Interview with C. Oran Little, August 29, 2001

Interview Summary

University of Kentucky Dean of the College of Agriculture, Charles Oran Little grew up in Schulenburg, Texas. He talks about his ancestry and how his family came to Texas in the 1800s. Little was born in 1935 and states that he grew up in a large extended family. His mother was a school teacher and his father was a farmer, a school teacher, and a rural mail carrier. He recalls that education was very important in his family. They did not have a television, so they would sit down after supper and read. Little mentions influential teachers, particularly Elmo Meyer, his Vocational Agriculture teacher in high school. Little talks about his high school days and remembers that he and his brother got up every morning at 5:00 am to milk the cows and deliver the milk to local families. While in high school, Little became state vice president of the Future Farmers of America, and he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class. Little explains that by the time he graduated from high school, he had already mapped out his career in agricultural education. He planned to follow in his brother's footsteps and attend Texas A&M, when his Vocational Agriculture teacher urged him to apply for a full-scholarship to the University of Houston through the Marshall Scholarship Foundation. Little received a full tuition scholarship to the University of Houston through the Marshall Scholarship Foundation. Little recalls his personal relationship with the benefactor of the foundation who invited him to lunch and asked him to do certain favors such as fly on a private jet to Ft. Worth to buy calves. He recalls that he had to go before a board every year to go over his accomplishments and his grades. This same board suggested that he seek his PhD and teach at the university level. Little decided to attend Iowa State University for graduate school, and the Marshall Scholarship Foundation supported him in this pursuit. Little got married in his third year of college and he talks about attending high school with his wife.

Interview LC Subject

Little, C. Oran (Charles Oran), 1935- Little, C. Oran (Charles Oran), 1935- --Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History

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