Changing South Fayetteville (Arkansas)

Most of my first twenty years of life, beginning in 1947, was spent in the South part of Fayetteville where I lived in rental houses on S. College Avenue, East 5th Street, and (I am told because I was too young to remember) S. Washington Ave. I also lived briefly in City Housing (Block Ave. near Archibald Yell Ave) and, for many years, starting in 1955, in a house on East 6th Street, a block down the hill from Jefferson Elementary School.  In those years, South Fayetteville (bounded by Archibald Yell Ave, S. School Ave., 15th Street, S. Wood Avenue, and Huntsville Road) was my turf. 

House on 200 Block of E. 6th St., illuminated by a gas light, 1961

South Fayetteville in the 1950's and 1960's was populated predominately by lower middle class families, most residing in modest, well-kept houses. Some streets had a sprinkling of larger, older homes. A few tracts of land contained large houses or mansions (for example, the Walker House, off S. College Avenue, near Jefferson was a big historic house surrounded by a large amount of land). Several neighborhoods had mainly tiny houses inhabited by poorer people.

The nicer part of Fayetteville, with the bigger and more expensive houses, was located to the north and northeast of the downtown. Housing for middle and upper middle class families were to be found near the University, around the City Park, and in the vicinity of the Veterans Administration hospital. The land along and north of East Dickson contained historic two-story Victorian style houses that dated to the early days of the city. The east-side mountain contained some mansions that were visible from the city’s flat lands. 

In those years, new housing developments on the edges of the core city were on their way, but had barely begun. Most of those suburban houses with big yards would be built to the northeast and northwest of the city center. And while Fayetteville was to grow in the coming years, comparatively little of the growth was to take place in South Fayetteville and the areas surrounding it.  

During my time in South Fayetteville, it was inhabited largely by families whose income came from blue collar, clerical, or service industry jobs. Also, many older people lived there. Few university faculty members or other more affluent professionals lived in South Fayetteville. (When I was attending Jefferson grade school, I heard rumors that the city had a university, but it was some years before I was first on the campus.) Also, South Fayetteville contained few black families, though Robert Wilks and his family lived on 6th Street, east of Jefferson School. Most black families lived directly east of the Square, in an area behind the County Courthouse, below – ironically – the Confederate Cemetery. 

Student Phillip Snow on the Jefferson Elementary School grounds, 1959

During the 1950s and early 1960s, much of the social life of a boy in South Fayetteville centered on Jefferson Elementary, which offered a place to play when school was not in session. On one side of the building, it had playground equipment. On the other side were basketball hoops and a large blacktopped space for other games. Its lower field was a place to play baseball. When the school’s playgrounds were full or not easily accessible, we used the numerous vacant lots located near our houses to play whatever games we wanted – touch football, whiffle ball, etc. 

Mr. Hankins, 6th Grade Teacher at Jefferson School. Judy Shofner
and Melba Adams (L to R) are standing behind him facing the camera

Playing in the Lower Field of Jefferson School, 1959.
Student Larry Stout has the football; he is stiff arming Jimmy Hawkins.
Mike Yarberry is in the background facing the camera

During those years, South Fayetteville was full of kids, the baby boomers. On my block of East 6th street alone, neighbor kids included (at different times) Bobby Carnes, Randy Allison, the Daily brothers, the Dockery brothers, Phyllis Jet, Sue Skelton, and others. Ronnie Cole and Steve Baucom lived a block to the west. Others within a short walking distance of Jefferson were the Eugene Tucker; Phillip Snow; Larry Stout; Bruce Walker; Philip Agee; the Ballard brothers; cousins Justin, Morris, and Beverly Daniel; Newt Land; Larry Schafer; and many others. 

One of the nice things about living in my part of South Fayetteville was that a couple of small neighborhood grocery stores – Hanna’s and Johnson’s Groceries -- were located by Jefferson School, selling staples such as candy, pop, and baseball cards.  Also, as we got a bit older, we could easily walk up to the Square to go the Palace or Ozark Theater to watch a movie. Or we could go there to spend our allowance at one of the five-and-dime stores.

Things Change

I was reminded of my days in South Fayetteville when I visited there recently, driving around the old neighborhoods. Surprisingly, it still looks much the same in many neighborhoods, with few changes on streets such as South College and South Washington. Most of the old houses are still around. Some have been refurbished and look much better than I remembered; others are more dilapidated. The area still seems to be full of modest houses for families living on a tight budget.

The area now has fewer empty lots. Most have been filled by houses, mostly modest ones that fit comfortably in the surroundings. A few lots have been used  for rental housing, much of it cheap, brick single story units with little landscaping or charm. 

The most obvious negative change is that Jefferson Elementary School is no longer a school. Young students have to leave South Fayetteville to attend elementary school. That means elementary school students in South Fayetteville can no longer walk to and from school; they no longer have the same easy ambulatory access to their friends and playgrounds after school (though Jefferson still operates as an adult and community education center and the lower field is still there). 

The most impressive positive change in South Fayetteville is the expansion of Walker Park, which is a now great asset for the area. It was a small neighborhood park in the late 1950s. At the time, it did not encompass the overgrown scrub land bounded by S. College Avenue, East 7th St. (then unpaved), the Town Branch, and East 15th St.  That land contained lots of trees, but also had a large cleared area. At the time, someone had scratched out a rough baseball diamond on a part of the cleared land and put up a crude backstop. On weekends, South Fayetteville folks would crawl through a barbed wire fence to play baseball there. Now of course, the land has eight baseball parks, soccer fields, hiking trails, and other recreation amenities. 

The New Style Housing

One major change in South Fayetteville has occurred recently – most within the last year -- and I cannot decide whether it is something to be welcomed or whether it should be considered a threat to the future of the area. I am talking about the colorful multi-story townhouses and row houses being built in several South Fayetteville locations. 

Ronnie Cole's Old House on the corner of West 6th Street and Block Avenue

Across 6th Street from Ronnie Cole's old house; These units face Block Ave.
Other units built behind them face S. East Avenue 

I could hardly believe my eyes when I first saw such a development last November. It is located on West 6th Street (now MLK Blvd) across the street from where Ronnie Cole lived, less than a block from where I resided for a decade. It is bounded by S. Block on one side and S. East St. on the other. This development, which is nearly finished, was built on a half block of land on which Ronnie’s grandparents had lived in a large country-style house. The present Google satellite photo (60 West 6th Street) still shows the old house and the large lot on which it sat.

In November, 2012, builders had completed several new, brightly painted two-story single family houses, each with a tiny yard, and were working on others. By April 2013, eight new houses had been built or were being finished. These houses have small porches, small balconies and fenced back yards. While moderately attractive, their size, colors, style and arrangement are unlike any other previously to be found in South Fayetteville.

In Spring 2012, several similar units were also completed or near completion a block away at the corner of Block Ave. and W. 7th Street (across from an entrance to Walker Park). These units have a design similar to those on West 6th Street. 

These multi-story, modern houses were recently built on S. Church Ave.

Some even more incongruous residential housing has been recently built a few blocks to the west on S. Church Ave.(see pictures above) between West 6th and West 7th Streets. These units have a more modern and striking design than the new ones a block away on West 6th and 7th streets. They come in different heights (2 and 3 stories) and colors. Their roofs have unconventional angles and window size and locations are quirky.  They are built more closely together, though each has its own small yard.  

Row Houses on West 5th Street, between Locust and School Avenues;
Four attached units have been built; a foundation exists for four more units 

These attached units are located at the corner of Locust Ave. and W. 5th St. 

A few blocks north of those houses, wrapping the intersection of West 5th Street and Locust Ave., some colorful row houses have been built (with some expressed intent to build more). Again, these designs are sleek and modern; the units are built of materials unlike those used in the traditional houses of South Fayetteville (see pictures above).

These last two developments, on Church Ave and Locust Ave., fit more easily into their environments. While the neighboring dwellings to the east are mostly older, traditional modest wood frame houses, these housing units are located near busy S. School St. and commercial development to the west. As urban-style houses, they fit fine in a multi-land use setting. 

In truth, I like the vibrant design and colors of much of this new South Fayetteville housing, especially the single family units on Church Ave. Likely, they are not attractive to families with children because they have tiny yards and are too near a four-lane road with substantial traffic. However, I can see how childless professionals who want interesting space, a non-conventional design, and convenient location would find these units enticing. Also, I would guess that the units have some price advantages because the cost of the land on which they are built is cheaper than similar land in north Fayetteville.

It will be interesting to see if the addition of these non-conventional units, so unlike the other houses in South Fayetteville, is the start of a transformation (gentrification?) of the area, or if they are simply a one-time opportunistic exploitation of low land prices to build reasonably priced for buyers who want more space at an affordable price. Check back in a year to see what has happened.   

Public Art Surprise at Vienna's Stadtpark: Stage Set, 1996 by Donald Judd

Vienna is full of public art, mainly grand statutes and memorials commemorating famous musicians, writers, Hapsburgs, generals, and politicians. For example, the statutes of Johann Strauss, Goethe, Franz Josef, Mozart, and Maria Theresa, among others, are located in visible locations and attract the attention of visitors in the city. They have both historic and aesthetic appeal.

Statute of Goethe in Vienna

Other public art is often more difficult to find, and I was happy to stumble on a pleasing and enjoyable art installation in Vienna's Stadtpark, the huge urban park that is bordered by Parkring. On a path in midst of the park, not far from a foot bridge crossing the paved Wienfluss -- Vienna River -- that runs through it, stands six large fabric panels mounted at different heights, each with a different vivid color.

The panels are over the walkway, and because they have different heights, the relationship of the colors -- that is, the juxtaposition and visibility of different  colors -- changes as a person walks toward them. The result is dynamic art that fetches attention from the time it is first noticed until a viewer passed under the panels.

Part of the pleasure of this art is the surprise of seeing it in an unexpected location: along a path surrounded by trees and other greenery. Another element of its attraction is the changing colors framed by the park and the classic architecture of the city that lies beyond the park boundaries. Also, the act of walking into and through the art enhances enjoyment of it.

The art installation from a distance. The bridge across the Wienfluss in the background

The picture above was taken on a cloudy, drizzly day, deepening the colors. The visible colors from this perspective were orange, yellow, blue, red, and black. One panel (green) is not visible.  A bridge across the Wienfluss can be seen in the distance. Trees stand in front of the panel; when the trees have leaves, they will add additional colors. Also, note a lamp on the path in the front of the first panel. When it is lit in the evening, its light will change the colors.

A few steps closer to the art 

Walking a few steps closer to the panels exposes more yellow, blue and orange. Each step shows the colors in a different relationship. In this picture, two people are walking through the art.

The Art Installation in Summer

Another picture -- this one downloaded from the internet -- shows the art installation in summer when it is framed by trees and more brightly lit by the sun. 

Near the panels of color is this sign identifying the title of the piece of art as "Stage Set, 1966." The artist was Donald Judd (1928-1994). The art was developed for an exhibition at the nearly Museum of Applied Arts in 1991 and it was donated to the City of Vienna in 1995.

Vacationing in Tulsa

When an early teenager, I got to go to Tulsa every year or so. It was the big family vacation trip.

Traveling to Tulsa was an exciting prospect for me. Usually we stayed two nights, so we had one full day and parts of two other days in the big city. 

I knew Tulsa and Oklahoma from television. Most of the few stations we received through our antenna originated there. Watching the advertisements and local news, I was familiar with Tulsa’s major stores, its professional baseball team, state and local politicians making news in the city, and city’s weather. I was always eager to go to the big city from which our television signal regularly came.

The trip required careful preparation. We had to schedule a time when the Tulsa Oilers would be playing baseball (preferably a double header) and when my baseball team had no game scheduled. I had to ask the coach of my baseball team to be excused from any planned practices. My dad had to schedule a day off, and we had to coordinate with my aunt Ruth – with whom we would stay in Tulsa -- so that we would come when she had a day away from work.

The entrance to Tulsa's Oiler Part from
http://tulsatvmemories.com/oiler.html

Arrangements had to be made with a relative to take care of Candy, our dog, for the duration of the trip. The car had to be taken in for a check and an oil change and lube job. The air pressure of the tires needed to be double checked as did the oil level of the engine.

Clothes for the three-day trip were packed the night before we departed. On the day of the trip, we would get up early to prepare. Mother made sandwiches in case we got hungry while on the road. She put ice and water in a large jar to insure we would not be parched during the trip. I was warned that there would be no stops, so I should prepare for the trip accordingly.

The travel from Fayetteville to the Arkansas-Oklahoma border was not very exciting. I had been to Siloam Springs several times to play different sports, so I was familiar with the landscape. However, I always got a thrill when I saw the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign and started noting that most cars had Oklahoma, not Arkansas, license plates. And Oklahomans seemed to drive different kinds of cars than I saw in Arkansas.

As we rolled on the two-lane road through different cities, I carefully pronounced the unfamiliar name of each city and looked around for any distinguishing features. I would study the passing billboards, whose ads differed from those on billboards in the state from which I came

After some time intently watching the new scenery pass, I would lie down on the back seat to rest my eyes and think about what I saw.  But not for very long.  Soon, I would again be staring out the window, looking for evidence revealing the character of the place we were visiting.

The trip seemed to last almost beyond endurance, but I would calm myself by counting down the miles to Tulsa by spotting the mileage road signs. Finally, we were on the edge of the big city and faced the task of negotiating its unfamiliar streets to find the house of Ruth and her son Wayne. With some twists and turns, some wrong directions and corrections, we would find ourselves outside their house. 

Then the adventure really started. In truth, almost everything we did in Tulsa was an adventure for me. Even going to the grocery store was fun. It was much bigger than those in Fayetteville and seemed to have exotic goods (even different kinds of candy) unavailable to us at the Fayetteville Safeway or IGA. For example, one year my mother bought crackers IN A TIN CONTAINER, not the usual disposable box. We used that container to store crackers for decades and it probably can still be found in the attic.

Wayne, my Tulsa cousin, during the 1959 vacation 

Wayne and I had fun, even though he was a couple of years younger. During one of the trips, we cajoled our parents to take us to an amusement park that had rides I usually saw only in the Fall at the Washington County Fair. We rode several of them until our allotted allowance ran out.  Another time, we spent an hour or so riding the escalators in the downtown JC Penny store. That was my first ride on an escalator and I could not get enough of it. Still another time, we toured the Tulsa Zoo, my first time in a zoo. I was impressed by the peacocks.

Invariably, we went to at least one Oilers baseball game. The Oilers were the Cardinal's AA farm team in the Texas League, and we always hoped to see some future St. Louis stars at the beginning of their careers. My dad was excited, in dress pants, snapping gum, and smelling of Old Spice as we took off well before the game’s start to watch batting practice and get good seats behind the plate, protected from foul balls by screens. We would buy a program, and I would keep a scorecard of the action. Usually we would leave the game in the 8^th inning to “beat the traffic,” but would listen to the final inning in the car on the ride home. The game usually ended just as we pulled in front of the house.

My dad with ducks at the Tulsa Zoo, 1959

It was at an Oiler’s game when I discovered I was nearsighted and needed glasses. My dad and Wayne could easily make out the numbers and letters on the center-field scoreboard. I couldn't  no matter how hard I squinted. Although I put it off for four or five years, I eventually yielded to the inevitable and got the glasses I needed. I think my batting average would have been higher and I would have made fewer errors in American Legion baseball if I had gotten the glasses sooner.

Ruth and Wayne, plus Crybaby, their over-sized wiener dog, were always welcoming and generous hosts. Ruth would cook what seemed like a couple dozen eggs and three dozen pieces of bacon for breakfast, then scold us for not eating it all.

Wayne was a collector and always had some exotic collection of things that I did not have, such as plastic toy soldiers. I enjoyed playing with the collections; plus we could always find an interesting game to amuse ourselves.

Time would fly when we were driving the broad, busy streets of Tulsa, and the vacation would be over much too quickly. After eating one of Ruth’s mammoth, tasty breakfasts, we would repack the car, take the sandwiches provided for a snack, and refill the jar with water and ice.  After a quick check of the oil and air pressure of the tires, and a warning to me that we would not be stopping on the drive back, we were headed to Arkansas. Usually the car trunk was a little fuller, and I had some new things to fiddle with in the back seat.  

The trip back to Fayetteville was much less interesting than the trip to Tulsa. Typically, I would lie down much of the time in the back of the car, think about what we had just done, and wait for time to pass. The vacation seemed a distant memory when, as if by instinct, I would raise my head in time to see the “Welcome to Arkansas” sign.

Pioneer Tales: My First Deer Hunt

Arkansas Echo

Pioneer Tales
February 9, 1894

I want to also tell a small hunting adventure that did not happen to me here in Arkansas, but in Missouri where we were for eight years before we came here. In that area at the time, the deer were not rare and whoever was a good shot could have deer meat through the entire year.

Now, I had a cornfield that lay fairly high on a mountain. From the corn, I had made, as was the practice there, corn stacks and had placed them together in round corn shocks. One left them standing there as long as he wished or until he had time to shuck the corn.

One day I came there and saw to my horror that most of the corn shocks had been rummaged through, a few were even ruined. Instantly I thought that the pigs had broken out, but after a closer inspection I saw that deer had been there. Wait! I thought. There will soon be roasted deer meat.

Advertisement in an 1894 issue of the Arkansas Echo
A.G. Linzel & Son, 110 East Markham St., Little Rock

I went out toward evening with my rifle and hid myself in a corn shock and waited in case the thing should return. I lay there two, three, even four hours on the lookout, but still nothing wanted to show itself. Soon I became bored and had decided to take a break, when I thought I heard something sniffing and blowing. And as I looked in that direction, a marvelous deer came very cautiously to the corn shock next to me. Here he stood still once again, sniffed around again, and since he did not notice anything suspicious, he began to root through and eat the corn.

I carefully stuck my weapon out and aimed. But damn and blast! What is that? I was shaking all over and I went blind. I could have boxed my ears. I have many times stood in a thick rain of bullets and not flinched, and here in the face of a dumb deer, I got buck fever.

I pulled myself together enough that I was able to take aim and pull. And bang, a shot, and the deer takes off. That serves you right, I heard a voice in my head say. It is not possible that you hit him. But I must have hit him because as I looked more closely at the spot, I saw blood, or as it is called in hunter’s Latin, sweat.
Since there was a bright moon and it had recently risen, I was able to easily follow the trail and noticed that it had lost much blood.

It had made it over the fence and then was gone into the thick woods. Here I lost the trail and returned home sullenly, with the intention of following the trail as far a possible the next morning.

The following morning a young neighbor boy came at about 10 a.m. to the house and asked me if I could loan him my wagon and a horse for an hour. He did not at first want to answer the question “why?” But then he said that he had shot a deer up ahead and that he wanted to haul it home in the wagon.


Advertisement in an 1894 issue of  the Arkansas Echo
Edmund Craig, & Co, 414 East Markham St, Little Rock

Confound it, I said (since everything was immediately clear to me): “Bill, you are lying. You did not shoot that deer! You only found it!” The boy was red up to his ears and quickly admitted it.

I told him that the previous night I had shot the deer and that he probably was lying not far from the fence. I went with Bill and, sure enough, as I had surmised, it lay hardly 200 yards behind the fence where it had collapsed and died.

Since it was the usual practice to give the finder a portion of the booty, I divided the deer with Bill, but I kept the hide and antlers for myself. I had to soon remove them from my sight because they reminded me every time I saw them of my “buck fever” that I had on my first deer hunt.

****************************************

Introduction to the Pioneer Tales

This pioneer tale is one in a series published in 1893 and 1894 by the Arkansas Echo, a German-language newspaper in Little Rock. The stories are intended to show the challenges and adventures facing German-speaking immigrants when they came to settle in Arkansas. So far, the following posts have introduced the Pioneer Tales and provided translations of most of them:

Pioneer Tales of Arkansas' German Immigrants (background of the newspaper series)
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/05/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german.html

Arkansas Echo, November 3, 1893. THE GOOD OLD DAYS? http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/05/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_17.html

Arkansas Echo, November 10, 1893
MERRY MÄT, OR A TRIP TO THE BATHS, Part 1
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/05/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_21.html

Arkansas Echo, November 17, 1893
MERRY MÄT, OR A TRIP TO THE BATHS, Part 2
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/05/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_31.html

Arkansas Echo, December 1, 1893
A JUICY ROAST--OR--WHO WANTS TO EAT WITH ME?
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/06/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german.html

Arkansas Echo, December 8, 1893
ANOTHER PIECE ABOUT "AUGUST" --OR -- LONG FENCE RAILS
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/06/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_08.html

Arkansas Echo, December 22, 1893
HOW FRANK, WITHOUT POWDER AND LEAD, ONCE SLEW A MAGNIFICENT DEER
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/06/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_10.html

Arkansas Echo, December 29, 1893
ERNST'S BAD LUCK
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/06/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german_17.html

Arkansas Echo, January 5, 1894
THAT'S THE WAY ITS DONE IN HUNGARY -or- A PERSON WHO WILL NOT ACCEPT ADVICE CANNOT BE HELPED
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/07/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german.html

Arkansas Echo, January 14, 1894
HOW ONE CAN LOSE ONE'S WAY IN THE PRIMEVAL FOREST
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/09/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german.html

Arkansas Echo, January 19, 1894
BILL’S TRIP TO THE MARKET
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/10/pioneer-tales-of-arkansas-german.html

Arkansas Echo, February 23, 1894 and March 2, 1894
JOSEPH GLANZMANN'S STORY OF GERMAN-SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS
SETTLING NEAR ALTUS, ARKANSAS
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2012/10/pioneer-tales-joseph-glanzmanns-story.html

Arkansas Echo, January 26, 1894. THE WAY YOU PUSH THINGS, SO THEY WILL GO (OR, YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW)
http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2013/01/the-way-you-push-things-so-they-will-go.html


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The Vienna Airport is a Mess! (But Not for Long, I Expect)

When I arrived at the Vienna International Airport (VIE) in April, I was surprised to see signs directing me to march through the old baggage claim area to new baggage carousels several hundred yards away. Even more surprising, when I went through the doors from the baggage claim area to the arrival area, I recognized nothing: everything was new. The old Vienna arrival area had disappeared, replaced by a sparkling new building.

After some momentary confusion, and a quick look around, I noted that the new arrival area is curved and narrow, as was the old one, but it also has new stores and restaurants, a nifty new arrival board, better lighting, and improved access to the trains/trams that take travelers into the city.  I found out later that the new arrival area can be as congested as the old one was, but its amenities, including a Spar grocery store and an assortment on bakeries and places to eat, make it gemuetlich.

Here is the new arrival area. The nifty digital Arrivals Board makes
up a large portion of the wall toward which people are facing. 
Travelers exit the door on the right.  They are met by people who
stand outside, separated from the exit doors by a barrier.

Unfortunately, the sidewalks, roads, and parking lots outside the arrivals hall are a mess, resembling the tumult of a busy street in downtown Shanghai, with cars, buses, taxis, and pedestrians converging uneasily in a small area. Also, the outside walkway is saturated with cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes: not a nice welcome to Vienna. This area is not a place to linger.  Nevertheless, it has one improvement: new bus stalls with digital signs providing helpful information about the destination of each bus and its departure time.

Viewing the airport again a couple of weeks later, when returning for the flight out, I found that the construction underway at the airport makes access to the departure halls confusing.  Signs point the way to departure halls 3, 2, 1, and 1a.  Choose the correct one if you can. Hall 3 is not connected directly to halls 1, 1a, and 2. If you need to get from hall 3 to any of the other halls, you must leave the building and find an obscure entrance.

Departure hall 3 is new; it is the second floor above the new arrival area. This hall hosts Austrian Air and its partners. It has a new configuration in a sleek, clean high tech building.

Other airlines use the old halls in another building. To know where your airline is located, you need to find a directory of airlines that lists the building and counter numbers used by each one.  (These directories are posted near entrances.) Fortunately, the Sky Team airlines (Delta, Air France, KLM, and others) are located together in Building 1.  

As with Delta Airlines in major US airports (including Seattle), the Sky Team area has baggage drop-off counters for travelers who have checked in, either on-line or at kiosks in front of the Sky Team check-in booths, and want to check their bags. Unfortunately, this system did not work too well at the Vienna airport because many confused or malicious travelers, without boarding passes, used the baggage drop  counters as check-in lines. The time required to check in those travelers greatly slowed down the folks who had checked in and wanted simply to leave their bags.

Of course, most passengers without boarding passes would not get in the baggage line if some airline agents were around to assist them to use the kiosks to check in or to direct them to check-in counters. Surprisingly, I did not see a single Air France agent assisting in this way. (Because Delta does not operate in Vienna, and my Delta tickets were for Air France code-share flights, I cannot blame Delta directly for poor airport check-in operations).

With an early morning flight, I spent the night before my trip from the Vienna Airport at the NH Hotel (overpriced high-rise tourist hotel, with pretentions of being more), which is located in the airport complex. Last year, the NH was directly across from the arrival area. Now, it is a block up the street from the new arrival hall.

Staying at the NH, I had some time to look around the new parts of the airport and to figure out how I would get to the Air France check-in early the next morning. Without this rehearsal, I likely would likely have had a difficult time finding my way to the Air France counters at 5:00 a.m.

 

Looking around the airport, I noted that the old arrival hall is now mostly a hole in the ground, though sledge hammers were working throughout that afternoon to dismantle it.  The fencing around the old arrival hall construction site takes up a lane or two of the main road going to chief airport exit and entrance. Because many departing and arriving passengers have to cross this busy narrow street to get to and from parking decks (the airport has several of them), they slow or stop traffic on this crucial road.  At many times of the day, traffic on this road is congested.

Caffe Ritazza lies across the arrival hall from the doors
exiting the baggage area. The restaurant stretches over a long
area and has eclectic (at best) furnishings

Going to a restaurant in the arrival hall at about 7 pm on a Sunday night, I was astounded by the huge crowd that had assembled around the doors that passengers use to exit the baggage area. Large numbers of people milled around the narrow area between the curved barrier that sits a few feet from the exit door and the shops. Many in the crowd were drivers with signs bearing the names of a passenger they were supposed to meet. I didn’t envy them the task of identifying their passengers amid the throngs of people exiting baggage area.  Though the arrival area is new, it appears already to have a congestion problem at peak times. 

While the chaos was disconcerting, I did notice two nice things about the new arrival area.  It has better places to eat, and it has a new, well-marked passageway to the S-bahn and the express train going to the city. In the old arrival hall, it was difficult to find the S-bahn if you didn’t already know where it was.

One remarkable thing about the Vienna International Airport is its neighborhood. Within a short walk to the airport terminal are three high-rise office parks providing space for businesses that need quick access to the airport. Also, it has a multi-story building occupied by Austrian Air. Around the attractive office buildings, parking decks holding about 23,000 automobiles have been constructed. The area is also serviced by banks, restaurants, a grocery store, and some retail stores – all outside of, but a short distance to the airport.

Unlike airports in major American cities, the Vienna Airport is not only a transportation center, with easy access to the city by a regional train (S-bahn) and buses, it is also a business and economic development center. In a few years, the airport will have a link with the new Vienna Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station), and travelers arriving by air will be able to easily catch trains for trips to other Austrian cities and European countries. This new transportation dimension should make the business centers at the airport even more attractive to some firms dependent on air and train service.

Right now, the Vienna Airport is a mess, but the huge investment that Vienna and Austria are making to create modern transportation centers, and to surround them with high rise office buildings, will likely pay economic development dividends for the country long after the airport has been modernized for the coming century. I look forward to seeing the renovated airport when it is finished.

April 15-18, 1969: Protesting in a Tree at the University of Arkansas

The year 1969 was full of events providing evidence that big changes were occurring at the University of Arkansas – a shift in thinking and power relations. Two of the big 1969 events were described in previous blog posts. The first was the Muhammad Ali controversy when, in March, the University administration was not intimidated by an Arkansas State Senate resolution opposing his speech, and students laughed at the senators who proposed it. (See http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2013/01/arkansass-old-guard-takes-on-muhammad.html)

The second event was later in the year when a decision was made to stop playing Dixie at athletic events. The decision came after a vote by the student senate to recommend against playing it the song; that vote was used by the band director to justify an action he had long wanted to take. (see http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2011/05/december-2-1969-night-we-drove-ole.html )

A third event, providing more evidence of the changing times, came in April 1969. It was a strange episode, verging on the absurd, and it added to a sense of excitement and ferment among many UA students. Also it showed that some students (and non-students on the edge of campus) opposed and even resented the new thinking that was taking hold: it looked to them as if the hippies, liberals, and maybe, even communists were taking over the campus.  

 

The Cyprus Tree Still Stands by the
Old Student Union

This event started at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15 when a 22-year-old man, a former student not enrolled at U of A that spring semester because of financial difficulties, climbed up into a tree and vowed to stay there until noon on Friday, April 18^th. He put in place a crude platform middle way up the sprawling Cyprus tree located in front of the Arkansas Student Union building and he brought with him some supplies (he vowed to consume only water and bread during his time in the tree) and a utility bucket.

Before his trip up to his perch in the tree, the man, Stephen R. Pollard Jr., nailed a handwritten message to the tree trunk to explain what he was doing and why. His explanation was partly a New Age message and partly political. In his Age of Aquarius mode, Pollard wrote that he was “totally disgusted in a world where there is no love between people” and that he had decided to “make this small stand to emphasize my beliefs. Being in this tree symbolizes, to me, an escape from the humanity into the world of nature.”  He concluded, “I sincerely hope that my actions will inspire the University of Arkansas population to take note of the world situation and forget their selfishness and quest for personal gains and strive for a better world for all.”

Addressing political issues, Pollard wrote that he totally disagreed with United States involvement in Vietnam, with the policies of the military-industrial complex, and with the presence of military training on the U of A campus. He also said he was opposed to discriminating against minority groups in the country.

That morning of Tuesday, March 15^th, I had to be in the Student Union at about 8:30 a.m. for a meeting concerning student elections to be held on Thursday. I walked sleepily by the Cyprus tree, noticing nothing unusual. Little did I know what was about to happen there.

The guy in the tree did not remain undiscovered for long. By midmorning, word was spreading about him, and curious students were trooping over take a look.  Coincidently, that morning a group of about 30 student protesters had assembled on the lawn in front of Old Main where Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets were doing their weekly drills (at the time ROTC was still mandatory for all male freshmen and sophomores). The protestors did a bunch of silly things on the periphery of where the cadets were marching, including playing croquet to distract cadets.  Only one of interfered directly with the ROTC activities

 

The group announced that on Thursday it would have a picnic in front of the library to protest mandatory ROTC.  A student advisory vote on mandatory ROTC participation was scheduled as part of a student election to be held on Thursday.

As reporters got word about the guy in the tree, they quizzed university officials about what they were going to do.  Dean of Students William F. Denman told them, citing university regulations, that Pollard would not be removed from the tree as long as he did nothing obstructive.

That day I spent some time at the tree in the late afternoon and early evening, stopping by as I was going to the library. Lots of students were passing by or milling around. Like me, some were curious about what the heck was happening. Some were cheered by the spectacle and supportive of Pollard: more than forty people signed and posted to the tree a proclamation agreeing with his message.  Other students were cynical (one noted, eyeing the crowd: what a place for a guy to go if he wants to escape humanity). Apparently, although I did not notice it at the time, some people were angered by what was going on and were plotting ways to disrupt it.

Later in the evening, the darker side of the campus emerged.  Newspaper accounts of Tuesday night told of two different incidents. The first one involved a jeering group of about 50 people who surrounded the tree and about ten of Pollard’s supporters, shouting derogatory and threatening remarks at them, and throwing eggs, bottles, and water-filled balloons.

A second, more dangerous, event came later, after midnight when about 20 persons, “apparently not students” (according to the Arkansas Gazette) arrived and threatened Pollard’s life. Four of them, with knives, ran to the tree and started trying to climb it. One made it high enough to cut a rope holding some supplies. However, two separate newspapers reported, a student who identified himself as an athlete, who had climbed the tree to talk to Pollard, stopped the attack on Pollard. The campus newspaper reported that one person was cut with a knife, though it did not identify who. Apparently, this threat ended when the city and campus police arrived and the would-be assailants quickly left the scene.

After what happened Tuesday night, University administrators decided that Pollard would not be permitted to stay in the tree. The university issued a statement calling the situation dangerous, and said that it had information from UA faculty members that an attempt would be made Wednesday night to forcibly remove Pollard from the tree. Also it reported receiving anonymous telephone calls threatening Pollard.  The university statement said the situation on Tuesday night was one in which “a clear and impending threat was presented to the safety of individuals.”

Throughout Wednesday, large numbers of students continued to congregate around the Cyprus tree to support, heckle, or simply watch what was going on. Those there at about 3:00 p.m. saw Dean Denman climb into the tree to ask Pollard to leave the tree. Pollard replied that he could not in good conscience leave unless he was removed by legal authorities. 

 

Pollard descends the Tree on Wednesday, April 16.
The Police Officer holding the ladder is Wayne Stout

After Denman returned to the ground, he filed a trespassing complaint with city police, who arrived at about 5 p.m.  The two officers who came to the scene were Assistant Police Chief Wayne Stout, the father of a childhood friend and Jefferson Elementary School classmate, Larry Stout, and John Paul Davis.  Officer Stout climbed up a ladder to get nearer to Pollard to tell him that he was under arrest and order him to come down from the tree.  A picture by Ken Good of Pollard descending the tree on a ladder with Stout watching him was on the front page of the Northwest Arkansas Times and the Arkansas Traveler, plus on page 6A of the Arkansas Gazette.

After his arrest, Pollard was taken to the city police department where he was booked for trespassing and released on $500 bail. Denman explained that Pollard was removed from U of A property to forestall possible injury or damage to university property. He said, “To our knowledge this was our only recourse and it was his wish to be arrested….If there was any other alternative we would have used it.”

Soon after Pollard came down from the tree, Joe Saunders, a campus activist with long hair and one gold earring, climbed up to take Pollard’s place in the tree and vowed that he would stay there “indefinitely.” He explained “If I continue, it will at least look like there is support for what Steve is doing…If I get hurt, it will just show what a messed-up place this is.”  University officials decided they would not remove U of A students who chose to sit in the tree.

 

Dean of Students, William F. Denman

Wednesday night was again tense. During the evening, until around 1:00 a.m., about 250 supporters and onlookers were at the tree. About 30 supporters circled the tree to defend it. They sat singing songs “with a mixed protest, patriotism and spiritual flavor” and talked among themselves and with a people who the Arkansas Traveler called “agitators.” This later group yelled at Saunders and his supporters. Some of them threw eggs, firecrackers, and a smoke bomb toward the tree. Much of the crowd dispersed when rains came in the early morning.

Thursday was a busy day around the tree. A student election was being held, and large numbers of students came to the Student Union to cast their votes for student officers and on the referendum concerning the continuation of mandatory ROTC.  Also, the students protesting ROTC moved its picnic from another part of campus to the tree because “it was easier to move the picnic than the tree.” 

On Thursday afternoon, Saunders decided that he did not want to spend another night in the tree, and climbed down from the tree at about 4 p.m. on Thursday. He told reporters he got out of the tree because he was scared. He said he had heard threatening remarks made against him by some people near the bottom of the tree and felt that organized groups on the campus were out to get him: “I’m extremely paranoid,” Saunders said, adding that he wasn’t interested in publicity and believed that 23 hours aloft had proven his enthusiasm for Pollard’s position.

Saunders place in the tree was taken over by several students who each went to the perch in the tree for an hour or two at a time. The first shift in the tree was taken by John Little of Releigh, Miss., a graduate assistant in the English Department and Tommy Snow, a student from Mountain Home.

Little told a reporter, “We are here because we believe that tree climbing is part of the American tradition….I believe that people ought to be able to climb trees without bearing the brunt of any redneck who happens to have a raw egg in his hands.”

Fred McCuiston, a student from Little Rock, took the second shift after about an hour. He said he was “for a guy’s right to climb a tree – to dissent.” Five other students were to follow him throughout the night and the following morning.

At one point in early evening about 500 people were at the tree. Again, some came to support, some to watch, and some to heckle. They listened to a rock band, the American Music Festival that showed up to play in support of the tree sitters. The band dedicated songs to “any suppressed people” on the campus and to “that awful looking tree over there [the cypress].”

The spectators also saw “morality plays” put on by supporters to entertain the audience. The final one had Pollard as the star. It was a courtroom scene in which Pollard knelt before a bearded judge, who wore a straw hat and pounded a gavel. The “judge” told Pollard “to stay out of any tree you don’t want to be hung out of.”

Some of the crowd disappeared in early evening, when it came time for the results of the student election to be announced. Usually the results were read in the lobby of the student union, but because of tree hubbub, the announcement was moved up the street to the lobby of the old library.

Thursday night was mostly uneventful. However, it had a little excitement, including the explosion of a firecracker attached to arrow that was shot in the general area of the tree.  Also, at about 2:00 a.m. an unidentified person charged the tree and climbed into the lower limbs, then ran away when campus security arrived. Cold and rain caused the crowds to thin as time passed.  Early Friday morning, a Northwest Arkansas Times  reporter visited the site, finding two people in the tree perch and two people sitting at the base of the tree.

As originally scheduled, the tree sitting ended at noon on Friday when Pollard climbed up the tree a last time to disassemble the platform he had pieced together and lower the boards, along with remaining supplies, to the ground. He was the final person to descend from the tree, to the applause of many of the 100 people watching from below. The observers were singing “We shall overcome.” 

Pollard argued that his actions had been an exercise of his right to dissent. His critics said that his actions suggested that he was a communist and that his protest was damaging to the country and to the University’s “prestige around the country.”

An article in the Friday, April 18^th edition of the Arkansas Gazette had a story headlined, “Students Using Techniques of Communists.” It quoted Rep. John Ashbrook, a member of the House Committee on Internal Security, telling the 30^th annual meeting of the Freedom Forum at Harding College that “Student radicals are creating campus disorders today by using a time-tested ‘confrontational’ technique that was perfected by Communists.”

 In response to questions, Pollard said he was not a Communist and was opposed to the Communist form of government. He emphasized that he supported United States’ fighting men in Vietnam, but not the policy that sent them there.

Pollard said he viewed the demonstration as a success:

It engendered emotions, good and bad, among University students who I thought were apathetic towards very important issues….It seemed to me before that the only emotions they knew were laughing and crying.”

Pollard said he was gratified that students had openly discussed the issues, both pro and con.

R. D. Rucker, a student from Newport, circulated a petition requesting that the University drop trespassing charges against Pollard.  The petitions, with about 300 signatures, were presented on Friday morning to the University of Arkansas’ Office of Student Affairs. The charges were not dropped, and on May 8^th, Pollard was convicted on trespassing. Judge V. James Ptak fined him $25 for the offense, plus $13 costs. He gave him a 10 day suspended sentence. The fine and costs were paid by coins and bills contributed by the 25 to 30 supporters of Pollard who attended the trial.

For a while, Pollard was something of a campus celebrity, but things soon turned bad for him. On December 4, 1970, he and his wife were arrested by Fayetteville police on drug charges. Then, almost exactly two years after his trespassing trial, on May 2, 1971, he was convicted of two serious felony drug charges and give the maximum sentences for each: consecutive terms of five and ten years in the state penitentiary (See Northwest Arkansas Times, May 3, 1971, p. 2).   

 

Jo Martin, 1969

In the aftermath of this strange tree sitting event, some students – like me – were a bit puzzled by what had happened, but were glad it had. Most students, I think, were appalled by the attempts to harm Pollard and his successors, and wondered who had done those things.  Ultimately, I and my friends on campus were glad that the voices of tolerance had won again on campus. Personally, I though it all was quite a bit of fun that U or A had become a “happening place.”

Afterword:  On Thursday night, April 17, as a band played and hippies sang under the Cyprus tree, the results of the student election were announced to a crowd of nicely dressed students crammed into the entry hall of the old library. It was announced that Jo Martin, an off campus student unaffiliated with a sorority, had been elected president of Associated Students at U of A, defeating Tom Boe, a fraternity member whose candidacy had been supported by the Greeks on campus. She was the first female elected to that position.

Also students had voted in favor of a resolution calling for the abolition of mandatory ROTC at the University of Arkansas.

Notes:

The summary of events at the Cyprus tree and all related quotes were taken from the following newspaper articles:

Youth Settles in a Tree as UA Students Protest Campus ROTC Program. April 16, 1969 (Wednesday), Arkansas Gazette, p. 4A.

U of A’s Tree-Sitter Removed by Police After Threats Made. April 17, 1969 (Thursday). Arkansas Gazette, p. 9A

Tree Sitter Ousted From Perch, Charged  by U of A Officials. April 17, 1969 (Thursday). Northwest Arkansas Times,  pp. 1-2.

Brenda Blagg.  April 16, 1969 [sic] (Thursday). Protester arrested by Police: Student Takes Indefinite Perch. Arkansas Traveler, pp. 1-2.

U of A’s Tree-Sitter Removed by Police After Threats Made.  April 17, 1969 (Thursday). Arkansas Gazette, p.

Student Ends Vigil in Tree, 2 Replace Him. April 18, 1969 (Friday). Arkansas Gazette,  p. 13a

Cold, Rainy Weather Cools Fervor of UA Tree Sitters. April 18, 1969 (Friday). Northwest Arkansas Times, p. 1.

Four-Day ‘Perch-In” a U of A End; Originator Says Project a Success. April 19, 1969 (Saturday). Arkansas Gazette, p. 2A

Talking Like It's 1969 and You're Living in Watts

My favorite course at the University of Arkansas in 1969 was an upper-level essay writing course that taught the discipline of structured writing and showed the rewards of writing regularly. The instructor was Harriet Jansma, who had a welcoming enthusiasm and pleasant openness that inspired confidence that our essay writing efforts would be judged by an appreciative audience. I remember the course with much pleasure.

This essay writing course came to mind recently when I excavated a couple of handouts from it. One handout provides the definitions of slang words that were being used during the last two years of the 1960s. The other handout has definitions of slang used in Watts, a large residential district of Los Angeles inhabited mostly by African-Americans, in the late 1960s. Watts was famous at the time for the wild riots that occurred there in 1965 with extensive burning and looting.

The slang definitions were taken from an academic journal, Current Slang, published by the University of South Dakota. I assume the handouts were provided to us to help with the language we used in our essays.

Looking at these 1969 slang words, it is fun to try to recall if they were words that I used at the time. Do I  still use them?  What slang words do I not recognize? What happened to them?

Many of the words in these two handouts have been fully incorporated into the English language so that now we no longer think of them as slang.  A much smaller number of words in the handouts have disappeared from the language or have changed their meanings.

This list of words reminds us of the dynamic nature of the English language and how it grows both richer and poorer over time as words are added and other words fade away.

Part 1:  Current Slang of the American Language, 1969

Ace                       n.  A skilled performer.

                              -He’s an ace in pool.      

                              v.  To perform well.

                              -I think I aced that test.

All-nighter             n.  A long, difficult job; a cram session

Axe                       n.  Guitar

Bent out of          adj.  Angry; dissatisfied

Shape                  

Blow…mind         adj.  To lose control.

Boss                    adj.  Good; the right thing; especially a good sound.

Cold turkey          adj.  Unprepared.

                              -He took that history test cold turkey.

Cop out                v.  To change intentions

                              -He’d like to cop you on that party.

Cut a trail              v.  To leave.

                              -We’d better cut a trail before the counselor comes.

Dog                       v. To contribute an inadequate performance; to give less
                                that the best.

Drop back and      v.  To try a new strategy after a setback; to try again

Punt

Fink out                 v.  To disappoint

                              -She really finked out on her date.

Freaked out          adj.  Acting abnormally

Funky                    adj. Relaxed; informal

                              -We wanted the bar to be a funky place.

Greaser                n.  Gangster; “hood”; a shady type

                               

Gross                    adj.  Displeasing, unpleasant, crude

                              -That guy’s jokes are really gross.

Grossed out          adj.  Disgusted

                              -I’m really grossed out at this exam.

Grunge                 n.  A bad, unpleasant thing, especially food.

                              -Did you see that grunge we had for supper?

Hacked off          adj.  Anger

Hang it there        v.  To keep struggling

Hang loose          v.  To relax; to remain calm

Lunchbox             n.  A simpleton

Metrecal              n.  A process of treatment used on self-important people;

Shampoo              the cure for fatheads.

                           -What he needs is a metrical shampoo.

Nurd                     n.  Someone with objectionable habits or traits; 

                                 an affected person; a “dud”

                             

Out of …trees     adj.  Insane; confused

Out of sight         adj.  Beyond belief

Out to lunch        adj.  Conceited; snobbish

P.G.A.                   n.  Pure grain alcohol

Rack                     n.  Body

                              v.  To sleep

Rah-rahs              n. saddle oxfords

Rally                     v. To attend a party; drink; to have a “wild time.”

Saigon tech         n.  Vietnam; Vietnam war.

Suck suds             v.  To drink beer.

                              -Let’s go suck suds.

Tough                   adj.  Attractive; perfect.

Turn on.               V. To become enlivened, usually for a short period of time.

Up tight               adj.  Sophisticated; “cool”

Uptight                adj.  Nervous; worried

Unreal                  adj. Unbelievable

                              -It was an unreal time.   

Whole-hog          adj. Enthusiastic

Zilch                      n.  A nobody

Zonked                 adj. Drunk

                              -He was really zonked last night.

The above definitions came from Current Slang, vol II, no 4; vol. III, no. 4; and volume IV, no. 1, 1968-69; Department of English, University of South Dakota.

Part 2:  Slang of Watts (Black neighborhood in Los Angeles), 1969

Acid                      v.  LSD (Drug user’s jargon)

Babe                     n.  A girl

Bad News            n.   An uncomfortable or dangerous situation; 

                                 an untrustworthy person.

        - That bar was bad news.

Bag                       n.  A problem.

Barge                   n.  A big car; a Cadillac

Bastille                 n.  Jail

Beautiful              adj.  Pleasing, nice.

                           -It’s beautiful the way the people work together.

Black.                   n.  A Negro. A work preferred by the new nationalist groups.

Black power        n.  A slogan used to advocate the sharing by Negroes of 

                              economic and political control in the United States

Broad.                  n.  A woman

Broke                   adj. Without money

Bug                       v.  To bother

Bug out                v.  To drop out; to leave; to quit

Charlie                 n.  Caucasian

Chitterlings           n.  Soul food; intestines of a hog or a pig to be cooked slowly

Chuck                  n. Caucasian male

Clod                    n.  A stupid person

                              -Harry has flunked every test, he’s such a clod.

Cool cat               n.  A person with whom there is immediate rapport; 

                                one who is in with the crowd.

                             -All the cool cats were at the jazz scene.

Cool head            n.  A person who treats people well; someone who does 

                                favors

Cool it                  interj.  Stop what you are doing

Crash                    v.  To go to bed; to go to sleep

                              -I really crashed after the party last night.

Creep                   n.  A strange person

Cut out                 v.  to leave a place.

                              -I think it’s about time to cut out.

Devil                     n.  A Caucasian

Dog                       n.  An unattractive woman.

Dough                   n.  Money

Dud                       n.  A joke intended to be funny which falls flat

                              -He’s always telling duds, and it gets tiring hearing

                                the same old stuff all the time.

Fink                       v. To tell on

Flake out              v.  Fall asleep

                              -Bill has flaked out.

Flat                       n.  A house; an apartment

Fox                        n.  An attractive girl

Foxy                      adj.  Attractive, sexy.

Fuzz                      adj.  Police

Go lurking            v.  To go joy riding

                              -I went out lurking last night.

Grapevine            n.  A chain of gossiping people.

                              -You said you heard it through the grapevine.

Grass                    n.  Pot, marijuana.

Groovy                 adj.  Excellent, smooth, wonderful

Hip                        adj.  Informed on current events

                              -He is hip. He knows what’s happening.

Keep your cool      v.  To stay calm

Kicks                     n.  Excitement; fun; a daring experience; shoes

                              -You’ve got a hole in your kicks.

Maintain your         v. To keep a level head and to stay calm in a time of 

Cool                        turmoil or disagreement.  

                               - Man, you best maintain your cool or Joe will busy your 

                                  mug.

Mod                      adj.   Modern, in the fashion.       

                              -Everybody’s going mod, why don’t you get hip.

Out-to-lunch         adj.  A person who does not take drugs.  

                              -He is out to lunch.

Pull someone’s       v.  To expose someone’s reputation or activities

Covers

Punk                     n.  A person, usually a man, who is no good.

Put me on             v.  To tease

Soul                       n.  Awareness; feeling; sensitivity; the spiritual bond felt 
                              by Blacks for each other. Rarely said to describe 
                              Caucasians.

                              -He has soul:  he knows things; he’s tuned in.

Soul brother         n.  Used by one Negro to another whether or not they are
                              acquainted.

Soul food             n.  Good fresh food which has neither been canned or frozen. 

                             Often refers to pork, greens, black-eyed peas, and 

                             cornbread.

Souling                 v.  Playing an instrument well.

                              -Man, he is really souling on the trumpet.

Soul Language      n.  Idioms and slang used by Negroes between themselves.

Soul minority        n. Negroes. Used by Negroes to describe themselves.

Soul sister            n. Any female Negro. Used to describe a Negro in the 

    same situation as yourself. She may be a friend, or
    acquaintance, or even a stranger.

Soul sound           n.  Good music. Harmony which appeals to Blacks

Soul talk               n.  Meaningful conversation among Negroes.

Spade                   n.  Negro

Threads                n.  Clothes

Too much            adj.  Very nice.

                              -That is just too much

Tube                     n.  Television

Weird                   adj. Different; square; hippie; homosexual

Yen                       n.  A craving for heroin (Drug user’s jargon)

Definitions from Current Slang, Vol III, No, 2, 1968.