John A. Miller – Chemistry, 1946; Math & Science Education, 1949

John A. Miller

1946 & 1949

Dear Dr. Dugas,

                I received a phone call from Mrs. Beth Norwood; after talking to her a bit, she suggested I write you a note about some of my earlier days at SLI.  So here are the results of my rambling.

                I started SLI as a freshman in June of 1943.  I had just graduated from Morgan City High School and I was 16 years old.  I majored in Chemistry and graduated from the College of Liberal Arts in June of 1946.  I took a year off, went back to school, and enrolled in the College of Education as a Math/ Science major.  I graduated in 1949 and went to teach in Thibodaux.

                I am writing this to call your attention to two things.  One, the first mascot was obtained in the fall of 1945 and housed in a pen behind the engineering building across the walk from the post office.  He was taken care of by J. Oswald Melancon.  Oswald now resides in Morgan City.  He led the dog on the field for each home football game.  I marched in the band behind the dog.  A picture of the mascot is on page 137, bottom row, center, in the 1946 year book.  Sorry I don’t remember his name (the dog).  Last year, someone reported in the alumni news that the first mascot had been acquired in 1949.  I would have corrected this sooner but could not remember where to address the correction.

                I think the class of 1946 or 1947 was the only class to finish on the trimester program.  We started in June of 1943 and had only a week off at Christmas each year.  They did allow us Thanksgiving day off.  We went three full semesters a year of four months each.  Most of us carried 17 to 21 hours.  You did not have a lot of time to loaf or smooch.  None of the classrooms were air conditioned.  We used electric fans mounted on the wall by the window.  There is nothing like a chemistry lab in summer with the windows shut and all bunsen burners going full tilt.

Also of interest was that the girls could not wear slacks; and if they played tennis in shorts, they had to wear a skirt to and from the dorm.

I taught in Thibodaux for 1.5 years before I went into the service.  I served in the Chemical Corps and then went to work for N Corporation.  I spent 36 years working in solid propellants and pyrotechnics research.

Hope that some of this is of use.

Regards,

John A. Miller