AC_1965_Web

183 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K V I N C E N T VINCENT DAVID F. Antioch application photo. THEN AND NOW 4 Study at Antioch 4 J.D., Lincoln University ADDRESS 4 2500 Lowell Ave. Richmond, CA 94804 CONTACT 510 235-4850 davincent@sbcglobal.net F I F T I E T H ( 5 0 T H ) Y E A R Re- union! Maybe it’s time to join the AARP, as 50 is the minimum age for joining, and I must be there by now: time swiftly passes, making us war babies somewhat older, but of course, definitely not old. Do your life-story for the anniver- sary book, the Reunion Committee asks of us.Well for me, that require- ment was hard enough, at age 17, for the college application, then writing those tedious co-op papers, (“how’d you—‘intellectual growth’—spend the summer”) and no better with job résumés, etc. Easy to ask but not so easy to do. Photos would be well received, especially from the time at Antioch. That sounds more interesting.Maybe my college trunk stored somewhere in the attic might hold some trea- sures. Do recall having my Brownie box camera during that time and how expensive film and developing cost. Finding and opening the trunk, its outside covered with many ship- ping labels from the Railroad Express Agency; what would be found from that time? Alas, found no photos but did find many letters and both stu- dent and co-op job ID cards. For sev- eral hours I found myself traveling back to that special time of youthful excitement and anticipation of the Antioch adventure. I was the third of four broth- ers, born in Richmond, Calif. My mother was also born here. After the WWI market crash, my father came at an early age with his fam- ily from Oklahoma where his fa- ther taught in the town’s one-room school and owned the general store. Both of my parents graduated from U.C. Berkeley, as did Grandfather Moore, my mother’s father, with my Grandfather Vincent finishing in Tennessee before heading for the Oklahoma Territories. So Berkeley seemed to be in the future. But in the 10th grade, I was reading this catalogue from Antioch College, one among the many my older brother, Stephen, had col- lected. Somewhat bored with my studies, more interested in student government and activities, I won- dered if I would have the patience to survive two semesters a year in college. And there in the trunk was that old Antioch catalogue! I quickly turned to the co-op section. There was that magical nighttime photo- graph, tall buildings and bright lights of that faraway place, NewYork City. I remembered how it caught my imagination and I was determined to go to this college called Antioch, somewhere back east. Six months after graduating from Richmond Union High School, I flew from Christmas at home, car- rying my Antioch College ID card (found in the trunk) and directions to my first co-op job at Saks-34th de- partment store, starting on January 2 in NewYork City.With others from campus, also first year and A DIV., we found slummy quarters in an old brownstone onWest 75th. At 18, we were in the Big City, Big Time.What an adventure those three months were for me. I learned to explore, discover and experience with con- fidence many of the world’s offer- ings. Saks-34th, across from Macy’s at Broadway and 34th was a small department store that did very well for itself.Three of us had co-op jobs there, though I was the only one stuck in a small room overstuffed with returned merchandise. On Fridays each of was paid $50, less withholding, for $41.40 a week take-home (pay envelope found in trunk). We were told to report in our business attire (suit and tie), but that return goods room didn’t mea- sure up to my business image. So, I approached our supervisor, telling her that they weren’t getting their money’s worth. Luckily the custom tailoring buyer needed an assistant A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z