A Century of Class: Public Education in Dallas

Dallas author Rose-Mary Rumbley trots by the chalkboards, down the musty halls, past the principal’s office into the inter sanctum of Dallas schools. This is a book about people, and you meet them all. . . . for instance, the kid who loved his school so much he wanted to grow up and buy it. Which he did — but became governor of Texas first. The teacher who had her bluff in on everybody, even Jewish families who were afraid to complain about their children singing Christmas carols. The custodian who brought his telescope back to school at night so students could look at the stars. The principal with a misplaced modifier. The ROTC poet who wrote about shooting the Kaiser in the pants. The kids who didn’t steal cars — just moved them around the city. The teacher who taught students how to say “How are you” in Latin. The debate squad members who later wrote a book, Minding the Store. Author Rumbley is a product of Dallas Schools. Her mother enrolled in 1899. Her father returned from the trenches in France following World War I to become a principal. Her husband taught in the schools for twenty years and her children are graduates. Besides, she wrote her doctorate on a phase of public education in Dallas. A Century of Class is a history of education in Dallas according to Rose-Mary Rumbley. It’s funny, serious, nostalgic and easy on the reader. It will also elucidate you on education in Dallas.

Rose-Mary Rumbley holds a Ph.D. in Communications from North Texas State University. She was head of the speech and drama department of Dallas Baptist College for twelve years, and she served as single adult director at First Baptist Church, Dallas for six years. Now, she lectures to service clubs and women’s clubs, entertains at conventions, and holds seminars for business groups. As an actress she has appeared in the Dallas Summer Musicals, Casa Mañana and New Arts Theatre. As a writer she has had articles published in various periodicals including the Dallas Times Herald and the Dallas Morning News. One might see her in a TV commercial or in a movie, or hear her on radio.

“But, mainly, I tell stories. I’m from a family of storytellers. I heard Dallas school stories all of my life from my mother who was born on Main Street, Dallas, 1894, and enrolled in the Dallas schools in 1899. My father, also a native Texan, after serving in World War I came to Dallas to work for the Dallas Board of Education. He had a lot of great stories. Then I began to collect some of my own when I enrolled in the Dallas schools in the late nineteen thirties. My husband who taught in the Dallas schools for twenty years and my children who attended the Dallas schools came home with a bunch of new school stories. This book just naturally emerged. I am a fourth-generation Dallasite!”