Russell G. "Andy" Anderson interview (Buena Vista College alumni), conducted by Sue Brinkman

Russell G. "Andy" Anderson interview (Buena Vista College alumni), conducted by Sue Brinkman

Buena Vista College -- Oral histories

Oral histories -- Iowa -- Storm Lake

College students -- Iowa -- Storm Lake

Prohibition -- Iowa -- Storm Lake

Buena Vista College student Sue Brinkman interviewed 1924 BV alumus Russell “Andy” Anderson on May 29, 1985 about his student days at BV in the early 1920s. He discusses working for the college in order to pay tuition, selling “wienies” at football games to earn money, and singing in a college quartet and playing the saxophone. He also recounts a humorous anecdote about a fellow student who had a taste for schnapps. Because Buena Vista College was a Presbyterian school, alcohol was forbidden, but it didn’t matter anyway. Prohibition made the purchase of alcohol illegal. Still, this enterprising student found a way to satisfy his taste for something other than soda pop.

Russell G. “Andy” Anderson, was born December 20, 1900 in Linn Grove, Iowa. Following high school graduation in 1919, he attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, for three semesters, after which he transferred to Buena Vista College, graduating with the class of 1924. He received a masters degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, in 1938 and taught high school in various places, retiring in 1963. “Andy” was 85 when this interview took place. He died March 17, 1995.

Notes:
Scroll down to see the transcript. To access the audio recording, click the arrow under the photograph to start.

The interview seems to start in the middle of a conversation, but that is likely due to the way the conversation was copied onto tape. At the very end of the tape, Sue Brinkman identifies the subject, and this identification method is typically done at the very beginning of the interview.

In places where the sound quality was particularly challenging, the transcript shows the word “unintelligible” in brackets. Numbers that appear in brackets show the timestamp of the conversation.

To the best of the transcriptionist’s ability, this is a faithful rendition of the conversation, although hesitations in thought, which are uttered in sounds such as “uh” or “um” have been omitted and dashes have been used in their place.

Buena Vista University

May 29, 1985

Anderson, Russell G. "Andy"

audio/mpeg

English

Oral History

http://bvuarchives.bvu.edu/Audio/OralHistories/RussellAnderson.mp3

Sue Brinkman

Russell G. "Andy" Anderson

Storm Lake, Iowa

RA=Russell Anderson
SB=Sue Brinkman

RA: [00:00:03] 22 and 24.

SB: [00:00:04] 22 and 24,.

RA: [00:00:04] I graduated in 24.

SB: [00:00:07] Uh-huh.

RA: [00:00:08] Wouldn't that be it?

SB: [00:00:08] Yeah. I think so. How large was your class, your graduating class? Do you remember?

RA: [00:00:15] Oh, I don't know. Probably about 40. I suppose.

SB: [00:00:23] What were most the of the people interested in as far as majors? What did they graduate with?

RA: [00:00:27] Well, they graduated, most of them, with just a general course, you know.

SB: [00:00:42] Just a liberal arts.

RA: [00:00:42] Liberal arts. Yeah.

SB: [00:00:42] What were the typical classes like? What was your class schedule? What kind of things were you studying?

RA: [00:00:45] Well, no, you know you have it pretty soft now.

SB: [00:00:51] [laughs]

RA: [00:00:51] Your classes are short. We started in-- we had two classes until way out in June, see. Classes were, I think, the same length, about an hour.

SB: [00:01:11] Uh-huh.

RA: [00:01:11] When I went to Buena Vista, the only buildings there were the Old Main and then the Edson Hall. Edson Hall, that was built in 1918. So that was kind of a memorial, you know, to the First World War. [sound of a door opening] And it was practically new when I was there.

RA: [00:01:54] [Someone says, "Hi." He introduces the interviewer to someone who enters, but mistakes the interviewer's last name] Now this is Sue Brendan (sic). [Tape recorder clicks off. Clicks back on to resume interview.]

RA: [00:01:54] In the Old--

SB: [00:02:06] Edson?

RA: [00:02:06] No. In the Old Main, it was all wooden floors and wooden steps. Regular firetrap. And there was no carpeting. And we had to have a lot of classes up on the third floor, in the attic, so to speak.

SB: [00:02:26] Oh. I bet that was steamy up there.

RA: [00:02:26] Oh, gosh. Well, the trouble with the school, you know, there was bad times in 1924. And-- So I came down here. I had to go to work. And I worked for the college as a janitor in the main building. And I had to get up-- well, I got up at four o'clock every day. And in the wintertime and fired that furnace, you know. And on real cold days, I had to get up-- Oh, I stayed up until after midnight and and fired it. And I got up about three o'clock and start firing again to get heat up to the third floor. And we had an old English teacher there--I can't remember her name. This was my senior year. And one morning it was like twenty-two below zero. And she came upstairs to class and she had on a high collar [cuckoo clock in the background] up here [unintelligible]. You could see her bare arms, you know [just] through a lace dress. She said to me when I walked in, I was a minute late for class, see, because I was firing. And she said, "Mr. Anderson, I'm cold. You're supposed to keep some heat in here." I said, 'If you'd wear some clothes it wouldn't be cold.'" She said, "You're impertinent, Anderson." And you know she never-- she would not correct my papers. That was English, then. And she said, "He could flunk." And she did.

SB: [00:04:25] [laugh of surprise] That's pretty severe.

RA: [00:04:26] Oh yes. Oh, she-- it was her last year. So, I said-- I said to Dean, "What are we gonna do about it?" "Well, " he said, "I don't know." And so Frank Shaw saved all the papers that I-- I wrote all-- I wrote everything out, see. And every time she asked for a paper, I made it out for her. And she-- she-- She just handed it back to me after a certain period of time. No grade on it, see. So we saved all those. And so the dean-- Saylor said,
"Well, you just save these papers 'til school's out. And she's leaving at the end of the year.
And I'll have you--" What was her name-- Dewey-- Dewey was another English teacher. And-- So, I went to Dewey, and she said, "Well, now you take the exam now." And I took the exam and got a B, see. So I was lucky.

SB: [00:06:00] You were in good shape.

RA: [00:06:00] But you know we used to have religious classes. And we'd go to class every day. Religion class. And-- It was kind of a-- Oh. It was all right. But it was kind of a
nuisance, too. And-- they-- Well, then, then-- Turn it off. [referring to the tape recorder. Tape is turned back on.] Well then. We-- We-- We had classes. Some good teachers. Very good. My teacher for my government classes. And my-- [Tape recorder clicks off, then back on.] I had very good math teachers. Very good political science teacher. Good history teacher. And good accounting. See, and I never took-- I never took physics or chemistry. And now I had-- Old Bugs Smith was here. I didn't have class from him, see, or Bang-- Banghart was here. She was an excellent teacher, and I didn't have her. But I had some very good teachers.

SB: [00:08:23] Wha--.

RA: [00:08:23] They--.

SB: [00:08:23] No, go ahead.

RA: [00:08:23] 'kay. [Tape recorder stops. Interview is then resumed.]

RA: [00:08:23] They were excellent teachers because they were there for-- They didn't-- They weren't there for the money. Because there wasn't any money. I'll tell you how tough things were. They-- I was the-- I was firing the furnace there. And we'd get down to where we had two scoops of coal left. And then the dean would go downtown. And get in to Douglass's or someplace and talk somebody into delivering two tons of coal for us. Then we'd get a couple tons of coal that way. Gift, see. And-- Now, you know, Bugs Smith and those fellas, they-- they were-- they were dedicated. And they-- They didn't get much money. They-- They-- They taught because they liked to teach.

SB: [00:09:30] Did they ever complain about being underpaid or something not being paid-
-

RA: [00:09:36] Oh, yeah. Well, they-- Sometimes, you know. They took potatoes and things or chickens and things once in a while, you know for-- part of their salaries. People-- people couldn't afford cash donations you know, and they'd bring produce in. So it was tough. I, gosh, you know-- And the old building it was so old-- it was so old and dilapidated, you know. You know you could practically drive a horse through the windows. Between the cracks in 'em, see. And no-- no storm windows or anything. And. it was very breezy. Now--

SB: [00:10:37] Were you paid for your janitorial duties--.

RA: [00:10:39] No. No-- I--.

SB: [00:10:39] Or was that in exchange for tuition?

RA: [00:10:41] I think-- I think tuition, see. Tuition, yeah. Because, of course, tuition was much much less in those days. I talked to a kid here the other day up here at school. I said-- He's a freshman. I said are you coming back and he said no. I can't come back, he said. It cost me seven thousand dollars tuition for next year. He said, "I can't do it. I'm a farmer. I live on the farm." So. Well, now... When I went-- [pause] Pardon me. Turn this off. [Tape recorder stops. Turns back on.] Up at St. Olaf's, when I was there, 500 dollars a year, board and room and tuition. And books, remember. Five hundred a year. That's quite different than it is now. [laughs]

SB: [00:11:41] That's for sure. Books alone cost nearly that much.

RA: [00:11:46] Yeah.

SB: [00:11:46] What kind of campus life was there here? Were there dorms on campus at the time? Or, where did you live?

RA: [00:11:54] No. I lived across the street in the old music hall with Aylesworth. He was a... He was the music teacher, see. And I sang in the quartet with him, see. And-- So, he, he kind of took pity on me. And he said, come on over and stay with me 'cuz he had a room up in the attic. [unintelligible] stuff up there. And-- so it was cold when I went up there. But I had lots of covers and kept warm. But see. But-- Now in the last-- In the-- Oh, Aylesworth, Aylesworth was-- was a fine teacher. He was a fine music teacher and his wife taught, too, see. She taught piano. And they had three or four children. And one of the reasons that I stayed there was that if one evening-- if they wanted to go out and things, I stayed with the kids, see. Yeah ... It was nice.

SB: [00:13:20] Were there many women in your classes or--.

RA: [00:13:20] Oh, yeah. A lot of school-- a lot of women to be school teachers and things, you know. Trying to be school teachers. Now, in those days, you know, two years was about all they needed to teach school. After. And then some of them would keep coming back for summer schools, you know. Yeah.

SB: [00:13:44] Were you ever involved in any of the crazes of the time? Marathon dancing or Charleston?

RA: [00:13:52] Oh, no, we never had that.

SB: [00:13:53] Flappers?

RA: [00:13:53] No, no. Now, now. We had-- We really had a football team in those days. Ed Saggau. Jim Kelly was the coach, see. And they played football east and west right in front of the main building. See. And-- during football game old Jim Kelly said-- He-- Everybody kind of took pity on me now down here [laughing as he talks] because I didn't have any money and-- Jim said that-- Why don't you get some kid and a coaster wagon and get a big kettle and-- And-- You could sell wienies or hot dogs and things at the sale. And so I did. So, I-- I'd go over right across the street to Aylesworth's and cooked the wienies, you know. And keep 'em-- keep 'em hot. And-- Gosh, we sold 'em for a nickel.

SB: [00:15:04] [laughs].

RA: [00:15:04] And-- Oh, sold 'em like hotcakes. [laughs] Yeah. And-- Well. We had that good football team. And-- And, I-- Of course, I kept in with Aylesworth and kept singing. So we-- We went up and sang. All-- All over Iowa and Minnesota. Every weekend practically, we'd go.

SB: [00:15:40] This was a college sponsored-event?

RA: [00:15:42] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SB: [00:15:43] Well, it's surprising that they'd have money for that.

RA: [00:15:46] Well now-- Now, wait a minute.. We all played instruments. And I played saxophone. Had a saxophone and a cornet. And a clarinet. And a [unintelligible] And two saxophones and cornet. And-- Of course we'd go to churches, see, we'd advertise. We had an old Chevy that we'd pile in, the four of us. And all the instruments. And the Chevy had curtains on it, you know, side curtains. And gosh, you know, roads were bad roads in those days. We'd go clear to Illinois, you know. And eastern Iowa. And-- Mud roads and down through Omaha and up to Sioux City and things like that. We-- we-- We managed to get enough money from the college to get there. And then we had to depend on the contributions, the goodwill offering of the people, you know. Get enough to get home on. [laughs] So they were tough times.

SB: [00:17:12] There were no contests for you to go to --

RA: [00:17:15] No.

SB: [00:17:18] --and compete in?

RA: [00:17:18] No, no, not that I knew. Well I did the-- Well, I was in the drama class here. In a couple of plays and things.

SB: [00:17:28] Where would they have the plays?

RA: [00:17:31] We had a little auditorium in the second floor up there. In the Old Main. It didn't seat many people, but-- It's where we had chapel, see. It had a little stage in it and things. So it was-- [laughs] Oh, we did The Importance of Being Earnest.

SB: [00:17:57] Oh.

RA: [00:17:57] I was in that. [laughs] Old plays like that. Yeah. Yeah.

SB: [00:18:03] Was Chapel mandatory?

RA: [00:18:05] Yes, yes. You had to go--.

SB: [00:18:07] Once a week or several times?

RA: [00:18:08] Every day.

SB: [00:18:09] Every day.

RA: [00:18:09] Every day. You darn right. [ laugh].

SB: [00:18:12] [laughs].

RA: [00:18:12] Old [ unintelligible ] set up there, you know and [unintelligible] set up there, look 'em over. Yeah, well, I think we had-- we must have had a couple of hundred people in college at the time. Yeah. Now, anything else?

SB: [00:18:34] No, unless you just have something that you want to recall. [Tape recorder stops. Turns back on.]

RA: [00:18:40] You know-- Speaking about the some of the profs and things. Old Bugs Smith had his-- his-- room down the basement, see. And he had snakes and things in the jars. Pickled frogs and things, you know. And Old Preach Rowlands. So he was a good friend of mine. Oh. He was-- He was from my hometown Linn Grove. And-- He used to like a little schnapps once in a while. And he'd go down in the-- in the-- He took chemistry, see. He-- He'd go down there and drain off a little of that alcohol off that old stuff.

SB: [00:19:31] [Noise of disgust].

RA: [00:19:31] And mix it up with strawberry pop. [laughs] And-- And drink it, see. And-- And, oh, there was a few fellas that liked to drink. And one thing about those good old days was no cars. Nobody. Everybody walked. Now, if we had an evening free, we'd-- there was four of us. We'd go down to the old-- across from the old hotel used to be a restaurant. We'd go down there and drink coffee. Nickel cup of coffee and sit there all night long and drink coffee. That's about the only-- Only-- Activity we had.

SB: [00:20:28] Really.

RA: [00:20:28] Yeah. And then we'd walk home. And-- my good friends in those days were Preach Rowlands and [sounds like "Hoi" - it was probably John Haughey]. He was a-- he was a student. A. brainy guy. [laughs] He turned out-- he took law. And he went to Washington D.C. and worked for the government for years and years, see. And he-- He was always postulating about the-- Oh, things imaginary-- things, you know.

SB: [00:21:19] Yeah.

RA: [00:21:19] .He was quite a guy. We used to go down there and talk about, oh, everything from soup to nuts. And he-- one of his pet peeves was that he used to say it was foolish to have all these big graveyards that stretched people out. He said they should just dig a hole in the ground with a post auger and put the guy-- a big post auger and stand the guy up in the grave and-- [laughs]

SB: [00:21:55] [laughing] Radical.

RA: [00:21:59] Oh, he was kind of radical for a while. And-- Oh, we used to go out swimming a lot. And we'd go to this island out here, see. You can see it from our house.
We'd go get a canoe and go out there and play around in the evening, in the summertime. When it was nice weather. And the kids can still see the island.

SB: [00:22:44] This is an interview conducted with Mr. Russell Anderson a graduate of 1924 Buena Vista college conducted on May 29th, 1985 by Sue Brinkman.

RA: [00:23:01] [unintelligible]

audio cassette

23:08

80kbps

00:02:26 - Working for tuition and gets into trouble with a teacher his senior year ;
00:06:00 - Remembering good teachers ;
00:13:53 - Selling "wienies" to make money ;
00:15:04 - Singing ;
00:18:40 - Student finding a way to drink during Prohibition ;
00:20:28 - A memorable classmate