Tillman County Chronicles: McClure Scapbook

Sent to the Frederick Press and the Frederick Leader, August 23, 2011

Dorothy Mae McClure, 1946

McClure scrapbook shows Tipton in '40s

The late Dorothy Mae McClure kept detailed scrapbooks from the years that she grew up in Tipton. Her scrapbooks began during her first grade year in 1940 and were maintained through her high school graduation in 1952.

Last week [See August 16, 2011 post] this column contained information and photos from Dorothy’s elementary years. This week, it includes photographs from the later years.

Dorothy participated in many school and community activities. The McClure family belonged to the Tipton First Baptist Church where Dorothy was baptized in 1946 by Rev. C.O. Bigbee.

Dorothy McClure in 1948

She was active in band, Future Homemakers of America, plays, “T” Club, and many other school activities. She had many friends, and her scrapbooks were filled with photos of those friends, invitations, announcements, and clippings about community events.

When Dorothy graduated from Tipton High School in 1952, she attended college at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.

After college, she used her OBU degree to work in the field of radiology-phlebotomy. She worked for more than 40 years at Medical Specialty Labs in Wichita Falls.

She died on November 14, 2005.

Following her death, many of Dorothy’s things, including the scrapbooks, were left to Mona Fern Smith Huffer, a lifelong friend from her growing up years in Tipton. In the 1940s the Smith family had lived on East Main across the street from the McClure family.

Following the passing of Mrs. Huffer, the scrapbooks of Dorothy McClure were given to the Tillman County Historical Society by her daughter, Lou Ann Huffer McClain.

The scrapbooks are very fragile. The old pages are crumbling and many pages have come unbound. They provide a great record, though, of one young life growing up in small town Oklahoma in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Tipton First Baptist Church, 1948 Photo

Rev. C.O. Bigbee baptized Dorothy, 1946

Dorothy’s 13^th birthday on July 8, 1947, was celebrated with a surprise party. Pictured at the park in Altus are Dorothy, Trevlyn Reeves, Phyllis and Marilyn Newsom, Marilyn Abernathy, Pat Pickrell, Marjorie Raffeis, Barbara Andrews, Greta Greer, Vonda Choate, Bub Jennings, Eddie Jennings, Jerry Hubbard, Donald Hefner, Gilbert Hines, Olen Fields, Rex Swann, Lanny Dale Curry, Mrs. Velma Shots, Mrs. Ray Newsom, Mrs. H.M. McClure.

Dorothy and Bub Jennings on his scooter, 1946

Tipton High School Boys Basketball Team, 1947 (scanned from newspaper clipping) – Back Row – Keith Pinson, So.; Bob Jones, Sr.; Bobbie Lovejoy, Sr.; Kenneth Hubble, Sr.; Durwood Weatherford, Jr.; Front Row – James Fred Taylor, So.; Johnny Keith Martin, So.; Kenneth Hefner, Sr.; Billy Ray Hendrix, Sr.; and Merle Robertson, So.

Tipton High School Girls Basketball team, 1947 (scanned from newspaper clipping) – Front Row – Juana Faye Wagnon, Fr.; Betty Hobbs, Sr.; Mary Ellen Wearmouth, Sr.; Treva Burrows, Sr.; Margie Wilson, Sr.; Back Row – Ranel Givens, So.; Marie Davis, So.; Margaret Lovejoy, Jr.; Jo Alice Jones, Sr.; Pauline Jones, Jr.; Erma DeYong, Jr.; Jo Laing, So.