Myra Kemp

00:00:00Georgia Smith: This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma. And this interview is part of the Historical Society's ongoing oral history project. The date is April 29, 2021, and I'm sitting here with Myra Kemp and Nanette Kemp [Wampler], who are going to tell us a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, Mrs. Kemp, could you give me your full name?

00:00:35Myra Kemp: Myra Marie Kemp.

00:00:39Georgia Smith: Myra Marie Kemp, and with us is her daughter, Nanette. Nanette, could you give me your full name please?

00:00:48Nanette Wampler: Nanette Wampler.

00:00:49Georgia Smith: Thank you very much. All right, let's begin. Myra, what was your name at birth?

00:00:58Myra Kemp: Myra Marie Hunt.

00:01:01Georgia Smith: Hunt, okay. And where were you born?

00:01:06Myra Kemp: Perry, Oklahoma.

00:01:08Georgia Smith: Okay, were you born in a home or a hospital?

00:01:13Myra Kemp: In a home.

00:01:13Georgia Smith: Did your mother have a midwife or a doctor?

00:01:18Myra Kemp: Doctor.

00:01:19Georgia Smith: Okay. That's so interesting to me, that part of it.

00:01:23Nanette Wampler: You have a little story about that.

00:01:25Georgia Smith: You have a story about your, your birth?

00:01:28Myra Kemp: Yes, we lived in Perry, and it was,

00:01:37Georgia Smith: Go ahead. I'm just getting that closer to you.

00:01:39Myra Kemp: Okay, it was a time to thrash on the farm, and our parents went out there to help with it. And I was born out there. This is my grandfather's home, and it was kind of, I think, the people out there, the whole country and all comes and helps each other, is the way they handled it. And I don't know what, why, but oh well, you never know. I, I was born at noon when all of the thrashers were there to eat.

00:02:28Georgia Smith: June 17, 1925. Oh, my goodness! They couldn't get their meal until you were born. Okay, well, what's your date of birth?

00:02:47Georgia Smith: 1925 and what were your parents names?

00:02:52Myra Kemp: My mother was Arlene.

00:02:58Georgia Smith: And what was her maiden name?

00:02:59Myra Kemp: Brock.

00:03:00Georgia Smith: Brock, and your father?

00:03:04Myra Kemp: Virgil Hunt.

00:03:06Georgia Smith: Okay. Now, um, do you know about when they got married?

00:03:15Myra Kemp: We looked it up.

00:03:17Nanette Wampler: Let me look by that again here.

00:03:23Georgia Smith: We can come back to that. How many children did your parents have?

00:03:29Myra Kemp: Five.

00:03:29Georgia Smith: Five children. What are your siblings names? And are they living or deceased?

00:03:39Myra Kemp: Both. Oh, I was the oldest, and my sister Elizabeth was six years younger. And then my brother Virgil, Jr. was, I just went down about two or three years, you know. And then David and Jimmy.

00:04:11Georgia Smith: And you married Max Kemp? When did you marry him?

00:04:23Nanette Wampler: 1951.

00:04:25Myra Kemp: Thank you.

00:04:26Nanette Wampler: You're welcome.

00:04:27Georgia Smith: Very good, 1951. That book helps, doesn't it?

00:04:31Nanette Wampler: Yes, it does.

00:04:32Georgia Smith: How many children did you and Max have?

00:04:36Myra Kemp: Four.

00:04:37Nanette Wampler: Could you give me their names?

00:04:41Nanette Wampler: Nanette.

00:04:42Myra Kemp: Nanette, Susan, Ben and Jennifer.

00:04:58Nanette Wampler: And you had a little girl before me. Don't need to even say that one. Okay.

00:05:05Georgia Smith: Okay, okay. Now, did you have all of them after you moved to Bristow?

00:05:12Myra Kemp: No, Nanette was born in Hominy [Oklahoma].

00:05:16Georgia Smith: Hominy? Okay.

00:05:18Myra Kemp: But we lived, we moved here when she was a year old.

00:05:22Georgia Smith: Okay? And what brought you to Bristow?

00:05:28Myra Kemp: Max came to help his dad in the drug store.

00:05:31Georgia Smith: Okay, so his father owned the drug store? What was it called back then?

00:05:36Myra Kemp: Kemp Drug.

00:05:37Georgia Smith: Very good. What was his name? His your his father's name?

00:05:45Myra Kemp: Russell Kemp.

00:05:51Georgia Smith: Russell Kemp, okay. What year was it that you all moved to Bristow in around '55 or '56?

00:05:59Myra Kemp: No, it was '52.

00:06:13Georgia Smith: If you were a year old.

00:06:15Nanette Wampler: That was when you were married, though, '51.

00:06:18Myra Kemp: Okay.

00:06:19Georgia Smith: If you were a year old, what year were you born?

00:06:21Nanette Wampler: Well, I was '54. Oh, you're right, '54.

00:06:24Georgia Smith: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:06:27Nanette Wampler: Well, I'm not thinking straight.

00:06:28Georgia Smith: Well, I was born in '54, too.

00:06:30Nanette Wampler: Oh, you were?

00:06:31Georgia Smith: I was. Okay, okay, so you came here to help with the drugstore. Where did you live when you first came?

00:06:52Myra Kemp: On the other side of town.

00:06:54Georgia Smith: Was it out in the country?

00:06:56Myra Kemp: No.

00:06:56Georgia Smith: No, it was in town? That's enough. That's fine. And when did you and Max take over the ownership of the drugstore?

00:07:14Myra Kemp: He bought it from his dad.

00:07:23Nanette Wampler: I'm not sure.

00:07:27Myra Kemp: Ben was born.

00:07:33Nanette Wampler: '59ish.

00:07:35Georgia Smith: Very good. Well, I remember when I was in, maybe, junior high, and we could go downtown and eat. Sometimes we would go in there and you had little tables set up where we could sit down and eat something, or maybe just a drink.

00:07:54Nanette Wampler: Yeah, it's like a soda fountain.

00:07:56Georgia Smith: Oh, we loved that.

00:07:57Nanette Wampler: It was an old fashioned it was the original one that was in Grandpa Kemp's store, the soda fountain,

00:08:03Georgia Smith: Yeah, I loved that.

00:08:05Nanette Wampler: I wished we still had that.

00:08:07Georgia Smith: Yes, it would be nice. Okay, so tell me a little bit about your life after you moved here. What what did you do once you got here? What was your role?

00:08:19Myra Kemp: I was mama.

00:08:20Georgia Smith: You were mama to four kids. Well, probably three at the time.

00:08:26Nanette Wampler: Right.

00:08:29Georgia Smith: So, when did you move out here on the ranch?

00:08:41Myra Kemp: Let's see, 1960.

00:08:48Nanette Wampler: Probably '62.

00:08:50Nanette Wampler: It was Christmas '62 we moved in.

00:08:55Georgia Smith: Christmas of '62. Beautiful out here.

00:09:00Myra Kemp: We built the house, or had it built, Don Carmen.

00:09:05Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:09:08Myra Kemp: And I don't know who all worked on it.

00:09:21Nanette Wampler: Sixty years ago around.

00:09:23Georgia Smith: Wow, that's crazy.

00:09:25Nanette Wampler: Crazy. I know.

00:09:29Georgia Smith: Okay, so you were mainly homemaker. What, what kind of chores did you set your children to doing out here at the ranch?

00:09:42Myra Kemp: Well, Max, we had some cattle, and Max had different hours, and at one time, when they were young, we all, how'd we handle that?

00:10:02Nanette Wampler: Well, he was the main feeder. We'd drive, ride with him. We'd go in the back and just throw feed out sometimes.

00:10:12Myra Kemp: Oh, they got off the bus, and we all went down to the barn and locked the door of the gate, and the kids and I put out the hay for the cattle the next morning, and Ben was a baby, so we'd put him in the hay and up. That's the way we did for a period of time. And then in the morning, he'd get up and come down and open the gate, and then he was, that was the feeding.

00:10:57Georgia Smith: Okay, did you prepare all your meals out here? Did you eat out much? Or did you mostly cook at home?

00:11:04Myra Kemp: We cooked at home.

00:11:05Georgia Smith: Very good.

00:11:06Nanette Wampler: We did eat out on Sunday after church.

00:11:09Myra Kemp: Grandpa took us to

00:11:11Nanette Wampler: Bush's Cafe, right, yes, and the J & J, oh, long time ago, yes, right? Remember that?

00:11:24Georgia Smith: Okay, what are your recollections of what Bristow was like when you first moved here? What type of businesses were there downtown, entertainment, maybe organizations that you were involved in when you first came?

00:11:42Myra Kemp: Two movies.

00:11:43Georgia Smith: Two movie theaters, The Princess and the Walmur.

00:11:47Myra Kemp: Yes, that's about all I remember. The kids were little. That's about all I remember.

00:11:58Georgia Smith: Nanette, do you remember anything in particular that that you did for entertainment?

00:12:05Nanette Wampler: Oh, yeah, the skating rink was big, right? You know, I really had to stay out here a lot.

00:12:13Georgia Smith: I've discovered that with country kids.

00:12:15Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:12:15Nanette Wampler: Yeah, before that was completed.

00:12:15Nanette Wampler: I rode horses a lot. Like we would just put the bridle on, and if dad wasn't here to do it, we'd just put the bridle on and jump on. And I'd go up to the Abbots up the road, but yeah, we rode horses a lot. Played outside, you know, and skated. We were involved with church, so we did activities with church and stuff. But, I mean, really activity wise, you know, we'd get to spend the night, occasionally, overnight with a grade school friend here and there. But, yeah, I remember I rode the horse in when I got to be a little older, where I wanted to be with my friends. I rode it in before that six, oh, the 66.

00:12:20Nanette Wampler: And it was just straight shot, no cars, and so I could ride the horse into Grandpa Kemp's on 11th, and I would park it in his back gate in his little

00:12:20Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:13:12Myra Kemp: Park it.

00:13:13Nanette Wampler: Yeah, parked it in the garden area. Tied him up, and I'd go and visit with, you know, some of my friends, but yeah, as far as like activities like that, we were pretty busy just outside, and we had a lot of people come out here and visit, right? And big hospitality lady here.

00:13:36Georgia Smith: I know that about her. Did you like to entertain?

00:13:40Myra Kemp: Love to.

00:13:41Georgia Smith: Okay, tell me a little bit about that.

00:13:46Myra Kemp: Not too much to tell, we just

00:13:49Georgia Smith: Would you have dinner parties or?

00:13:54Nanette Wampler: Tell her about supper club? And you did bridge, also, for a while, every single month for years.

00:14:04Georgia Smith: Was it a bridge club?

00:14:09Myra Kemp: We also had Rotary dance a couple of times, and I and, oh my goodness, I haven't even thought of all that. So I don't even

00:14:27Nanette Wampler: There's probably a lot that you probably don't even, hadn't recalled.

00:14:32Myra Kemp: But we had a supper club when we lived in town, and it existed for about 50 years, and there were

00:14:45Nanette Wampler: You probably had 10 to 12 couples at one time.

00:14:48Myra Kemp: No.

00:14:49Nanette Wampler: You don't think?

00:14:50Myra Kemp: No. I think we had, that's a lot of couples in a house, you know?

00:14:57Nanette Wampler: I know, I think.

00:14:59Myra Kemp: And there were six couples.

00:15:06Georgia Smith: Can you remember any of the names of the people that would come to your to the supper club?

00:15:12Myra Kemp: That joined the supper club? Jackie and JC Hutson.

00:15:18Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:15:20Myra Kemp: Betty and Levan Kelly. The Pattons.

00:15:32Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:15:34Myra Kemp: How many's that?

00:15:36Georgia Smith: That's three couples.

00:15:37Nanette Wampler: McColloughs.

00:15:37Myra Kemp: And uh, well, I knew people moved in and out. So, you know, there were others that were

00:15:50Georgia Smith: Didn't stay around very long.

00:15:52Myra Kemp: George and Eddy [Edwynne F. Krumme] Krumme.

00:15:54Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:15:58Nanette Wampler: Did the McAdams ever come? I don't think.

00:16:00Myra Kemp: No, they were older.

00:16:04Nanette Wampler: Okay.

00:16:13Georgia Smith: Did you take any part in the Presbyterian church activities? You went to the Presbyterian Church, didn't you? I remembered that. Well, I remembered it because Susan invited me to a party there one time, one junior high so, but were you active? Were you and Max active in your church?

00:16:38Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:16:39Georgia Smith: In what role did you serve?

00:16:42Myra Kemp: Well, I taught some

00:16:44Georgia Smith: Sunday school?

00:16:46Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:16:48Georgia Smith: Did you teach the children or the adults?

00:16:51Myra Kemp: The children.

00:16:52Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:16:54Myra Kemp: Max was on the [indecipherable] at different times, and we were active in the church, because we went all the time, all of the

00:17:06Nanette Wampler: Every single Sunday.

00:17:07Myra Kemp: Yeah, everything that went on, we were involved in it, I think.

00:17:12Nanette Wampler: Did bible school in the summer.

00:17:23Georgia Smith: What was medical care like here in Bristow when you moved here?

00:17:27Myra Kemp: What was that?

00:17:28Georgia Smith: Medical care. Did we have a hospital in Bristow? We had the hospital. Was it the one where it is now, or was it the Sisler clinic?

00:17:39Myra Kemp: It was a clinic.

00:17:39Georgia Smith: It was the Sisler Clinic. So were your children Jennifer or Susan or Ben, were they born at the Sisler Clinic?

00:17:53Myra Kemp: Susan was the second baby born at the new hospital.

00:17:58Georgia Smith: Oh, how exciting. I didn't know that. All right, let's see here. What songs do you remember that they sung at the church when when you were here? Do you remember any of the songs?

00:18:15Myra Kemp: Well, let's see a lot of I hadn't thought about it.

00:18:26Myra Kemp: No, we didn't think about this. A Mighty Fortress. Used to sing that a lot.

00:18:32Georgia Smith: Did they decorate much for Christmas or holidays at the church?

00:18:37Myra Kemp: Oh yes, they decorated the church beautifully.

00:18:40Georgia Smith: Did you help with that?

00:18:41Myra Kemp: No.

00:18:42Georgia Smith: No? I'm not a decorator, so I can understand that. Yes.

00:18:50Myra Kemp: [Indecipherable]

00:18:53Georgia Smith: Did you sing in the choir?

00:18:55Myra Kemp: That's a joke.

00:18:56Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:19:00Myra Kemp: That's a joke.

00:19:03Georgia Smith: All right, well, tell me a little bit about Max and the drug store.

00:19:06Myra Kemp: I don't know what to tell you. He worked hard.

00:19:14Georgia Smith: I know he had a great reputation in town.

00:19:19Myra Kemp: He liked people.

00:19:20Georgia Smith: You could tell that. Did he, was he, he was a pharmacist himself, wasn't he?

00:19:30Myra Kemp: He was an assistant.

00:19:36Myra Kemp: He had to take an exam for it. His college math helped him a lot.

00:19:44Georgia Smith: Yes, yeah, and how long did you have Kemp's Drugstore?

00:19:56Myra Kemp: '99 till 99.

00:19:57Georgia Smith: Till '99. Okay. So that was about 30 some years, almost 40. No! Forty years, right around 40 years, probably.

00:20:08Nanette Wampler: Close to 50.

00:20:10Georgia Smith: Oh, because when they moved here.

00:20:11Nanette Wampler: Right.

00:20:12Georgia Smith: Okay, 53 Yeah, so closer to 50. That's a long time in one business, isn't it? Did you ever help down there? Did you mostly just stay here?

00:20:24Myra Kemp: He wanted me to come in and help. So, I did in the front end, and I didn't like it very well. So, he, I loved cooking, and so went to market and got cooking equipment and had a young woman who helped me set up a business in the front of the store. Was called Cook's corner.

00:20:55Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:20:57Myra Kemp: And had that for a number of years. And then when Walmart came in, everybody was kind of shook up, you know.

00:21:07Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:21:08Myra Kemp: And, so, we decided we wanted to try

00:21:18Nanette Wampler: Consignment antiques.

00:21:20Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:21:21Georgia Smith: I do remember that. I had forgotten about that.

00:21:23Nanette Wampler: Really, that's a beautiful, and you spent a lot of time looking for things.

00:21:29Myra Kemp: Yes, I did.

00:21:30Georgia Smith: Did it go over very well?

00:21:32Myra Kemp: Mm-hmm.

00:21:33Georgia Smith: Good, good.

00:21:35Myra Kemp: We had a good business in it.

00:21:38Nanette Wampler: The one, the one name I remember that brought things or had a few things, was Lennie Wood (ph).

00:21:45Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:21:46Nanette Wampler: She had things down there. Can you think of anyone else who might have had furniture or glassware?

00:21:56Georgia Smith: Lennie Wood was the principal here at the two grade schools.

00:22:00Nanette Wampler: I had her, yeah

00:22:02Georgia Smith: An interesting fact, I learned is she would walk from one school to the other half the day. She wouldn't drive, she would walk.

00:22:10Nanette Wampler: Never knew that.

00:22:11Georgia Smith: I never knew that either.

00:22:12Nanette Wampler: That's a long way.

00:22:14Georgia Smith: It really was, well, it probably wasn't more than a mile, but, you know, it seems like a long ways.

00:22:22Myra Kemp: We sold quite a bit of her furniture, and she had so much jewelry, and we sold a lot of her jewelry. In fact, she sent it from when she went to her nieces moved down there, and she sent me all of her jewelry. And her niece did too, and a box this size.

00:22:50Georgia Smith: Wow!

00:22:52Myra Kemp: It was

00:22:53Nanette Wampler: Hmm.

00:22:55Myra Kemp: Everybody came in and wanted to know if I had the ring she always wore.

00:23:02Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:23:03Myra Kemp: She had given it to her niece.

00:23:10Georgia Smith: I just don't remember her wearing much jewelry. That surprises me.

00:23:15Nanette Wampler: You know what, though, when you said that, I remember, I think I remember, for some reason the ring, round ring, a round ring on her. Maybe because she didn't wear a lot.

00:23:25Georgia Smith: Maybe that's it.

00:23:26Nanette Wampler: It was dark. I remember it being dark.

00:23:29Georgia Smith: How interesting. Okay, so let me see here. Did you ever travel on the train that was here in Bristow? Where did you go on the train?

00:23:47Myra Kemp: The train ran from, it was the, what did they call it? The rocket.

00:23:57Georgia Smith: Oh, the what?

00:23:58Myra Kemp: The rocket.

00:24:00Myra Kemp: It came, I probably, though, picked that up in the El Reno [Oklahoma], but I would go when I was in school here. I would go to home because it was war time, and I'd get on the train here, and we would go to El Reno. And then the rocket took this car, and it went to Kingfisher [Oklahoma], where I lived, and and then it went on to Dallas [Texas], or Fort Worth [Texas] or somewhere. But, but the whole, at the holidays, the train was loaded with girls, you know, going home for the holidays, Christmas, and we had, we had to stand with our bags. There were so many of us.

00:25:00Georgia Smith: Oh, my goodness. Okay, so you mentioned the war. You were referring to World War II?

00:25:06Myra Kemp: Mm-hmm.

00:25:07Georgia Smith: Tell me what you remember about those times.

00:25:13Myra Kemp: Not too much.

00:25:14Georgia Smith: Not too much?

00:25:15Nanette Wampler: We talked about the rationing.

00:25:16Myra Kemp: Oh, yeah rationing. We had rationing.

00:25:20Georgia Smith: Was that a hardship for your family?

00:25:23Myra Kemp: No, there are enough of us that we had plenty of sugar and plenty of, well, meat was scarce. And my dad raised rabbits, and we had rabbits just like eating chicken, and we had chickens in town in Kingfisher. We had men that came around to ask for food.

00:26:00Georgia Smith: Yes.

00:26:01Myra Kemp: And my mother would always fix them a plate, and they sat outside on the steps in the back and ate.

00:26:11Georgia Smith: Did you have any family members that served in the war?

00:26:15Myra Kemp: No.

00:26:16Georgia Smith: No, thankfully.

00:26:18Myra Kemp: Not close.

00:26:20Georgia Smith: Yes. Did Mr. Kemp ever serve in the war?

00:26:22Myra Kemp: What?

00:26:23Georgia Smith: Did Max Kemp, did he serve in the war?

00:26:26Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:26:26Georgia Smith: What branch?

00:26:28Myra Kemp: He was in the Air Force.

00:26:30Georgia Smith: In the Air Force. Did he fly? Was he a pilot?

00:26:34Myra Kemp: He was that whole time, we were the end of the war. And so his he was in for two years, but it was just training. He never got off the ground.

00:26:54Georgia Smith: Well, that was good. That was good.

00:26:56Myra Kemp: For him.

00:26:57Georgia Smith: Yes, very good for him. What about any of your children? Did any of them serve in any of the recent in the wars since then?

00:27:09Myra Kemp: My brother, Jimmy, the youngest, was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

00:27:16Georgia Smith: Oh, okay. I'm sure he would have stories to tell about that. Do you remember when Bristow was segregated?

00:27:26Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:27:28Georgia Smith: What are your memories of segregation?

00:27:32Myra Kemp: Not too much, or at least at school, and I had helped some and they were great people. I don't know much about it.

00:27:54Georgia Smith: Now, Nanette was telling me that you taught, you were a teacher for a while. Where did you teach and what did you teach?

00:28:03Myra Kemp: Vocational homemaking.

00:28:05Georgia Smith: Oh, that's perfect for you!

00:28:08Nanette Wampler: It's just her.

00:28:09Georgia Smith: It is!

00:28:10Myra Kemp: At the high school.

00:28:11Georgia Smith: How long did you teach that?

00:28:15Myra Kemp: Three years.

00:28:16Georgia Smith: Was that before you and Mr. Kemp were married, or after?

00:28:20Myra Kemp: Before.

00:28:21Georgia Smith: Before you were married? Okay, so you lived here in Bristow before you and Mr. Kemp got married?

00:28:28Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:28:28Georgia Smith: Okay, I didn't realize that. When, when did you move to Bristow?

00:28:39Myra Kemp: 1948.

00:28:40Georgia Smith: 1948, and what brought you here?

00:28:43Myra Kemp: Teaching.

00:28:43Georgia Smith: You had a teaching job. Well, that's exciting. And so then when you and Mr. Kemp got married, you didn't live here. You lived somewhere else for a while. Where did you live then?

00:28:57Myra Kemp: We lived in Nebraska for a while.

00:28:59Georgia Smith: Did you meet Max here in Bristow?

00:29:02Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:29:03Georgia Smith: Because his father had the drugstore. And where did you meet him?

00:29:08Myra Kemp: I had a room with Jess Freeman. I don't know if you know she had rooms.

00:29:14Georgia Smith: I didn't know that, but I know the name.

00:29:16Myra Kemp: Teachers, and there were two of us at that time in the house. I just stayed there three years, and Max's brother was married to her daughter.

00:29:34Georgia Smith: Oh, okay, how interesting. What was his brother's name?

00:29:41Myra Kemp: Monty.

00:29:42Georgia Smith: Monty Kemp. Was your family involved in any of the early oil drilling around Bristow and Slick?

00:29:53Georgia Smith: Do you have any memories of the oil industry? Did that affect your life in any way? Did you raise crops out here on the farm?

00:29:53Myra Kemp: Hmm-mm.

00:30:09Myra Kemp: We did it first.

00:30:11Georgia Smith: What did you, what did you try?

00:30:14Myra Kemp: It was mostly for the cattle.

00:30:18Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:30:21Nanette Wampler: Hay and different batch and things like that.

00:30:28Georgia Smith: Do you have memories of the Great Depression? You were pretty young, I know, during the 30s. Do you have any memories of it?

00:30:43Myra Kemp: I don't, it didn't affect us. I mean, affect us, yes, but not like a lot of people that you read about and hear about. The weather was not too good.

00:31:00Georgia Smith: Did you ever see any of those big sand storms that that we hear so much about?

00:31:06Myra Kemp: No, because I lived in Kingfisher and it was wheat country/

00:31:11Georgia Smith: And they had it under control out there.

00:31:13Nanette Wampler: Had it covered, I guess.

00:31:15Georgia Smith: I guess so. Do you remember, this was probably happening about the time you were living here, the work done to the city lake and the amphitheater. Or do you remember when Eleanor Roosevelt came?

00:31:33Myra Kemp: I didn't get that.

00:31:35Georgia Smith: When Eleanor Roosevelt came to Bristow.

00:31:40Myra Kemp: That was before.

00:31:41Georgia Smith: That was before you were here, okay.

00:31:44Myra Kemp: One of the things that happened, it was before I moved here, but it was something that happened in the country. This is when we first had oleo, and I remember my mother going to the grocery store and getting some, and it was a block of white material, you know, and it came in a box. And it had an orange little tablet with it, and it's my job to mix it all through the white, so it looked like butter.

00:32:31Georgia Smith: How, how interesting!

00:32:34Nanette Wampler: Never heard that.

00:32:36Georgia Smith: I have heard that they came with a dye to, to, yes, but I haven't ever seen it or anything. But I've, I've heard that. How interesting, and that was your job to make it look like butter.

00:32:49Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:32:53Nanette Wampler: Oh, that's funny.

00:32:54Myra Kemp: I must have been, I don't know how old I was, but I can't remember that. I don't know the date or anything but that was my job.

00:33:08Georgia Smith: Do you remember any events going to any events at the amphitheater? I know they had graduations there? Did you go to any graduations there?

00:33:24Myra Kemp: Did you graduate?

00:33:26Georgia Smith: We graduated at the LeForce Field House.

00:33:28Nanette Wampler: Yeah.

00:33:41Georgia Smith: They've had some dance recitals there. Maybe, maybe they've maybe they've had piano before. Before we got the Freeland Center, we didn't have a lot of places for people to do that.

00:33:53Nanette Wampler: The only thing I remember myself about it, which you went to probably, is Western Heritage Days, they would have a band play out there. But that's all I really remember myself using it for.

00:34:06Georgia Smith: Was the lake used much in the 60s?

00:34:10Myra Kemp: Was the what?

00:34:11Georgia Smith: The city lake in the 50s and 60s. Do you remember if it was used much by people?

00:34:16Georgia Smith: That's that's about it. I don't remember you being involved in politics, but was your family involved in politics in any way? No? Okay.

00:34:16Myra Kemp: The lake? Oh, the kids fished.

00:34:38Nanette Wampler: You were big supporters of the Republican Party, but you weren't involved yourselves.

00:34:48Georgia Smith: Is there anything that I'm not asking you that you would like to tell me about?

00:34:52Myra Kemp: Well, let's see, we wrote down what we could think of. Do we have

00:34:59Nanette Wampler: You had an interesting story about your grandfather was in the Land Run.

00:35:04Georgia Smith: Oh! I would love to hear about that.

00:35:07Nanette Wampler: Not a lot of detail.

00:35:08Myra Kemp: I don't know much about it, you know, it was before my time.

00:35:11Georgia Smith: What was your grandfather's name?

00:35:19Myra Kemp: Jacob Hunt.

00:35:25Myra Kemp: His family were in it, that would be his brothers, and they were all in the run.

00:35:33Georgia Smith: Did they get a stake of land?

00:35:35Myra Kemp: Yes.

00:35:36Georgia Smith: Where? Where was that?

00:35:37Myra Kemp: Well, it was over between Perry and Stillwater.

00:35:43Myra Kemp: And the piece of land that we owned for a long time, because we inherited it, was right out of Perry a lot of ways, and that's where most of our family was there. You know,

00:35:43Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:36:08Georgia Smith: That's where the Hunts settled, then, okay. Did they, were they in a wagon? Or were they on horses? Do you know? Have no idea? It's interesting to picture it though, isn't it?

00:36:24Nanette Wampler: You had some interesting stories about your maternal Grandpa Brock, about the what he drank, what he what he had you all do as children.

00:36:35Myra Kemp: Yes, we often run out in Perry to the farm, out in the country. It was 10 miles out. And on Fourth of July, the family gathered out there, and we climbed the mulberry trees. The kids did, and then my grandfather said, now you want to see something, you need to go get in that ditch out there that goes across the road and just peek your head up for you where they can't see you, but we have

00:37:26Nanette Wampler: Prairie dogs.

00:37:28Georgia Smith: Oh, my goodness!

00:37:30Myra Kemp: We watched them, you know, from the ditch, and we saw them come out of the ground, and it was, you know, really interesting.

00:37:41Georgia Smith: Well, sure!

00:37:42Myra Kemp: These little kids, we were fascinated with them, and they bark like a dog.

00:37:50Georgia Smith: I would have loved to have seen that.

00:37:51Nanette Wampler: They don't have, you said they don't have them anymore.

00:37:53Myra Kemp: Something happened to them. Very few. My niece said that there is an area out in western Oklahoma and the panhandle, I think, where you might find some. Not very many, not like it used to be.

00:38:15Georgia Smith: I wonder if the farmers got rid of them or something with big wheat fields out in that area.

00:38:22Nanette Wampler: I bet.

00:38:22Georgia Smith: Could be. How did you get most of the information that you got growing up? Like maybe when you were ayoung child into adulthood?

00:38:39Myra Kemp: Well, we got to go to the movies. And they always had movie tone and had news.

00:38:44Georgia Smith: Oh, okay.

00:38:47Myra Kemp: We didn't [indecipherable] the funny papers when they came on Sunday morning.

00:38:52Georgia Smith: I did that too. Did you listen to the radio much?

00:39:00Myra Kemp: Oh, when we were a little older, we did.

00:39:07Georgia Smith: What would you consider to be one of the most important inventions in your lifetime? I know there have been a lot of inventions since 1925. What do you consider to be one of the most important?

00:39:27Myra Kemp: What did I call it?

00:39:31Nanette Wampler: I don't know. Space travel? Is that when we were talking about space travel?

00:39:36Myra Kemp: Space is the most

00:39:40Georgia Smith: The most important, you think, that we've had. One of the most, for sure, and how would you say the world's different now than it was when you were a child?

00:39:47Myra Kemp: So busy.

00:39:48Georgia Smith: Amen.

00:39:51Myra Kemp: So busy.

00:39:58Georgia Smith: Okay, looking at all of that, what do you consider the biggest problems that face our nation, and how do you think they could be solved? I

00:40:08Myra Kemp: I have no idea.

00:40:10Georgia Smith: What do you think some of the problems are that we have nowadays?

00:40:13Myra Kemp: I don't know.

00:40:24Georgia Smith: I've had a lot of people say that, how has it changed? And it's that people are not as helpful and polite to each other.

00:40:36Nanette Wampler: That's a good one.

00:40:37Georgia Smith: I've had that said a lot.

00:40:39Nanette Wampler: They really noticed that.

00:40:40Myra Kemp: Well, just like my grandfather, having thrashing and having the whole neighborhood, you know, 10 miles out of town, and have that group of people that had land out there, they all did help each other.

00:40:58Georgia Smith: Yeah, we don't see as much of that anymore. It's really a sad thing. I'm sure that they enjoyed those times.

00:41:07Nanette Wampler: Well, it was bonding.

00:41:08Georgia Smith: Yes, right?

00:41:09Nanette Wampler: Simpler.

00:41:10Georgia Smith: Yeah, okay, we're hopefully on the tail end of a pandemic.

00:41:16Nanette Wampler: She brought that up too.

00:41:18Georgia Smith: How has COVID affected you?

00:41:21Myra Kemp: When it first came about government, I think, are ones that said you will help, if you're older, you will help best by staying home, because that way you won't be causing all of the problems that are going to come up. So, that's what I did.

00:41:49Georgia Smith: I think that was a smart thing to do. Did you get lonesome, though?

00:41:55Myra Kemp: I had so many things to do out here.

00:41:57Georgia Smith: Good.

00:41:58Myra Kemp: My house is fairly large and stayed busy.

00:42:05Georgia Smith: Good. Were your grandchildren able to come and visit and your children?

00:42:12Myra Kemp: No.

00:42:14Georgia Smith: How many grandchildren do you have?

00:42:19Myra Kemp: Which area?

00:42:23Nanette Wampler: Do you have that set in your head, how many you have? I need to count. Oh, my gosh.

00:42:29Myra Kemp: I have 13 grandchildren.

00:42:31Georgia Smith: Okay.

00:42:33Myra Kemp: And 22 great-grandchildren.

00:42:34Georgia Smith: Oh, my goodness.

00:42:34Nanette Wampler: You did have it in your head.

00:42:36Georgia Smith: She did. She knows that.

00:42:38Nanette Wampler: Good.

00:42:40Myra Kemp: I've been asked that question several times.

00:42:43Georgia Smith: Okay, before I close, is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

00:42:51Myra Kemp: One thing is, I thought, well, I saw all these questions. Have you talked with

00:43:08Georgia Smith: That's okay.

00:43:14Myra Kemp: One of my good friends.

00:43:18Nanette Wampler: You have a lot of good friends.

00:43:19Myra Kemp: This one's living in nursing home now.

00:43:26Nanette Wampler: Would it be Patty?

00:43:28Myra Kemp: Yeah, Patty Boerstler.

00:43:30Georgia Smith: Oh no, and the nursing home is kind of a problem right now.

00:43:35Nanette Wampler: Yeah.

00:43:36Georgia Smith: I've been wanting to interview JC Hutson, but they the last I checked, they were just letting family members who have had their shots come in. So, it's it's a little hard if they're in the nursing home right now.

00:43:50Nanette Wampler: Hopefully soon.

00:43:51Georgia Smith: But that's what I'm hoping, since we're on the downward trend there.

00:43:56Nanette Wampler: Oh yeah that would be

00:43:57Myra Kemp: If you, she was, her parents were teachers, country teachers, south of Bristow.

00:44:06Georgia Smith: Oh, really?

00:44:07Myra Kemp: I can't tell you exactly where. And they're all buried south of Bristow. And she goes to the funerals down there.

00:44:19Georgia Smith: Is she still pretty sharp, mind wise?

00:44:24Myra Kemp: She can tell you a lot about it.

00:44:26Georgia Smith: All right, well, then I need to see if I can't interview her. Thank you, Mrs. Kemp. Well, we appreciate you all's time so much. And if you think of anything that you want to add to it later, we can always do that.

00:44:41Nanette Wampler: You, you may think of something. We haven't, we haven't spent a lot of time on it, really.

00:44:47Myra Kemp: What?

00:44:48Nanette Wampler: We didn't really get to spend a lot of time on it, really, yeah. She's got a lot of good stuff.

00:44:54Georgia Smith: I know she does.

00:44:56Nanette Wampler: Oh yeah.

00:44:57Georgia Smith: I know she does.

00:44:58Nanette Wampler: One time we spent here, not last time, but right before COVID, I came, right before I came, and she had a stack of letters that just the correspondence back and forth from her parents, her mother, her and my dad's mom and dad, just it was amazing that history you heard just from their letters. And they were in Nebraska at that time. Right before they moved here or to Hominy, and she read every one of those letters, and just stuff like, you know, at Christmas, it was just she and dad out there. I'm gonna make, you know, she's making all the men's shirts, little shirts, and how they decorated the tree, just the two of them, with just the typical little popcorn, you know, tree and and how they didn't have phones, so, oh, we had a big surprise. Who drove up, but her parents, and they didn't even know they were coming, that kind of stuff.

00:46:02Georgia Smith: Yeah.

00:46:03Nanette Wampler: This is, I felt like, I'm just back in time. It's relaxing. It's simple. You know?

00:46:10Georgia Smith: It was like she said, it's very busy today.

00:46:13Nanette Wampler: It was from

00:46:14Myra Kemp: Mother Kemp expected that letter. She didn't, she didn't think we should have moved that far from home. So, she wanted to know what we did.

00:46:24Georgia Smith: Well, sure.

00:46:26Myra Kemp: And, so, I wrote every week, I think.

00:46:28Nanette Wampler: It was like listening to a novel, because she was a really good writer. I mean, just the way it was written was really interesting. You know, yeah. Lost art.

00:46:38Georgia Smith: Yes, it is. Very much so. Very much so.

00:46:42Myra Kemp: Nanette's really good about writing. And she writes me every once in a while.

00:46:50Myra Kemp: Well good!

00:46:51Nanette Wampler: I haven't been too good lately.

00:46:53Georgia Smith: I don't have anyone to write to anymore.

00:46:57Nanette Wampler: I know people just, I know, you know, I saved a box of things. I mean, I've saved, I have a little tote, but it's got it even has some notes from grade school in it. Certain ones and autograph books. Do you have that?

00:47:09Georgia Smith: Yes, I have that.

00:47:09Nanette Wampler: Okay, yeah. And my kids, if I pull that out, they just, I had pulled out a couple when were cleaning out, and they were that 70s stationary with the pop art on it. And Brad Kelly used to write me when I'd go to camp, and he'd be telling about what was going. I don't even remember half the stuff, and until I'd reread that, you know? But yeah, just I don't know, yeah. And even my husband wrote me letters. I mean, all, every summer, every week or more, I'd get a letter. So, I have all those which is sad people don't do that anymore.

00:47:47Georgia Smith: It is sad.

00:47:49Nanette Wampler: Yeah.

00:47:50Myra Kemp: Well, I can't write anymore.

00:47:54Nanette Wampler: Kind of stiff, stiffness.

00:47:58Myra Kemp: Yeah.

00:48:00Myra Kemp: I can write, but you couldn't read it.

00:48:04Georgia Smith: Well, I sure do appreciate you, Mrs. Kemp.