NAMES LIKE PIETZSCH, BINGMAN,
GRAY AND MCDONALD are well known
from the early history of Lamar University, the
days from its inception in 1923 as South Park
Junior College to its heady growth in the post World War-
II era. Less well known, but no less pivotal was the role of
civic leader Herman Iles, the assistant purchasing agent for
Magnolia Petroleum Co.’s Beaumont refinery.
By 1938, it was obvious that further expansion of
Lamar College (as South Park Junior College had become
known) would impose an unsustainable financial burden on
the South Park Independent School District. Given a choice
of finding a wider financial base for the college or of curtailing
what appeared to a bright future, college and community
leaders turned to the idea of an enlarged junior college
district. A 1929 legislative act provided for the formation of
such districts through the combination of contiguous public
school districts. The only requirement was the approval of
the majority of qualified voters of the proposed district.
A committee of the Young Men’s Business League,
led by Herman Iles, working closely with the officials of
Lamar College and the school board of South Park,
spearheaded the task of creating a junior college district.
About 65 people gathered to hear the proposal discussed
at an evening meeting of the South Park Civic
League in the South Park High School auditorium.
There, they heard John Gray, then dean of men at
Lamar College, and Herman Iles, president of the South
Park Civic League and second vice president of the
YMBL, speaking in favor of the proposed expansion.
Iles, who was also one of seven candidates for membership
on the board of trustees, said the college would be
“built on a site already owned near its present location,”
according to a newspaper clipping from the Herman Iles
papers, a special collection of the Lamar University
archives. In 1938, the South Park board had purchased a
58-acre tract three blocks east of what was then the
Lamar campus. The tract was most unattractive, having
been used as a tank farm for oil storage by the Texaco
Co., but the company was willing to sell it for $18,000.
In an election on Sept. 21, 1940, voters approved
the creation of a Lamar Union Junior College District,
the issuance of bonds to construct an entirely new college
facility, a new tax for support and maintenance and
the election of trustees to govern the college.
Iles and his wife, Delma Lea, entertained with a
post-election party at their home on Lavaca Street as a
compliment to the scores of people who worked for the
greater Lamar College bond issue.
The 21 months between the election and June 8,
1942, the day classes were held for the first time on the
new campus, was a period of significant transition. Iles
had been elected to the board of trustees, one of three
men who had “been active in promoting the enlarged
Lamar college plans since their inception more than two
years ago, and a part of the central committee making
plans for the election of the project,” according to a clipping
from the collection.
By December 1941, the last major construction
contract had been awarded; by the end of the spring of
1942, sufficient buildings had been completed for the
college to be moved to its new, and present, location.
On June 1, 1942, as the college was moving to the new
campus, John Gray assumed the presidency.
In 1943, the college “graduated 68 in the first class
of the greater institution dedicating the new $1 million
plant to the ‘youths of tomorrow who will perpetuate
the democratic principles for which our boys are now
giving their lives,’ said Judge J.M. Combs, president of
the board of trustees and commencement speaker,”
according to a clipping from the collection.
In December 1946, the Lamar board of trustees
decided to ask the Texas Legislature to make Lamar a
four-year state college. The board was under no illusion
that securing state support would be an easy task; no junior college
in Texas had ever changed to state-supported senior college status.
In 1947, Iles, then in his second term as a trustee, was
elected to head the board. He was honored that year among
individuals and organizations for having contributed to the
building of Lamar College.
President Gray, Iles and other members of the board, attorney
J.B. Morris, area legislators and many other Southeast Texas citizens
helped formulate and execute a plan to secure legislative approval.
Early in the legislative session of 1947, a bill to make Lamar a statesupported
senior college was introduced in the Texas House by
Rep. Jack Brooks, a former Lamar student.
Supporters of the Lamar bill had planned and executed well;
the measure secured the approval of the Texas Legislature. But the
victory proved short lived. The bill contained an appropriation of
$1 million for new construction, but could go to the governor for
signing only if the comptroller certified that sufficient revenue
would be available. He did not, so the bill died. The planners
returned to the Legislature the following year, and with the leadership
of Rep. Brooks once
again found success in
both houses. Gov.
Beauford Jester signed
the bill on June 14, 1949,
creating Lamar State
College of Technology
and ushering in a new era
of higher education in
Southeast Texas.
Herman Iles died
Dec. 27, 1954, after a
lengthy illness. In the
region’s newspapers, he
was recognized as a civic
leader and for his service
to the university. In particular,
he was remembered
for his role in the
organization of the union
district for Lamar College
and as “a leader in transforming
it into a four-year state school known as Lamar State
College of Technology,” according to a clipping from the collection.
