Quarterdeck 2.2
By Dr. Dale Leipper, Founding Department Head
[77K] was the first permanent
space occupied by the Department of Oceanography in Galveston. Between 1958
and 1964, this building spawned the Galveston Marine Laboratory and the
Texas Maritime Academy. It also housed offices for the Galveston-based research
vessel operations.
The Galveston lab building was obtained as federal surplus from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Since the building was not requested by any federal agency, the state had the next opportunity. As a state entity, the department asked for the building in the name of the university for use by the Galveston oceanography program. The building was granted to the department for few hundred dollars in fees and with very little red tape.
The building was in good condition. Built in 1937, the modern steel and masonry fireproof structure dominated the beach area at Fort Crockett. It stood about 300 yards from the beach. The building was 340 feet long, 50 feet wide in the center section, and three stories tall, with a total of approximately 65,000 square feet of usable floor space.
To justify the acquisition of the building, the department could only offer a staff of two biological oceanographers, Mr. Albert Collier and Dr. Sammy Ray, and a ship captain, Homer Hadley, as occupants. All were on project funding but had appointments in the department. Dr. Robert E. Stevenson, a geological-physical oceanographer, soon joined the staff.
The program at the Marine Laboratory grew by offering services to Texas schools and colleges and presenting programs such as a four-week short course for teachers on oceanography and meteorology offered in 1960 with NSF sponsorship. The laboratory remained in the Department of Oceanography until 1965 when it achieved more independent status.
A group of Galveston citizens interested in forming a maritime academy noticed the possibility of available space in the lab building. They needed space and a connection with a Texas university. In August 1958, Mr. Sid Holiday visited Mr. Collier to investigate possibilities for obtaining space in the lab building. Collier contacted Dr. Peter Rae, chief biological oceanographer in the department and me as Department Head. We favored the project and could readily turn over half of the building for academy use.
For the next several years, the department worked with the Galveston committee to create the Texas A&M Maritime Academy. This story is fully recorded in a report by Admiral Sherman B. Wetmore.* The academy was approved by the State of Texas in July 1961. The first director, Captain Bennett M. Dodson, arrived in February 1962 and the academy took on a life of its own within the Texas A&M University System. It offered "accommodations in a modern three-story building completely air conditioned with classrooms, laboratories, dormitory facilities and dining room" in only half of one building!
It is apparent that the oceanography building on the beach played an important role in the initiation and growth of oceanographic and marine programs in Galveston.
*The Establishment of the Texas Maritime Academy, 1958/1962, Texas A&M University, Texas Maritime Academy, Board of Visitors, Galveston, Texas.
Oceanography, Texas A&M
University
rshatto@ocean.tamu.edu
URL=http://oceanography.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD2.2/Estes/leipper.html
Updated July 24, 1995