Oral History Program Delsa Davis Colvin Interviewed by Stacey Colvin 15 June 2008 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Delsa Davis Colvin Interviewed by Stacey Colvin 15 June 2008 Copyright © 2012 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in University Archives. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Colvin, Delsa Davis, an oral history by Stacey Colvin, 15 June 2008, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Delsa Davis Colvin. The interview was conducted on June 15, 2008, by Stacey Colvin, in Delsa’s home in North Ogden, Utah. Colvin discusses recollections and experiences at Weber State College. SC: I am Stacey Colvin and I am interviewing Delsa Davis Colvin. It is June 15, 2008 and we are in her home. Her address is 566 E. 3050 N. in North Ogden, UT. Just state your name, where you grew up, and who your parents are. DC: My name is Delsa Davis Colvin. I was born in Farr West, Utah, June the tenth 1930, and my mother’s name is Zola Philomila Chugg Davis, and my father’s name was James Albert Davis. SC: Can you spell Philomila for me? DC: P-h-i-l-o-m-i-l-a. SC: Perfect, thank you. That will be a tongue twister when I am typing. I would like to ask you a few questions of Weber College which is now Weber State University. Tell us where you graduated and why you chose to go to Weber College, what was your first year? DC: I graduated from Weber High School and I wanted to live at home. I got a twenty-five dollar music scholarship, which was quite a bit of money then. So I went to Weber College and I did not want to feel groups, I wanted to just go and have fun. So I took any class that I wanted to. I went there for two years and I got what's called a certificate of completion, and I took basically music, typing, psychology, home making classes, 1 and I took institute. I just took the things I really had an interest in. I was in the band and I loved it because I wasn't feeling groups or anything it was just a lot of fun. SC: What did you play in the band? DC: I played a clarinet. SC: Did you just play in college or had you played before that? DC: I had played in high school. I was solo chair in high school. SC: Your certificate of completion—was that a degree up at the college or was it an associate’s degree? DC: It was like an associate degree for two years. SC: You just had to take a certain amount of classes to get the certificate of completion? DC: Yes, that's right. A certain number of hours but I could take anything I wanted to. I didn't have to feel groups. SC: After that, did you get a different degree? DC: No. SC: You didn't? What did you choose to do after college with your certificate? DC: Secretarial work. I started working at First Security Bank as a secretary in the time-way department. SC: How long did you work there? DC: I worked there probably about three years, maybe four years. I got married and then we moved to Salt Lake where my husband went to the University of Utah. I worked until two weeks before Scott was born. SC: Is Scott your oldest child? 2 DC: Yes, that's right. SC: Were you married when you went to Weber State College or were you single? DD: No, I was single. SC: Did that make an impact on the activities that you were able to participate in at Weber State. DC: I had a lot of fun. SC: What kind of activities did they have that you attended? DC: We had, at that time, a lot of social clubs at Weber College. When I became a sophomore I was president of our social club, it’s called Sharmea, S-h- a-r-m-e-a. Our colors were pink and black and silver. It was an interesting experience. I found out very quickly that I couldn't satisfy all those girls. There was always someone mad at me, and I decided I didn't want to be president of anything again in my whole life. SC: How did you get involved in Sharmea, did you just see it on campus? DC: Well, they had rushes and parties. My sister Marion was in Sharmea, she was a year older than I was. We went to all of the rushes. They had La Dianida—a lot of different clubs. I decided that I wanted to be in Sharmea. SC: When you were president, did the girls vote on you becoming president, or were you just kind of appointed president? DC: I was voted. SC: You were voted for it? DC: Yes. SC: Did you run against a couple different girls? DC: No, I think they just vote who they want to be president, and I came up on top. 3 SC: Okay. Was Sharmea involved a lot with the University or the college at the time? DC: Yes. We used to put on a dance with a boys club. We would go together and put a formal dance. Then we put on assemblies every year. We were very involved with the school. SC: What did the assemblies consist of? DC: Just like a variety show with different numbers and things. SC: Okay, to showcase some of the people on campus and their talents? DC: Yes, that's right. SC: Okay. DC: We also had dresses that we had alike. SC: Oh, so you all matched? DC: Yes, we all matched. We wore them one day a week and as I remember it was on Fridays. SC: On Fridays? DC: Yes. SC: That's fun, were they the colors? DC: Yes. SC: So they were pink and black. Oh, that's fun. DC: Yes and I even have a little Sharmea pin, and one that designated that I was the president. I have it upstairs. SC: How many girls were in Sharmea? DC: Oh, about thirty-five. SC: Thirty-five, so it was a pretty big group. 4 DC: It was pretty big, yes. SC: Did a lot of them live at home with their families or did they live on campus? Was there a home they all lived in, like the sororities today all live in the same house? DC: It was mostly at home I think. They didn't have all of the housing and that that they have at Weber now. SC: Okay. DC: We were also, you'd be interested in knowing—they used to have it the college on about 24th and 25th on Monroe. They had a gym there, and then the institute building was just right across the street where that library on genealogy is. That was where there the institute building was. SC: Oh okay, and that's where the college was located at? DC: Yes, that's where it was. SC: How many buildings did the college consist of? DC: They had the Moench building, and the swimming pool, I don't remember. It was much smaller than it is now. We used to have a lot of Hawaiian fellows play on the football team. They used to sit around singing their ukuleles. They could all sing beautifully, it was fun. SC: That is fun. Can you tell me a little bit about the campus? Did the campus have a lot of trees was it green? DC: Yes, trees and flowers. It was nice. SC: It was a very nice campus? DC: It was a very nice campus. 5 SC: You mentioned a football team, so there was a football team at the time, was their mascot the same? Were they the wildcats at that time? DC: Right, that's right. SC: So it was Weber State College Wildcats? DC: That's right. SC: Do you remember anything about those football games? Did you ever attend any of them? DC: Yes, I played in the band. SC: You went to many of them? DC: Yes, I went to all the football games. SC: Is there any experience that you really remember about any of the football games? DC: That it was cold. SC: It was cold. You had to bundle up warmly. DC: It was cold that time of year. SC: It always is. DC: Yes, it is. SC: That's exciting. Can you tell me—back to your Sharmea—can you tell me of any particular experience you had with some of the girls or your sister that is a fond memory for you, maybe at one of the dances, or just any activity that you had? DC: I don't particularly have a fond memory of being president of Sharmea. There was someone mad at me all the time. We had a weekly meeting and I just didn't enjoy being president of it because there was someone always mad at me. I didn't like that. SC: So it was a very tough position, especially with someone upset with you. 6 DC: I don't like people to be mad at me. I'm a peacemaker. I don't like to cause any waves. It was kind of fun. SC: Do you still have any friends now that were in Sharmea with you? DC: I do. SC: Who are they, if you can remember any of them? DC: Let's see, some of them have died. Jean, I can't remember her last name, she lives in Pleasant View. They still have a Sharmea breakfast. SC: Oh, do they? DC: Yes, but I haven't gone for the last two or three years. They’ll have an Easter breakfast. Messerly Hepworth comes and Connie Hokenson Price, and Zelda Jensen Barnett. Some of them have died. SC: You have gone to the breakfast in the past? DC: I have. SC: So, it's still a group that meets? DC: It's still a group that's on Weber campus. SC: That’s fun. DC: They are still there, as a sorority club. SC: As a sorority? DC: Yes, they do a lot of service projects. More than we did when we were at Weber, but they really do service things. I should still go to them, but I don't know. SC: Do you remember any service activities that you guys did while you were there? DC: We didn't. We didn't do service activities. We were busy doing assemblies and putting on dances. 7 SC: So it was more social? DC: Yes, we had printed programs and also when we had our rush parties we made a lot of cute little souvenirs for the girls to take home and that took a lot of time. SC: Right. DC: So, no we didn't do service projects—you know like good will things. It was mostly just interacting with the different clubs, and it was more just a social thing that was fun. SC: So the reason that you got involved with Sharmea was kind of for the social—to make new friends and acquaintances? DC: Yes, that's right. SC: Well, it sounds like that was a really good way to do it. DC: Well, there was one thing too that I probably need to tell you. I learned a really interesting lesson on this. They had a banquet at the end of the year where they would choose the friendliest girl on Weber College, and I lost by one vote. SC: That was for the whole college, not just Sharmea? DC: Yes, the whole college and it was because I didn't vote for myself. SC: Oh. DC: They went around to all of the different clubs, and had everybody vote. I thought of voting for myself, but I thought, “Oh, I can't do that.” I kind of wished that I had voted for myself because then I would have won. SC: Well, it sounds like you were the nicest girl since you didn't vote for yourself. DC: No, you know, I always had the philosophy, to be nice, speak to everybody, and be friendly. I did that in high school too. I held a lot of student offices in high school and college. I think the reason I did basically is because I was just nice to everybody. It 8 didn't matter whether they were popular or whether they were unpopular. I treated everybody the same. SC: Well, that's very important. DC: I tried to do that and I think that is one of the reasons I was popular like that. SC: Now, you mentioned that you were involved with a lot of student organizations in high school and in college. Were you involved with any others besides Sharmea in college? DC: Yes, I was secretary of the sophomore class. SC: Secretary of the sophomore class at Weber College? DC: Yes, and that was voted upon by the whole sophomore class. SC: Did you choose to run for that? DC: I don't remember how I got it. I think it was just a nomination. SC: Then you went with it? DC: Yes, and I went with it, and I won the election and that was fun. SC: What kind of responsibilities did you have for secretary of the sophomore class? DC: Not many, our president kind of took over everything. SC: So president of the senior class took over everything? DC: No, he was a sophomore. SC: Oh, okay. DC: It was the sophomore officers, but he didn't give me many responsibilities. I just kind of sailed through it. It was kind of fun. SC: But you had the title so that's exciting? DC: That's right. SC: People knew who you were. 9 DC: That's right. SC: That's always good. DC: Yes. SC: You said that you were able to, with your certificate of completion, take the classes that you wanted to take? DC: That's right. SC: Instead of specific classes—which right now at Weber State University you have to take certain classes in order to graduate, which is what I am doing right now? Was there a particular class that you really enjoyed or that you remember well? DC: Well, I really liked the homemaking, and we did cooking, and child development. In fact, I still use a couple of recipes, those Swedish meatballs that we all like. SC: Those are my favorite! That's my very favorite from you. DC: I got those from my cooking class and my frozen lemon pie that people like in the family. I also liked applied psychology. I liked them all. I learned a real valuable lesson for anyone that is going to school. You have to study your teacher and know what they want. SC: Yes. DC: The applied psychology wanted everything in outline. So we do A; 1, 2, 3 inside, then B; 1, 2, 3 inside. I always studied the teacher to see what he wanted and I got really good grades. I got straight A's in college for two years. SC: That's great, that's quite an accomplishment. DC: Yes, and I liked the band. I liked it all. Actually, I had learned how to type beforehand. When I was a junior in high school I was secretary of the student body and I had to 10 make out a report, a typed report at the end of the year. I didn't know how to type. I had to take seminary and we didn't have a lot of electives and so I couldn't get typing in. So my sister Marion, who was a year older than I am, she would bring her typing book home and I learned how to type at home. SC: Without a typewriter? DC: Well, we had a typewriter. I learned how to type at home so that at the end of the year I could type up my finished report. Then when I got in college I did take typing to develop my skill a little better. Then I took bookkeeping. I hated bookkeeping. Shorthand, I took shorthand. SC: Shorthand, for secretarial work? DC: Yes, because that was what I wanted to do. This is another thing I learned—J.J. Newberry's—I had to stand in a five and dime store, and I never could stand for very long periods of time. When I would get really tired, and you know this, here comes our boss, "Where is my clerk?" I'm sitting on the floor, in back of the counter. I can't stand certain times when I am not feeling real good. I decided right then, I'm going to get a sit down job. That's basically the reason I went into shorthand, and secretarial, so that I could sit down. SC: Was that before you went to college that you worked there? DC: Yes, that was before I went to college. SC: So, was that one of the reasons you wanted to go to college, so you could learn some of those skills? Why did you choose to go to college? DC: I think it was for social reasons. SC: For social reasons? 11 DC: I just wanted to go and have fun and meet more people. When I was at college they had a forest service right across the street from the college. I worked there part time for the forest service as secretary for forest fires. I also worked at the college doing secretarial work for some of the professors and then that helped me to earn money. Like I said I got a twenty-five dollar scholarship. SC: That helped to pay for your schooling, your jobs, and scholarship? DC: Yes, sure. You see, they divided the scholarship into three quarters. We had three quarters then. SC: Okay, for the school year you went three quarters. DC: I got a third of the twenty-five dollars. Another thing I should tell you—when I was a sophomore I got this Chi-Omega scholarship. They chose the outstanding girl as a freshman, and I got that Chi-Omega scholarship for my sophomore year. SC: Oh, that's great. So did that cover all of your tuition for you sophomore year? DC: Pretty much. SC: You said earlier, you mentioned the twenty-five dollar scholarship. Did you pay tuition every quarter then? How much was tuition? DC: I can't remember it wasn't very much. SC: I wish I could remember. DC: It wasn't much. SC: This next semester I will be paying over two thousand dollars for my schooling. DC: I just can't believe that. SC: It has gone up a lot, but the education is worth it. 12 DC: Surely. Yes. SC: A minute ago you mentioned you had taken some psychology classes and some child development. DC: Applied psychology. SC: What is applied psychology? What kinds of things did you learn? Was it just kind of about how the human mind works? DC: I don't know. I think getting along with people. SC: More like the social psychology? DC: Psychology is a lot more technical than applied psychology. Applied psychology is, I think, a little more interesting and not so involved. I enjoyed it. SC: You also mentioned that homemaking, or the home economic classes were your favorite? Did that have anything to do with when you grew up, you wanted to be a mom and a wife, or did you want a career? DC: No, I never wanted a career. I just always wanted to be a wife and a mother. SC: After you graduated, you had mentioned that you worked a few places. Did you work while you had children? DC: I really didn't. I worked until two weeks before Scott was born. I had married Don we had transferred down to Salt Lake to University of Utah. I transferred down to First Security Bank in Salt Lake and I worked for the Vice President there. But that many years ago, when I started showing that I was pregnant, I couldn't be on the main floor. SC: Right. 13 DC: They let me keep working, but I had to go upstairs. I did filing and different things because it was just a no-no for a pregnant woman to be seen with the public. I worked as long as I wanted to, but I couldn't be in the vision of the public. SC: So that is very different from today. DC: Very, very different. SC: Very different. We’ve talked about a few classes that you really enjoyed and liked at school. You mentioned a minute ago that you hated bookkeeping, was that a class you took up at Weber State? DC: No, I took that in high school. SC: Okay. DC: I didn't care for it. SC: You mentioned with the certificate of completion that you were able to just take classes you wanted. Were you able to avoid classes that you hated, or did you still have classes you didn't like, or teachers that you had a hard time with? DC: No, when I registered I could choose anything I wanted. Then I graduated from the institute of religion too. SC: Okay. DC: But no, as long as I put my hours in on my quarters, I could take what I wanted. SC: That's great. I wish they did that now. DC: It was fun. I loved college because I just enjoyed it. SC: You were able to do what you wanted. DC: I was a very social person. I flitted here and there. 14 SC: You sound like you were a lot more involved than I was. As I have been going to school, I have been involved with the institute but not as much with the student organizations, but the student organizations are much larger. DC: Well it’s different now. The institute was kind of in the background. The institute had taken over more now for social, don't you think? SC: Yes, well it did for me and a lot of my friends in that also. DC: It wasn't that way when we went to college. SC: So it has changed a lot. DC: The social was through the clubs at Weber College, but now it’s kind of reversed. SC: Do you remember who the dean of the college was when you were there? DC: Janette—I can't remember her last name. She was really nice. She was our Sharmea advisor, and she was also the dean, she was a very nice woman, I can't remember her last name. SC: So she was your advisor for Sharmea, the person that was in charge? DC: Yes, that's right. SC: It sounds like Sharmea is one of the things you are proud of from college. Is there anything else that you can think of that you gained from getting a college education that others didn't? Or is there something you are particularly proud of from that experience in your life? DC: I think my secretarial skills of course, and then my homemaking skills, also child development. I think it makes you a well-rounded person. I think it’s good for you to do things like that. SC: Do you feel today that it is important for people to continue to get an education? 15 DC: I do. SC: You also have done well with your secretarial work. You worked for Lindquist's Mortuary for— DC: Twenty-five plus years. SC: Twenty-five plus years and I know that they are still very grateful to you. DC: I was their organist too. SC: Yes, you are very good at the organ. Sounds like you were very musical growing up and had a lot of that talent, and you were able to use that in your college experience. DC: Yes. SC: Was there a specific place on campus—back to your friends and your social life—that you all gathered? I know me and my friends at Weber State University gather at the institute and that's the place where we do our social activities or hang out. Was there a certain place on campus that you guys use to gather with Sharmea? DC: It wasn't at the institute. The institute took a backseat back then. We had, like in your colleges, I think it was probably in the Moench building, I can't remember for sure, but there was kind of a lounge where we could gather and visit. Yes, we liked to listen to the Hawaiians sing with their ukuleles. They had beautiful voices and they would just kind of sit around in good weather, under the trees and that and sing. We used to kind of go in the lounge, but it wasn't at the institute. SC: That's good that they had a place where you could gather. DC: Yes, I never hung around at the institute. Well they didn't have a beautiful building like they have now. It was just that historical building for genealogy. It was just a very small building. 16 SC: You mentioned that your sister Marion was in Sharmea with you. Did any of you other family attend Weber College, or was it just you and Marion? DC: Jay did. SC: Your brother? DC: Yes, Lorraine didn't go to college and Evelyn went to Utah State. SC: Do you know what degree Jay got at Weber State College? DC: Yes, a four year degree. SC: Do you know what that was in? DC: Mechanics. My parents paid him four hundred dollars a month for four years to go to school. They were living in that old house by my parents. SC: In Farr West? DC: Yes. SC: That is where Jay and Bonnie lived, is that what you are saying? DC: Yes, before they built their home. SC: What did he do with his degree after college? DC: He had a lot of jobs. He worked at a school, Weber High School. He worked for Weber College, and White Motor Company, and then he started his own business repairing cars, and then he retired quite young. SC: Quite young? DC: Then Bonnie went to work at IRS. She worked there for ten years. SC: Did Bonnie get and education that you know of? DC: I don't know. I can't remember. SC: Did any of your children attend Weber State? 17 DC: Yes, they both did. SC: They both did? Did they both get their degrees? DC: Yes. SC: I know my dad got his associates degree at Weber State and then he transferred to University of Utah. DC: Right. SC: And your son Scott? DC: He got a two-year degree. It was in electronics. SC: So Weber State has greatly benefited your family, and I know you have grandchildren that have attended there. DC: Plus Don, my husband, graduated from Weber. SC: From Weber College? DC: Yes, before he went to University of Utah. SC: Did he get a two-year degree or a four-year degree? DC: He got a two-year degree from Weber and then he got a four-year degree from University of Utah, and then he got the master’s degree from BYU. SC: From BYU? What were those degrees in, do you remember? DC: I think Don's was in history? I can't remember. SC: I know one of them was in history. DC: I think one of them was in history, but his Masters was in church education at BYU. SC: Did you have any other jobs or chores that you had to do besides school? You mentioned a few jobs with the forest service that you did during college. You said that 18 you lived at home, and I know you lived on a farm. Did you have a lot of extra responsibilities? You were probably very busy. DC: Yes, I was. We had to ride the bus. We never had a car like you guys do. SC: To get to school? DC: Yes we rode the bus. I rode the bus to get to school and to work and everything. SC: Did you have responsibilities on the farm while you were going to school? DC: Now this is the bad part, I'm trying to be as positive as I can. SC: That's okay. DC: Yes, we worked very hard on the farm. SC: So you had all of the farm responsibilities plus going to school. That must have been time consuming. DC: Well, not so much when I got into college, I didn't have to do that as much. Jay was getting older. When we were in grade school and high school we had to work on the farm a lot. SC: But you didn't have to work on the farm as much in college, you probably still helped with things here and there. DC: Right, but it eased up a little bit. Thank goodness. SC: That's good you could focus on your classes. Do you remember anything about your graduation exercises? Were they held did you have a formal graduation like they have now and where was it was it at Weber College? DC: Are you talking about college? Yes, we had a formal graduation and a dance. We always wore formals. SC: To celebrate? 19 DC: Yes, and had the corsage, it was very nice. SC: Did you have a large graduating class? Do you remember anything about that? DC: I don't remember it was pretty large. SC: I don't even remember my high school one and that was only five years ago. DC: Yes, it was really nice and it was large. It was nice. SC: Just to finish up a little bit here. How do you feel about Weber State College? DC: I think it's a great place. I've always really thought it was a great place to get an education. SC: Do you have anything you would like to add about Weber College or your experiences there? DC: I just really enjoyed it. That was where I learned how to swim. SC: At Weber College you learned how to swim? DC: Yes, I took a swimming class. When we were growing up we weren't allowed to go swimming because mother thought we would get polio. That's a true story. SC: That was a big concern back then. DC: That's a true story. I never learned how to swim really well, but I did take a swimming class that I really liked. It was fun. SC: It seems to me that you have very fond memories of Weber College, as do I. DC: I love Weber College. It was very fun. I just had a great time there. SC: Good. Well, thank you so much for letting me interview you. DC: You are certainly welcome. 20