Owen Muelder is an historian, he is the director of the Underground Railroad Center at Knox College. He is considered one of the top resources in America on the Underground Railroad.
On a beautiful Fall afternoon, I had a chance to sit with Owen Muelder on his porch, and have a nice chat. The plan was to talk a half-hour about his days at GHS, he is a 1959 GHS grad.
It turned out that our “half-hour chat” turned into more like a two hour conversation. We talked about Galesburg, Galesburg HS, and Knox College in the 1950’s. His memories of this era were fascinating to hear. As an historian, his historical perspective of the era was educational.
I hope you enjoy his insights as much as I did. Here is our conversation…
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| John Aitchison |
Who were some of your favorite teachers and your favorite classes at GHS?
Roland Hegg certainly had was highly regarded. I was president of the choir. I had a good voice and was in the boys' octete.
Virginia Hinchcliffe was an English teacher, and was highly regarded, very strong. She was living in a nursing home when I started doing Underground Railroad lectures, I got a big kick out of her being in the audience.
A physics teacher by the name of John Aitchison, he was a smart guy and very demanding. He could have taught at least a lower level of college physics.
C.E. Van Norman taught geometry and had a great reputation.
Even though John Thiel was just starting out, Thiel had a special status.
Of course, Chuck Bednar as the director of Athletics. was really respected. When Bednar was in a room, everyone sat up and listened to what he had to say.
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| Chuck Bednar |
What do you remember about growing up in Galesburg?
Initially, we lived on 1414 North Prairie. My dad, had been the chair of the history department at Knox. In 1956 Sharvy Umbeck appointed him the academic dean, so our family income jumped so fast. We moved 592 North Cherry, that was a bigger house.
If there was going to be an opening for a professor, my dad along with a committee would entertain candidates. My dad had kind of an entertainment budget for this.
There used to be the Galesburg Club across from the Presbyterian Church. In the warmer seasons, the wealthy would often go to country clubs, but in the winter many of the influential people went to the Galesburg Club. My dad got a free membership there. So our life changed dramatically when my dad became dean.
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| 1957 Galesburg Ponies Basketball Team |
What activities were you involved in during junior high?
I played basketball. And we were still living on Prairie St, I remember riding my bike home after football and basketball.
Our 9th grade played against Dave Downey. Canton was a four year high school so Downey was a freshman. Why Dave Downey wasn't playing already on the varsity? Canton beat all three junior highs- Hitchcock, Lombard, and Churchill. By the time we were at the high school, we were all combined, and then we beat Canton. But I remember my senior year thinking, if it wasn't for Bumpy Nixon, I don't think we would have beaten Canton.
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| Virginia Hinchcliff |
What was the Galesburg community like in the ‘50’s?
Galesburg was voted an All-American city, and people made a big deal out of that. We were very proud of that.
Growing up in Galesburg in the ‘50’s, I remember that my sister and my friends, we felt every year was gonna get better. This was true not just for Galesburg, but nationally.
Every year you felt, in terms of your family and its economic situation, that every year was gonna get better. There was always the assumption that it was financially gonna get better and better.
The other thing I remember clearly was how vibrant downtown Galesburg was. When I was a kid in grade school, and even into junior high, there were so many cars that came to town on Main Street. I remember downtown Galesburg on Friday night, not just having a lot of people, but a places like outside the old OT Johnson, it was crowded.
Living in Galesburg and having your dad work at Knox, you had to witness some major changes to Knox College during this era.
Knox's enrollment started to increase, and Sharvy Umbeck just changed the face of the campus. Davis Hall, the Aux Gym, Old Main, Alumni Hall, Seymour Hall, and the Library- at the start of the ‘50’s that was basically the campus.
When Sharvy came, they'd already made plans to build Memorial Gym. Umbeck had played AAA baseball, he cleared out the whole block for the baseball field. He created Trevor Field, where the track is. He created the Fine Arts Building, where they took all the dirt and built the football bowl. Then he gradually started building Post Hall and the New Quad. He died before they completed the Science and Math Center but he was involved in the planning.
In terms of expansion, nobody will probably ever top Sharvy Umbeck in the history of Knox College. His expansion of the campus was unbelievable in a short time.
There was this feeling in Galesburg that Knox was this growing place and getting bigger. As it got bigger, it's enrollment for the first time went over 1,000. Knox's footprint was bigger, and it's status in the community was growing.
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| C.E. VanNorman |
It seems like in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s, Galesburg was nuts about basketball, and it continued into the ‘50’s. Tell me about the Streaks in the ‘50’s.
I played basketball at Hitchcock, and then I was on the team as a sophomore. I kind of regret that I stopped playing basketball, but I kept playing baseball. I played baseball all the way from junior high, through Knox.
I remember my senior year the Streaks basketball team lost at State. We took third place in '59 at the state tournament. When the team came back into town, people started gathering on the edge of route 150 because the interstate wasn't there yet. There were enormous crowds along the route, and kids were riding along on their bikes with the team.
These welcome crowds kept building with all the people in their cars, honking horns. I was standing next to Harley Knosher. I remember, Harley turned to me and said, “What the hell would they have done if they'd won the state?”
The pride, athletically, that took place in this town in the ‘50’s was something else. Between Doug Mills and the Kimbrough’s on the football field, then the ‘57 and ‘59 basketball teams, the town loved their teams. The pride that Galesburg took in athletics, in the late '50s, I don't think can be matched.
The combination of the success of the athletic teams, and the prosperity of the town, it's hard for me to ever remember ever feeling that way since then. There have been some great things in Galesburg through years but the ‘50’s were something.
I would say that if there was two word that I would choose for all of this, it would be prosperity, and success.
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| John Thiel |
Jimmie Carr has talked to me about the atmosphere of the old Steele Gym. When I asked him to compare Thiel Gym to Steele Gym, he thought Steele was a much better home court advantage.
First off, in the ‘50’s, they would only pull back about 200 tickets to be bought at the door, every game was a sellout.
The fans were right on top of the benches, right behind each bench.
The cheerleaders, after the sophomore game was over, would start chanting,”We're waiting, we're waiting.”
Then the crowd would go,”We're waiting. We're waiting. We're waiting for the Streaks.”
The team wouldn't come out. So the chant just got louder and louder. By the time they came out, they were screaming it. Then the band would play the Lone Ranger. It was electric, man.
The Streaks would come out, and they'd put Mike Owens at the free throw line, and then you'd have your two lines cut off him. He'd put the ball through his legs and behind his back, and he would even drop kick it. I can remember the other teams, you'd catch them just staring down at it.
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| GHS Downtown Campus |
It seems like it must have been so different having school right down town.
At noon, you got off for an hour. You could take your lunch and eat in the study hall room, or you could go out to lunch or go home for lunch.
There was a pool hall called Brad's Pool Hall on Cherry Street, kind of across the street from where Cherry Street Brewing Company is now. It was an incredibly popular place. It had a little bit rougher reputation with kids smoking cigarettes.
Next to it, there was a candy store. Those people must have made a lot of money, some kids just went and had sweets for lunch.
Coney Island was there. It was cheap, incredibly cheap.
There were school buses, but school buses were for kids who lived in the country. I walked to Silas Willard. I walked to Hitchcock, I walked to Galesburg High.
There were few parents who drove their kids to school. If you had to go somewhere after school, like for a doctor’s appointment, a parent would pick you up but most everyone walked. Not many parents drove kids to school.
By the time they got in high school, a few had their own car, but not the way they do now. The walking thing was very different.
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| C.C. VanDyke |
Tell me impressions of CC VanDyke.
C.C. Van Dyke was a character. On Fridays we'd have an assembly. No matter the topic of the assembly, C.C. Van Dyke would get up and tell stories about the past- a player or team who had done something great. The assembly could be about something else but VanDyke would turn it into a pregame assembly.
A funny story about VanDyke had to do with Dave Cox. Dave was big and strong, and he threw the discus and the shot. In the spring, the track team worked out at Lombard. One day, Cox was working out and he saw a croquet ball. Van Dyke, who had a bad limp, was over across from Cox. Cox put the croquet ball next to his ear like it was a shot, he spun around a few times, and let it sail way out. Van Dyke looked over, and that croquet ball just took off.
And the story goes, VanDyke screamed, “Stop! Stop! Get out the measuring tape.” He tried to run over to make sure that they did it. VanDyke must of thought it was a world record. After he got there, they told him what Cox had done.
John Thiel was just starting out, what were your impressions of Thiel?
Thiel had this aura. He was kind of quiet. He seemed bigger than life to us.
He'd go to the free throw line, and he'd tell you how to shoot a free throw. And then he'd stand there, and we'd never seen this before. He'd shoot a free throw, and put backspin on it. It would snap through the net, and the ball would roll back to him. And he could do it over and over. It seemed like he never missed.
In the spring of my last year at Hitchcock, Bobby Mills and I got a call from the high school saying that Coach Thiel and George Lundeen would like to play 2 and 2 in a scrimmage. Thiel did this with junior high players as a way to kind of test them.
We were so excited to be invited by John Thiel to scrimmage.
One of the legendary athletes was Doug Mills. He went onto have a successful career in multiple sports at the University of Illinois.
One day, I was out at GHS baseball game at Lake Storey with my friend, Denny Baylor. The Baylor boys were my best friends.
After the game, Danny Baylor and I were sitting there. Doug Mills had pitched the game and Galesburg had won easily. Mills had pitched a great game.
As we were leaving, Mills was coming towards his car near us. A St. Louis Cardinal scout came up to Mills and asked if he could talk to him about the Cardinals. Mills said,”No, I'm just not interested.”
We could not believe that. Doug’s dad, Coke had been a star at Illinois, and Doug was set to go to Illinois so he just wasn’t interested in the scout.
The first name you mentioned when we started talking was Roland Hegg. Can you talk about his impact on GHS and you?
My parents identified me as having a really beautiful voice when I was a kid, and I still sing and hum a lot. Musics has been a big part of my life. By the time I got into Hitchcock, I was identified as someone with music potential.
As a sophomore, I was selected for some of best choir groups at GHS. I was going to choir practice with the hot shot juniors and seniors.
The last hour class was choir practice. We'd go up to the old choir room, which was in the old building. You'd go in there, and frankly, I don't know how to say this- it was kind of the coolest kids. It was kind of,”Oh man, I’m in the choir.”
You were lucky if you're in the choir. The choir would do things like go to Iowa. I remember we'd go to Iowa, we'd practice during the day and have a concert for the community at night. The next year, we'd go to Muscatine. The next year, they'd come to Galesburg. So, I mean, we'd get to travel.
My senior year, I remember the number- 66 times we got out of school. Every women's club, every service club wanted us to come.
My senior year, we went up to Moline and made a record that we sold. It was unheard of for high schools. Hegg would mix in the music beautifully. He would have fun songs and also spirituals. He was highly respected. He was a nice guy.
If John Thiel was the kind of larger than life figure in the gym over in the high school, Roland Hegg was that figure. He really had this incredible, widespread respect and admiration.
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