German -- the Finn and the Dane. Among the six men on our team, we spoke nine languages.
9. When and where did you first get involved in public peace activities? What caused you to join Veterans for Peace? My first wife Janet (of 19 years) was a Friend (Quaker). After I moved to Ashland earlier this year, I met Dan Guy at the Ashland Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and he asked if I'd be interested in attending a Veterans for Peace meeting, so I did.
10. Describe your experience as a member of VFP RV Chapter 156. So far, I’ve found it interesting and pleasant, though I am no longer physically able to participate in some things.
11. Do you have any ideas or goals or changes in bylaws that your think the chapter should consider to further the cause of peace or improve our chapter's standing in the community? I think we could stand some younger members who have had more recent experiences with the military.
(Editor’s note: Thank you, Oz Hawksley, for your service to our country and for sharing your story with us.)
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The Nature of Oz
Hawksley Marks Missouri and Students
with Conservation Zeal
By Matt Bird-MeyerIronically, the basic protocol in studying and preserving prairies, caves and waterways is to leave nothing behind, but this retired Central Missouri professor has left an indelible impression. He's promoted legislation to protect scenic waterways, published extensive research on caves and fossils discovered there, established a prairie in his hometown, and started a scientific journal, a statewide caving organization and a Kansas City-based floating group. He's also inspired students of natural history and science to be good stewards of the earth.Oz Hawksley is a ferocious conservationist.
"It's satisfying getting something constructive done," Hawksley says during an interview one day before his 90th birthday. "You don't always win 'em all though."
Preventing environmental destruction clearly fueled his passion for the outdoors and his support for conservation over the years. "I guess, for me, [it's] not wanting to see beautiful things screwed up," he adds.
To help preserve Missouri's numerous caves, Hawksley cofounded the Missouri Speleological Survey in 1956. "So, we were able to change it from a gangbang approach to caving to a productive thing that produced scientific information," he explains. "I always considered that a real success, and it surprised the hell out of me."
The Nature of Oz
Hawksley Marks Missouri and Students
with Conservation Zeal
By Matt Bird-Meyer
Hawksley started the scientific journal, Missouri Speleology, in the mid-1950s to record fossil discoveries, cave mapping and biological issues.
One of his former students, Jack Reynolds, studied Ice Age fossils from Missouri caves for his master's thesis with Hawksley. Several other graduate students began studying the same issue, and soon, Hawksley says, he had a large collection of Ice Age fossils. He donated the collection to the Illinois State Museum.
"There was no place in Missouri where geologists were interested in that type of research," he notes.
Reynolds, a retired firefighter, police trainer, whitewater guide and former teacher, says his relationship with Hawksley began "quite by accident." Reynolds, who still lives in Warrensburg, came to UCM in the fall of 1954 and drew Hawksley as his student adviser and his primary professor for his major. Reynolds went on many floating trips with Hawksley, including whitewater trips to Idaho.
The two eventually led an ambitious expedition along the Selway River in Idaho. They were the first ones to run and document the river, which eventually became protected through the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. They filmed this adventure in 1960 and gave a copy to the Sierra Club, which used the film to push for passage of the legislation.
"Oz was always into adventurous things, as was I," Reynolds says. "He has been a very big influence in my life."
Hawksley's interest in boats and floating began as a teenager growing up near the Catskill Mountains of New York. He and a friend built boats, starting with a rather unsteady model with barrel hoops for ribs and fabric from car tops for covering.
Later as an adult, Hawksley made many canoeing trips to the Ozarks and founded the Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club, which is still active some 50 years later. He used his extensive experience floating southern Missouri to write a popular canoeing guide titledMissouri Ozark Waterways, published by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1965.
Hawksley may not be able to crawl around caves any longer, but he still floats, stays active with the Citizens for Environmental Action in Warrensburg, and occasionally participates in workdays with the Missouri Prairie Foundation.
He plans to take a natural history trip in November to Costa Rica with another former student, Marcia Kelly Nelson, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey. Nelson came to UCM in 1972 as a graduate student in biology. Specifically, she was interested in ornithology, which led her to Hawksley and a lifelong friendship. She became a member of the Outing Club and went on excursions nearly every weekend.
"He's the kind of person who really influences others," Nelson says. "He was one of those people in my life who really directed and helped form my career and philosophy of life." She adds that philosophy of life is knowing that what we do affects entire ecosystems.
Hawksley has done his part in preserving local ecosystems and built trails so people could better appreciate the parks. As a member of the Warrensburg Parks and Recreation Department several years ago, he helped develop trails and was instrumental in establishing a prairie on the west edge of town, the Turkey Foot Prairie. Hawksley says the seven-acre prairie is in need of a burn to prevent woody encroachment. The trouble is finding volunteers to do the work.
"If I were physically up to it, I would be over there working on it," he says.
UCMO link
Dr. Perry McCandless is Professor Emeritus of History at University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. He is the author of several books on Missouri history, including Missouri Then and Now, New and Enlarged Edition. He has been a member of the Department of History since 1948. He is author or co-author of five books, all dealing with Missouri history and government and has written several articles for the Missorui Historical Review. The American Association for State and Local History presented Dr.McCandless with the award of Merit for this book in 1974.
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