Kory Koontz

Evelyn Milam was born Feb. 12, 1921 in Memphis, Texas. Her family moved to a Bailey County stock farm, 10 miles west of Sudan, in February 1923. Evelyn started to school at Circle Back when she was six years old. She rode her horse bare back three miles to and from school. Her favorite teachers were Marjorie and Gordon Bain. Circle Back school began early each year and dismissed after six weeks so that the children could help their parents gather the crops. Evelyn and J.K. (her brother) helped head (cut) the feed during the day. Bessie made them study their school lessons every night. As a result, they were ahead of their classmates when school resumed. In 1935, Evelyn started attending school at Sudan. She walked one half mile to catch the bus that would deliver her and her brother to Circle Back. Her dad then paid the school bus driver $2.50 a month to pick up his children and some others at the Circle Back School and transport them to and from Sudan. Evelyn graduated from Sudan High School in 1938. Her mother and uncle, Ples Harper, were both teachers, which influenced Evelyn to also become a teacher. Evelyn’s early memories of Sudan included Slate’s Mercantile Store where Lillie May Carruth was the postal clerk. Another fond memory was of Evelyn’s younger brother, J. K. being very interested in the Christmas items that could be found in the Ramby Drug Store. Every Saturday the family would come to Sudan to sell their cream to a business located in a building behind the drug store. The late Dr. Milam had a B.A. degree from WTA&M University, an M.A. degree from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. Her professional career included: teaching and counseling at Texas public schools, including Pampa, traveling as the first woman director of admissions for Austin College, visiting professor of colleges in New York, Illinois and Texas, and president of Cottey College in Nevada, Mo. Dr. Milam's honors include: Who's Who in America, Who’s Who in America Women, World Who's Who, Outstanding Educators of America, Distinguished Alumnus Award from WTA&M, Distinguished Alumnus Award - Counselor-Education from the University of Wyoming, Education Pacesetter Award from Nevada-Vernon County Chamber of Commerce, Friend of the College from Cottey College Alumnae Association, and M. Margaret Stroh International Scholarship Award awarded by the International Society of Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a member of American Association of University Women, Delta Kappa Gamma, and Phi Kappa Phi. She published some 40 articles and spoke at many state, national and international conventions and commencements. After retiring she returned to Sudan and enjoyed traveling and reading. Sadly, she died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005, in Lubbock. After her death some of her assets were willed to the First Baptist Church's youth programs and other community resources. Cottey College, where she was the president for over five years, has established a memorial scholarship in her honor:

The Dr. Evelyn L. Milam Scholarship (pg. 94), established in 1985 by the Cottey College Board of Trustees in honor of Dr. Evelyn L. Milam, president of Cottey College 1974-86. The income is used for scholarships to students attending Cottey College.

My webmastering teacher said that he enjoyed speaking with Evelyn and fondly remembers three of her stories:

First, she said that her cousin had been killed when he fell off of his horse and his foot had gotten caught in the stirrup. Therefore, her father would not allow her to use a saddle when she rode her horse to elementary school. When she rode home every day she had to ride into the prevailing winds so she would lay down on the horse's back to stay warmer and keep her face out of the wind. She said that the horse always found its way home so she wasn't worried about watching where she was going. The only problem was that her mother always got mad at her, because she said that she couldn't tell if there was a little girl on that horse until it got about a quarter of a mile from the house.

Second, she said that growing up between Circle Back and Fairview, she could stand on the roof of her house or on a near by hill and for as far as the eye could see there was not a single tree. She said that all of the biggest trees in that area now, are all the result of old farm wives' wash water which they carried out to the planted trees on a daily basis. The grey water was the tree's only source of moisture.

Third, Dr. Milam told a story of returning to college through the upper Texas panhandle late one evening. She was a very young woman driving alone in her model A Ford. As fate would have it, she threw a belt and knew that she couldn't travel too many more miles before the engine would be out of electricity. She pulled into the next small town and found a lone open gas station. She asked the young teenage boy attendant if he could change her belt, to which he reply, "No, I don't think I have a belt." She informed him that she carried an extra, to which he replied, "I don't know how to put it on." Spying the garage, she asked him if there were any tools in there. He said yes, so she asked if he minded her using them. He sheepishly nodded approval, and she promptly threw herself under the hood replacing the belt. She returned the tools, washed her hands, and left a very embarrassed teenage boy standing at the pumps as the young co-ed waved and drove out of town.