FOUNDING OF THE DALLAS CHAPTER

 

In early 1950, the idea of forming a professional organization for accountants in the Federal Government took shape in the Washington DC area.  Robert W. King was the key leader in bringing the organization into existence on September 14, 1950.  Mr. King was chosen as the first president of the Federal Government Accountants Association (FGAA), as it was known until 1975.  Over time, some of the original members of the national organization found themselves relocated around the country and they wanted to establish local chapters. While there was some opposition to this move, provisions were made for establishing chapters outside of the Washington D.C. area and in November 1952, Chapter Charter Number 1 was granted to Kansas City.  As of 2008, AGA had over 15,000 members in 90 local chapters. But sadly, some chapters have gone out of existence, such as the one I originally became a member of in Saigon, Vietnam in 1970.

 

In those early days, Dallas was in the forefront of the efforts to help make the FGAA a truly national organization.  A few dedicated individuals decided in early 1956 that they wanted to establish a chapter in the "Big D."  The first Regional Manager of the General Accounting Office in Dallas, Harold P. Batchelder, was instrumental in organizing this effort.  He and two others, Henry C. Goodpasture (Agriculture) and Myrtle H. Shafer (Post Office) were already members of the National FGAA.  They canvassed the prospects for membership in a Dallas chapter.  Among federal financial professionals in the Dallas area, they found enough interest in twenty-three different Federal offices to move forward.

 

By the summer of 1956, the founders decided to petition AGA National for a chapter charter.  An article in the Dallas Morning News on August 20, 1956 reported that Mr. Batchelder - who was the temporary chairman of the petitioning committee - hoped they would become the nineteenth chapter in the country and the first in the Southwest. The original request was sent to AGA National on October 26, 1956.

THE 1956 DALLAS CHAPTER CHARTER APPLICANTS WERE:

 

     

                                   

 

The sixty applicants represented seven Federal offices.  About two thirds of the group consisted of employees with the Department of Agriculture Commodity Stabilization Service (cotton was still king in those days).  Others came from GSA, the Post Office, and GAO.  The rest were from Army Audit, FNMA, and the Veterans Administration.

 

AGA National granted Dallas charter number 20 on November 14, 1956 and we became Chapter 16, the first in Texas with an initial membership of 36. On December 14, 1956, the Dallas Morning News reported that Mr. Henry C. Goodpasture who had acted as secretary for the petitioning committee had been chosen as the first President of the Dallas Chapter.  Other officers were; James R. Martin of the Post Office (vice-president), Myrtle H. Shafer from the Post Office (treasurer), Clifton B. Drinkard of the VA (secretary) and H. P. Batchelder (chapter representative).  A complete list of Presidents, their respective agency, and membership totals (if known) follows this history.

 

The first chapter president, Henry C. Goodpasture, was born in Quail, Texas on April 29, 1908.  He attended Texas A&M and SMU.  During the Great Depression (around 1937) Henry began his government service with the Public Works Administration.  He joined the Department of Agriculture as an auditor in 1940.  Most of his career was spent in Dallas.  In addition to being the first president of the Dallas chapter, he was selected as the Federal Civil Servant of the Year (in 1960) by the Dallas Federal Business Association at an event accompanied by an article and picture of Mr. Goodpasture in the Dallas Morning News on January 19, 1961.  The article noted that he was a Toastmaster, a mason, a member of the National Association of Cost Accountants, and a sponsor of the Dallas Civic Opera Ballet. Mr. Goodpasture died in Dallas on January 5, 2001 at the age of 92.

 

The first regular meeting took place the month after the chapter was organized.  B. Frank White, the regional commissioner for the IRS, was the first speaker when the chapter was gaveled to order at seven in the evening on Wednesday January 23, 1957.  That meeting took place at the Southland Hotel (now the Adam's Mark) which would be the meeting place until a change to the Downtown Club in September of 1957.  The Downtown Club was in the Texas Bank Building and continued as the regular AGA meeting site until at least April of 1964.  James R. Martin, who was regional controller of the Post Office Department, was the March 1957 speaker and spoke on "The Development of an Industrial Type Controllership in the Postal Service."

 

By March of 1958, the time and day for all meetings had been changed to 5:30 PM on Thursdays.  That year, the chapter also heard from Norwood Dixon CPA of Ernst & Ernst CPA's, an FBI Agent Robert Hancock, and probably the only chapter speaker whose speech made the news.  Speaking at the December 1958 meeting, I. Nevin Palley, senior vice-president of Tempco Aircraft Corporation, must have kept everyone on the edge of their seats as he described a nuclear bomber attack on the United States.  On December 13, 1958, the Dallas Morning News headlines read "Warning to the Citizenry" - "Tempco Official Sees Atomic Attack Chaos."  Mr. Palley told the nervous accountants that "...more than half, and maybe 80 percent of the attackers would get through ... and that an enlightened citizenry should insist upon elimination of outdated and duplicated ballistic missiles ... political and pork barrel programs."

 

Two months later - in early 1959 - members heard more about how solid propellant motors for missiles were being built at the Longhorn Ordinance Works in Marshall, Texas.  In January 1959, C. H. Moseley, the Dallas director of Agriculture's Commodity Stabilization Service explained how the farm price support program was used to buy agricultural products from farmers.  Later in 1959, James Bass, the IRS audit chief for the Dallas District, encouraged members to join the Toastmasters Club; and Smith Blair Jr. became GAO's Regional Manager in August of 1959 when Harold Batchelder moved to the San Antonio office.