THE SIXTIES
With
Dallas assisting, the Fort Worth Chapter was founded in 1960. In the early
days, about 20 -25 members regularly attended meetings in Dallas. As required
by AGA National, most of the meetings had speakers who discussed topics of a
technical nature related to accounting or auditing. In addition to the
technical presentations, other meetings covered subjects of local or general
interest.
The
chapter learned in September 1960 about "Computers and the Federal Government"
from Dr. Kenneth Crider from IBM, and the next month members heard about the
proposed new Presbyterian hospital from Roderic Bell. Pros and cons of the Trinity River Canal project (which as we
later learned did not make Dallas a port city) and "Woman's Lib and What's
Wrong with the Post Office" must have generated lots of interest. SA Earnest Gentry the District Director of
the Bureau of Narcotics in Dallas warned of the dangers of drugs in November
1960. Jack Pearce told the chapter how
they were "Accounting for the Management Gap" at the Post Office. Speakers in 1961 included David Phillips,
GSA regional commissioner (January), Robert Lewis DOD assistant Director of
accounting and finance (April), and Forrest Sorrels SAIC of the Dallas Secret
Service Office (September).
The
Officers serving with Smith Blair Jr. in the 1961-62 year were Walton H. Sheley
Jr., vice-president; James H. Clarke, treasurer; Virginia L. Johns, secretary;
John H. Adams, Carroll G. Campbell, John H. Ellis, Stephen D. Michell, Claude
Y. Parker, Richard A. Reed and William J. Robinson, directors. We are not sure what the topic was in
October 1962 when Max Clampitt, president of the Clampitt Paper Company, spoke
- maybe "The Beverly Hillbillies"?
While the members listened to Darrell K. Glenn from GSA discuss
"Accountability" on November 21st 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was
getting ready that night to go to the School Book Depository Building the next
morning to change history in Dallas.
B.
M. Myers, Jr. one of the charter members of the chapter, was sworn in as Post
Office Regional Director in the Courtroom of U.S. District Judge Joe Estes in
March 1964. A native Texan, Mr. Myers
rose from postal clerk to the top postal job in Dallas at the age of 51. Mr.
Myers addressed the chapter at the April meeting. Other speakers in 1964 included Louis S. Lyon, regional director
of the U.S. Civil Service, who spoke on "Men, Jobs and Money" (January) and
Clyde Skeen, executive vice-president of Ling-Temco-Vought, who spoke on "Let's
Talk about Decision Making" (February).
Albert O. Doffort, a charter AGA member, supervisory auditor with Army
Audit, and veteran of World War I, died in an auto accident in Dallas on
October 17, 1964.
Sometime
between April 1964 and September 1967, the Dallas AGA meeting place changed
from the Downtown Club, used since 1957, to the Melrose Hotel in Oaklawn. At
the September 1964 meeting, Sam L. Carter, WFAA's accounting manager spoke to
the chapter about "Federal Income Tax - Its Use as a Means for Directing the
Economy."
In
October 1967, members heard from Glenn Scott of Southwestern Bell on "The Magic
of Communications." In November 1967,
Dallas Mayor Erik Jonsson addressed the group.
Mayor Jonsson was probably the most beloved and successful mayor in the
history of Dallas. He was a founder and
CEO of Texas Instruments and during four terms as mayor he led Dallas back in
recovering from the negative image resulting from the Kennedy
assassination. The Central Library is
named on behalf of Mayor Jonsson and the legacy of his visionary leadership is
still felt in Dallas today.
The
"Club Activities" section of the Dallas Morning News regularly chronicled
chapter meetings in the 1950's and 1960's, but sort of dwindled and ceased in
the mid- 1970's. That section of the
News noted that William Dow, director of the Civil Service Commission Office
Skills Training Institute, spoke to the members on "Report Writing Pitfalls" in
April of 1968. Dow was followed the
next month by James Kelly, assistant secretary comptroller of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare who spoke on "Progress in Financial
Management." HEW functions have been
reshuffled and reorganized many times over the years and now HHS, Education,
and Social Security are each separate organizations. Nathan Cutler, the FGAA national president was the guest of honor
for the joint meeting with the Dallas and Fort Worth chapters in February of
1969 at the Western Hills Inn in Fort Worth.
