Memories of the 1940s at Marshall
by Walter Caldwell, Class of '47

My initial contact with Marshall College was in 1942 when I visited Mr. Luther Bledsoe, registrar, to present my transcript from King College in Tennessee. Following graduation from Fayetteville (W.Va.) High School in 1940, I had enrolled at King where my uncle was registrar. At Marshall, I learned that since King College was not accredited, whether or not my credits were transferred depended on how good my grades were at Marshall after one semester. What a cool way to make sure I studied hard! I lost only a few hours of my King credits.

I talked to Mr. Bledsoe on two other occasions. First, when I was called for active duty following enlistment in the U.S. Army in my junior year, and second, when I returned to Marshall about three years later for my senior year. Of all the thousands of students who had passed through Marshall during these years, Mr. Bledsoe greeted me with “Welcome back to Marshall, Mr. Caldwell.” What an amazing memory.

A bit about my enlistment… While housed in Hodges Hall during my junior year, the Air Force had moved in a group of trainees. The students living there doubled up to free up some rooms for the cadets. Thus, we got a preview of military life with the marching, playing of reveille, etc. Since my father was chairman of the Fayetteville Selective Service Board, I finally decided to enlist and I ended up in the 71st Infantry Division, a part of Gen. George Patton’s Third Army for the advance through France, Germany and Austria. I was later transferred to Division Headquarters, no doubt because of my college credit.

It was hard to get back to my studies after three years in the military. The students looked so much younger that I felt like I was out of the mainstream. I spent a lot of free time at the College Corner opposite the Marshall entrance. Here I majored in pinballing and ate most of my meals with occasional trips to the famous Bailey’s Cafeteria downtown.

During my senior year, Albert Mylar visited the advanced accounting class recruiting students to work after hours completing tax returns for his clients. There were only six or so students in the class, and three of us took the extra money opportunity. I would have a taxi waiting daily in front of my class to take me to Mylar’s 16th Street location. As I recall, the tax service fee was $10 and I got $5 of this! The clients, mostly C&O Railroad employees, were lined up waiting. It was hard to stay in school with all of this money coming in!

One more memory – Cam Henderson. I’ll never forget Coach Henderson coming to work each day during my junior year. He would park his new green Packard in the middle of the narrow thru street beside Old Main and leave it all day, blocking the street. As I recall, the car had been a gift from Marshall boosters in town. I have fond memories of having classes with two of Cam’s great athletes: Mervin Gutshall of pro fame and Goose James. Also, it was great to be at the C&O Depot the night the basketball team returned to Huntington after winning the National NAIA Championship. What a great celebration!