11-12-2013, 10:39 PM
Hi David and James,
I am trying to work up a series of photos to see if the 1955 yearbook photo is of a truly different person than LHO's earlier schoolboy pictures but I thought I should jump back into the conversation you two are having to put in my two cents since I have a little experience with basement homerooms.
I attended McDonogh No. 28 on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans in 7th grade (1968-69) and 8th grade (1969-7) and my 8th grade homeroom was in the basement. McDonogh No. 28 is about two miles from Beauregard Junior High. I've never been in Beauregard but from what I've read the two must have been quite similar. Three stories with the first story called the basement because you went up steps to enter the building and then you had to go down steps to the "basement". The basement had the cafeteria, the stage (for official functions), an area in front of the stage where the students would mill around in the morning before classes if they didn't go outside, the PE changing rooms, and just a couple of classrooms. The great bulk of the classrooms were on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
My 8th grade homeroom was in one of those classrooms just to the right as you entered the basement. The one neat thing about having a homeroom in the basement is that you got a locker in the basement which meant you could easily access your locker before school. As I remember you couldn't go upstairs until classes began. Outside was a giant black top. No grass. No trees. Some basketball hoops. All surrounded by a giant fence. From what I read about Beauregard it was the same way back in 1954-55.
Homerooms, as I remember, were strictly for attendance. You go there at the beginning of school, the teacher takes attendance, and then you go to your first class. While I remember many of my regular teachers and students I had in my regular classes, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about my homeroom teacher or students in my homeroom. Homerooms were organized alphabetically by grade, so in 8th grade I was in a basement homeroom with a bunch of other 8th graders who names began to A's, B's and C's.
Myra somewhere talks about taking attendance on the stage or in the cafeteria but we never did that. That suggests she did not have a regular classroom like we did. But homeroom did not really require a room to take attendance.
David, you still seem to be stuck on the idea that Myra Darouse Larue had her homeroom in the 1953-54 school year but I think if you watch her interview carefully you will see that she clearly states she had a homeroom in the 1954-55 school year.
There are other things in her interview that I did not mention. The Youtube audio is rather choppy at times and the video is fast-forwarded for some reason in some sections with no audio.
In one section Myra seems to be saying that she used to see "Harvey" in the Beauregard school library that year AFTER she had him in her homeroom! This would mean she had him in her homeroom as a 7th or 8th grader in 1954-55, NOT a 9th grader.
And despite the fact that she has insisted that she had her homeroom beginning in September 1954 (for the 1954-55) school year, by the end of the interview, the interviewer has her saying something different. There are actually two off-camera voices. I assume one if John Armstrong. And somewhere I have heard that Robert Groden was taking the video, so perhaps the other voice was Robert Groden. BTW, a man whom I believe must be Myra's husband (i.e., Mr. Larue), although he is never introduced in the video, also is interviewed and it seems he had something to do with preparing certain yearbooks for preparation but it is never made clear.
At this point the interviewer has Mrs Larue agreeing that she had her homeroom in 1953-1954. I don't believe Mrs. Larue knew what she was agreeing to because she had made it clear at the start when she had to put her thoughts together that her homeroom was in 1954-55. Unless there was something in the fast-forwarded section to get Mrs. Larue to change her mind (which I seriously doubt), I think this is highly suspicious and demands an explanation. Was the interviewer so determined to prove that "Harvey" had been at Beauregard in the spring of 1954 that he "tricked" Mrs. Larue into agreeing that she had her homeroom in 1953-1954 when she had stated so clearly that it was 1954-1955? Or was it a simple and unfortunate misunderstanding? I was truly inspired by reading Harvey and Lee but this kind of sleight of hand raises some serious concerns about the way that John Armstrong conducts interviews. I encourage all those interested in the mystery of the two Oswalds to watch the Larue video themselves and draw their own conclusions.
I am trying to work up a series of photos to see if the 1955 yearbook photo is of a truly different person than LHO's earlier schoolboy pictures but I thought I should jump back into the conversation you two are having to put in my two cents since I have a little experience with basement homerooms.
I attended McDonogh No. 28 on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans in 7th grade (1968-69) and 8th grade (1969-7) and my 8th grade homeroom was in the basement. McDonogh No. 28 is about two miles from Beauregard Junior High. I've never been in Beauregard but from what I've read the two must have been quite similar. Three stories with the first story called the basement because you went up steps to enter the building and then you had to go down steps to the "basement". The basement had the cafeteria, the stage (for official functions), an area in front of the stage where the students would mill around in the morning before classes if they didn't go outside, the PE changing rooms, and just a couple of classrooms. The great bulk of the classrooms were on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
My 8th grade homeroom was in one of those classrooms just to the right as you entered the basement. The one neat thing about having a homeroom in the basement is that you got a locker in the basement which meant you could easily access your locker before school. As I remember you couldn't go upstairs until classes began. Outside was a giant black top. No grass. No trees. Some basketball hoops. All surrounded by a giant fence. From what I read about Beauregard it was the same way back in 1954-55.
Homerooms, as I remember, were strictly for attendance. You go there at the beginning of school, the teacher takes attendance, and then you go to your first class. While I remember many of my regular teachers and students I had in my regular classes, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about my homeroom teacher or students in my homeroom. Homerooms were organized alphabetically by grade, so in 8th grade I was in a basement homeroom with a bunch of other 8th graders who names began to A's, B's and C's.
Myra somewhere talks about taking attendance on the stage or in the cafeteria but we never did that. That suggests she did not have a regular classroom like we did. But homeroom did not really require a room to take attendance.
David, you still seem to be stuck on the idea that Myra Darouse Larue had her homeroom in the 1953-54 school year but I think if you watch her interview carefully you will see that she clearly states she had a homeroom in the 1954-55 school year.
There are other things in her interview that I did not mention. The Youtube audio is rather choppy at times and the video is fast-forwarded for some reason in some sections with no audio.
In one section Myra seems to be saying that she used to see "Harvey" in the Beauregard school library that year AFTER she had him in her homeroom! This would mean she had him in her homeroom as a 7th or 8th grader in 1954-55, NOT a 9th grader.
Q: [garbled] you didn't see [garbled]
A: [garbled] summertime, he made some friends, he did... something happened, he found himself or something, but he still used that library [John Armstrong - Myra DaRouse Larue Interview Part 2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydTxr_ed8o, 1:23-1:40]
A: [garbled] summertime, he made some friends, he did... something happened, he found himself or something, but he still used that library [John Armstrong - Myra DaRouse Larue Interview Part 2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydTxr_ed8o, 1:23-1:40]
And despite the fact that she has insisted that she had her homeroom beginning in September 1954 (for the 1954-55) school year, by the end of the interview, the interviewer has her saying something different. There are actually two off-camera voices. I assume one if John Armstrong. And somewhere I have heard that Robert Groden was taking the video, so perhaps the other voice was Robert Groden. BTW, a man whom I believe must be Myra's husband (i.e., Mr. Larue), although he is never introduced in the video, also is interviewed and it seems he had something to do with preparing certain yearbooks for preparation but it is never made clear.
Q: His first year as recorded on the Beauregard school records was the 1953-54 school year. You read it as being enrolled in January 1954.
A: Hmm-hmm.
Q: So it would be approximately March or April of 1954 that you saw them in the fight on the west side of the school and then -- was it shortly thereafter that he and Voebel were playing around the...
A: No, the piano was before the fight outside!
Q: The piano was before the fight outside?
A: Oh, yeah.
Q: So the piano would have been how long after he -- when you entered
A: I'm coaching basketball.
Q. That's winter.
A: So you see that's like February or early March.
Q. Exactly.
...
Q: OK, let's go through that again. So in chronological order then, Oswald would have come to school and you would have asked him how he wanted to be known and he would have said to you -- Harvey.
A: Harvey.
Q: Then the next thing of any significance that happened is you were coaching basketball and you remember -- why don't you tell us about the fight, not the fight, the
A: The piano.
Q: Voebel comes running out
...
A: When he came to my homeroom he just came with a name.
Q: And that would have been February or March of 54.
A: Yea. There was no...that's how I know he lived on Exchange. When he came to my room he just came a name. No address or anything.
Q: Sure. [John Armstrong - Myra DaRouse Larue Interview Part 5, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it33MLo6y_4, 0: 08-3: 24]
A: Hmm-hmm.
Q: So it would be approximately March or April of 1954 that you saw them in the fight on the west side of the school and then -- was it shortly thereafter that he and Voebel were playing around the...
A: No, the piano was before the fight outside!
Q: The piano was before the fight outside?
A: Oh, yeah.
Q: So the piano would have been how long after he -- when you entered
A: I'm coaching basketball.
Q. That's winter.
A: So you see that's like February or early March.
Q. Exactly.
...
Q: OK, let's go through that again. So in chronological order then, Oswald would have come to school and you would have asked him how he wanted to be known and he would have said to you -- Harvey.
A: Harvey.
Q: Then the next thing of any significance that happened is you were coaching basketball and you remember -- why don't you tell us about the fight, not the fight, the
A: The piano.
Q: Voebel comes running out
...
A: When he came to my homeroom he just came with a name.
Q: And that would have been February or March of 54.
A: Yea. There was no...that's how I know he lived on Exchange. When he came to my room he just came a name. No address or anything.
Q: Sure. [John Armstrong - Myra DaRouse Larue Interview Part 5, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it33MLo6y_4, 0: 08-3: 24]
At this point the interviewer has Mrs Larue agreeing that she had her homeroom in 1953-1954. I don't believe Mrs. Larue knew what she was agreeing to because she had made it clear at the start when she had to put her thoughts together that her homeroom was in 1954-55. Unless there was something in the fast-forwarded section to get Mrs. Larue to change her mind (which I seriously doubt), I think this is highly suspicious and demands an explanation. Was the interviewer so determined to prove that "Harvey" had been at Beauregard in the spring of 1954 that he "tricked" Mrs. Larue into agreeing that she had her homeroom in 1953-1954 when she had stated so clearly that it was 1954-1955? Or was it a simple and unfortunate misunderstanding? I was truly inspired by reading Harvey and Lee but this kind of sleight of hand raises some serious concerns about the way that John Armstrong conducts interviews. I encourage all those interested in the mystery of the two Oswalds to watch the Larue video themselves and draw their own conclusions.