
Girls Basketball Began in 1921
Basketball became important to Pampa High School girls in the early 1920s, about the same time that football was important to boys.

Eloise Lane

Eloise Lane
The first PHS girls basketball team was organized in 1921, the same year that the first school year book, “The Harvest,” was issued. Uniforms for the girls consisted of baggy black sateen bloomers (probably made by the mothers), white middy blouses with black ties and black headbands. Since the school had no gymnasium, basketball was played on a hard dirt court somewhere on the school grounds.
At that time the school campus was bounded by Francis Avenue on the south, Cuyler Street on the east, Browning Avenue on the north and Frost Street on the west. Vera Cruz (shown holding the ball) was probably the leader of the PHS girls basketball team. She came with some of her family from the Plemons settlement near Borger to Pampa in 1916. In 1921, Vera and her mother were living at 803 West Foster.
Like most of the students who lived in town, Vera walked to the school building at 126 West Francis. On rainy days the unpaved streets were very muddy and Vera’s mother insisted that she wear overshoes. Vera did not want to wear the clumsy overshoes to school so she went by the Woodward-Lane Grocery Store at 109 North Cuyler to leave them while she was attending classes. At PHS Vera became acquainted with Herman Whatley, son of the pastor of the First Baptist Church. Herman played fullback on the Pampa Harvesters football team in 1923 and 1924.
At that time the football boys practiced where the Gray County Court House now stands, and games were played about where the city ware- house and shops are located between the railroad tracks and Brown Street. Herman graduated from PHS in 1925 with a class of 25 members. He went with his parents to Brownwood and attended Howard Payne University. However, he returned to Pampa and started farming. After Vera graduated from PHS in 1924, she took nurse’s training in Amarillo for a time.
Then she returned to Pampa and became chief operator when the tele- phone office was upstairs in the First National Bank Building at 100 North Cuyler. Herman and Vera were married on July 21, l92~ and they became the parents of one daughter, Vicki Dean. After farming during the depression years, Herman began to work at the G. C. alone Funeral home 114 West Kingsmill. He spent 47 years in this business before retiring in 1981 as a partner in the Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Home. In 1939, he obtained his amateur radio license and made contact with thousands of people over all the world.
Serving in several capacities, Herman was a member of the First Baptist Church, and he joined the Downtown Kiwanis Club in 1946. He served on the Pampa School Board from 1947 to 1951, After her marriage, Vera was a homemaker and accompanied Herman at many church and civic affairs. Instead of a black headband, she always wore a hat.
Over 200 Articles, written by Eloise Lane, were published in the Pampa News. These articles may be accessed by clicking on each section below. A list of articles will be revealed that are linked to a page containing the text of the article.
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Articles 1-20
- Origin Of The "White Deer" Name
- The Log House On White Deer Creek
- Obtaining The Land
- The Lands Organized
- Cattle Brands Tell Story
- Ghosts And All
- Southern Kansas Railroad
- Fire Guard Dam
- When The Railroad Came
- The Sutton RR Station
- Post Office At Pampa
- The Bell Family
- J.C. Short
- Pampa 1892-1902
- Pampa Laid Out In 1902
- Crystal Palace Founded
- Gray County Organization
- Organization - Continued
- Gray County - Lefors
- McLean - The Largest Town
Articles 21-40
- Gouge Eye
- The "Mother Road"
- German Family Reunion
- Desks From Hopkins
- Grandview School Begins
- The Oil Money
- History Wall Painted
- Boydston Or Boydstun?
- Ontario???
- Laketon - Early Farming
- Laketon - Continued
- First Couple To Marry
- Hoover
- Water Well Drilling
- Kingsmills Visit Pampa
- George Tyng Left
- Tragedy In Utah
- T.D. Hobart - Manager
- M.K. Brown Arrives
- Rider Livery Stable
Articles 41-60
- The Pioneer Cottage
- Pampa's First Doctor
- Doctor Makes House Calls
- A Red Cross Nurse
- Pampa's First School
- Hobart Went To London
- Cemetery Began In 1904
- First Business District
- C.P. Buckler Arrives
- Five Barrett Brothers
- Influence Of The Santa Fe
- Trains Still Roll
- John V. Thomass - Teacher
- Cattle-loading Center
- Rolla J. Sailor & Arrowheads
- A.H. Doucette Arrives
- Lands Are Advertised
- The Holland Hotel
- Wheat Left Pampa
- First National Bank Begins
Articles 61-80
- Pampa News Begins
- First Denominational Church
- 2nd Office Of WD Lands
- J.N. Duncan Arrives
- Nels Walberg Sells…
- Dormer Simms
- Fourth Of July Celebrations
- Pampa's First Cars
- Pampa In 1907-08
- J.S. Wynne Family Arrives
- Gray Count State Bank
- Baptist Church Organized (Under Construction)
- Joe & Lizzie Bowers
- Threatened By Prairie Fire
- Library Began In 1907
- J.R. Henry
- Sir Gordan & Lady Cunard
- Three Vicars Brothers
- Dodd Grain And Produce
- December 29, 1991
Articles 81-100
- D.C. Davis Family
- Long Christmas Celebration
- First Christian Church
- Facts About Pampa
- Buster Brown
- The Last Hanging
- Bones Hooks
- The "Red Brick" Is No More
- The Purviances Family
- The Dr. E. von Brunow Park
- Boards Of First Headquarters
- Mary Jane Purvis
- Cook - Adams Addition
- Nativity Scenes
- Clyde Carruth
- The Mine Tragedies
- Additions To Pampa
- Third Family In Pampa
- Frank Dittmeyer
- Bricklayer Indian Jim
Articles 101-120
- A.A. Tiemann
- First Movies And Lights
- Pampa Incorporated
- Mark And Sara Fletcher
- Annie Baker Daniels
- Pampa's Business District
- Birthday Tea Of 1919
- Former Pampa Minister
- John Mack Patton
- The First Brass Band
- Early Graduating Class
- "How We Met"
- F.P. Greever Is Assassinated
- George Tyng's Father
- L.H. & Lula Greene
- John & Lena McKamy
- Robert & Mary Yeager
- "Dear Old PHS"
- Supt. Believed In People
- William A. & Ruth Green
Articles 121-140
- Jason A and Alice Poole
- Wayside School
- Pampa Football Begins
- The Pampa School Building
- Rev. C. E. Lancaster
- Panhandle Lumber Co.
- Will Wilks & Mora Hughey
- An Unusual Valentine
- Charles A. Tignor
- O. A. Barrett
- Poppies In Flanders Fields
- Barnard & Williams Families
- 4th of July Celebrations
- Cuyler Street Underpass
- The King Family
- Kretmeier and Baer Families
- Stephen B. Oates
- Phebe Worley
- Organization of Gray County
- First Courthouse
Articles 141-160
- Pampa Laid Out in 1902
- Pampa in 1902
- W. R. Kaufman
- The Pampa Country Club
- Living In Pampa in 1902
- Pampa Buildings of 1902
- May Foreman Carr
- Scaffers - Early Residents
- Nita Luna
- Former Sub Debs Reminisce
- PHS In 1932
- PHS Appreciated
- The Forth Worth and Denver
- From Pampa to Childress
- The Origination Of "Taps"
- The Warners
- J. C. Studer
- Floyd, John and Otto
- Our American Flag
- Stories and Memories
Articles 161-180
- Museum in Pampa?
- The Franklin Farm
- The Franklin Family
- Beryl Wayne Vicars
- Historian Made Cookies
- The Pioneer Cottage
- The Orginial Swastika
- Library Clerk
- Women's Clothing Store
- Jon and Pat McConal
- Whitey Walker Gang
- How Rudolph Began
- Gwendolen Avenue
- Jerry Kerbow
- Two Paintings
- Second Part - Paintings
- Bones Hooks
- Original Nativity Figures
- Why "V" Instead of "U"
- Pampa Incorporated