T. Harry
Williams Center for Oral History Collection
INTERVIEWEE
NAME:
Ordell Griffith
COLLECTION:
4700.0140
IDENTIFICATION: [1916- ] Former LSU Director of the Admissions
Office, Registrar.
INTERVIEWER: Kathleen
Jenkins
PROJECT: LSU History
DATES: June 12, 1992; June 24, 1992; August 4, 1992 FOCUS DATES: 1930's-1986's
ABSTRACT:
T
194
Griffiths
early life, graduation from Istouma High School and entering LSU at fifteen;
why Griffith chose Business Administration; early employment at LSU while
attending classes; working in the Business Office for Business Affairs; memories of Huey Long; working in the
Registrar's Office after graduation from LSU; memories of campus rules and
regulations at the time especially those relating to dress and conduct; working
with the first computer equipment in the Registrar's Office in the late 1940s;
working for Dean LaSalle in the College of Engineering prior to the Registrar's
Office; information regarding Griffith's parents and family including where her
parents were from and their family professions; information regarding
Griffith's siblings; both of her brother's involvement in WWII, one as a
bombardier and his time spent as a
German prisoner of war and her other brother work as a technical sergeant;
memories of her brothers; how her parents meet; her father's work on the
railroad; Griffiths becoming Baptist; her father's employment for Standard Oil;
Griffith's work for the State Department of Education; joining the Red Cross
and serving at Maxwell Air Force Base; her duties as an Assistant Field
Director for the Red Cross; war time memories; war time rationing; when her
brother Malcolm came home from the war; where she was when she heard about
Pearl Harbor; memories of special teachers.
T
195
Griffith
helping around the house; making home brew during Prohibition for her father;
early childhood memories of playing; playing with paper dolls; her playhouse; a
description of the outside and inside her childhood home; heating and
electricity in her childhood home; deliveries of meat, groceries and dairy
product; wash day; memories of community social events, especially those
connected with the churches; taking the bus to LSU; why Griffith chose not to
be a teacher; her costs when attending LSU; the dress code for women; her
experience with a sorority; restrictions of behavior on students living in the
dorms; her living at home; her first car and sharing a car with her brother
Bob; teachers on campus who made an impact on her; the expansion of the campus
during the 30s; the LSU scandals; Dr. Uhler and his book Cane Juice;
memories of Dean French; former Chancellor Paul Murrill; former Chancellor
Cecil Taylor; Margaret Jamison former Dean of Women; Helen Gordon former Dean
of Women; Carolyn Hargrave former Academic Vice-President;
T
270
LSU
admission requirements for students; evaluating students for admission to LSU;
problems with admission requirements; the effect of WWII on admission of
students at LSU and nationally; problems assessing students for admission;
changes and adjustments over time to LSU admission requirements; the impact of
admission requirements on to high schools and students; out of state students
and fees; women entering into programs that were traditionally male dominated
programs; the myth of making admission requirement exceptions for athletes;
racial integration of the campus; Griffith's opinions of what the goal of
University education should be; getting subpoenaed to testify in the suit
brought by Tureaud on behalf of African-American students to be admitted into
the University as undergraduates; standardized tests such as the ACT; reentry
students; foreign students and evaluation of their academic records; rejection
letters.
TAPES:
194;
195; 270; TOTAL
PLAYING TIME: 4.5 Hours
#
PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 200
RESTRICTIONS: None.