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Houston Geological Auxiliary; A Short History

It was the air-conditioning! That was the foundation for the big boom growth of Houston in 1950 when it became the most air-conditioned city in the world. It was the stimulus for many corporations to move their headquarters to Houston. Among those companies were Continental Oil, Prudential Insurance, Mobil Oil, Gulf Oil, Texaco Oil, Tidewater Associated and Sunray MidContinent. Ethyl Corporation opened a new $50 million plant on the ship channel in 1952. And, of course, Humble Oil & Refining Company was already well established in Houston.

The census of 1950 made Houston the 14th biggest city in America with a population of 596,163. Five years later, in 1955, there were 475,000 motor vehicles registered in Harris County, and 8,000 of them were air-conditioned. Naturally, the oil company related people numbered in the thousands. The geologists had already started the Houston Geological Society in 1923 and held monthly luncheons, with membership increasing at a terrific speed.

In 1950, the wives of these men were dreaming of their own organization. Mrs. Ralph Cantrell, or Charlie, tells the story... "Mrs. Jack Colle, or Olga, Mrs. Robert Behrman, or Gen, and I with a few other Houston Geological Society wives gathered around my dining room table and hand wrote the invitations on plain notebook paper. On May 5, 1950 at 10:00 a.m. at the Women's Club on Westmorland Street, there was a discussion meeting about getting an auxiliary organization started. We sent invitations to every member of the Houston Geological Society. A couple of the HGS men came to this meeting and gave us $25.00 to help us get started and we bought a lot of stamps."

"At this meeting, we set up some temporary officers. I was made temporary chairwoman and we appointed a secretary and a nominating committee with another group to work on our By-Laws."

"In September we met at the Ye Olde College Inn and talked about our plans for the Auxiliary. We elected officers and Mrs. John D. Marr, or Kathryn, was our first president, and I don't remember who the other officers were. We decided to charge $5.00 yearly dues and made everyone stand in line to sign the book and pay their money. The line circled the Ye Olde College Inn, with several hundred women signing up."

The HGS Newsletter dated December 10, 1951 states that the group changed its name from "Houston Society of Geologist's Wives" to the the "Houston Geological Auxiliary." The HGS had 812 members at the time, and the HGA had 415.

"By 1958 there were 750 members," Mrs. Cantrell continued. "That year we decided to start the newcomers group to help new people get acquainted in a smaller group before joining the larger meeting. Well, I could go on and on..."

The newcomers group was originally referred to as the "Quaternary" group (in geological terms, "most recent"), and changed its name a year later to "Geo-Wives."

The following women are HGA charter members who are still current members:

                    Past Presidents of the
               Houston Geological Auxiliary


       +Mrs, John D. Marr**                     1950-51
       Mrs. Ralph Cantrell                      1951-52
       +Mrs. A. L. Selig**                      1952-53
       +Mrs.RoyEBennett(MarvolSpeed**)          1953-54
       Mrs. A. Knox Tyson**                     1954-55
       +Mrs. Hillard Hinson**                   1955-56
       Mrs. Harold Voight (Merle White**)       1956-57
       Mrs. R. G. Behrman, Jr.                  1957-58
       +Mrs. Harold N. Fisk**                   1958-59
       +Mrs. Lawrence J. Vittrup                1959-60
       Mrs. Edward J. Smith, Jr.**              1960-61
       +Mrs. Donald I. Gahagan**                1961-62
       Mrs. Phillip B. Wogan (Inez Broussard**) 1962-63
       +Mrs. Phillip R. Allin                   1963-64
       Mrs. Ray C. Lewis                        1964-65
       Mrs. Owen B. Wood                        1965-66
       Mrs. James A. Wheeler**                  1966-67
       Mrs. Paul Farren                         1967-68
       Mrs. Thomas D. Barber                    1968-69
       Mrs. R. Jack Chambers Colle**            1969-70
       Mrs. 0. G. Lundstrom                     1970-71
       Mrs. Polly Turner**                      1971-72
       Mrs. J. D. Bartell                       1972-73
       Mrs. Dee Russek Williams                 1973-74
       +Mrs. Jack 0. Colle                      1974-75
       Mrs. Hal H. Bybee**                      1975-76
       Mrs. George E. Gordon                    1976-77
       +Mrs. John W. Inkster**                  1977-78
       Mrs. Robert J. Schrock                   1978-79
       Mrs. James G. Floyd                      1979-80
       Mrs. Andrew B. Bacho                     1980-81
       +Mrs. Nancy S. Rust                      1981-82
       Mrs. Wiley B. Harle                      1982-83
       Mrs. William E Howell                    1983-84
       Mrs. Jeffrey V. Morris                   1984-85
       Mrs. Louis A. Newitt                     1985-86
       +Mrs. Clyde Harrison**                   1986-87
       Mrs. Richard S. Bishop                   1987-88
       Mrs. John H. Hefner                      1988-89
       Mrs. C. E. Trowbridge                    1989-90
       Mrs. Stewart H. Folk                     1990-91
       Mrs. James B. Bennett                    1991-92
       Mrs. James 0. Lewis                      1992-93
       Mrs. Richard Steinmetz                   1993-94
       Mrs. Glenn Allen                         1994-95
       Mrs. P. W. f. Wood                       1995-96
       Mrs. Charles Edwards                     1996-97
       Mrs. Bill R. Payne                       1997-98

       (Note: + deceased, ** HGS member husband deceased)

Geo-Wives Past Presidents

For additional information on this article, please contact:

Naomi Watson

N/A

Source: Houston Geological Society

http://www.hgs.org

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