- Collection:
- Georgia Tech Living History
- Title:
- Morris Rousso, ME 1944
- Creator:
- Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Living History Program.
- Date of Original:
- 1994-10-25
- Subject:
- Georgia Institute of Technology--History--20th century
Georgia Institute of Technology--Alumni and alumnae
Georgia Institute of Technology--History--Anecdotes
Atlanta (Ga.)--History--20th century
Atlanta (Ga.)--History--Anecdotes
Oral history--Georgia--Atlanta
Community and college--Georgia--Atlanta - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- This narrative summarizes a Living History Interview with Morris Rousso, Mechanical Engineer 1944, completed on October 25, 1994, at Mr. Rousso's home in Atlanta, Georgia. Morris Rousso begins by explaining how his friends from Boy's High School knew they wanted to go to Tech, but he had no plans except to find a job. He began working at a delicatessen on Ponce de Leon. Finally, one day he was tired of working there and left work, got on a street car, got off at North Avenue and signed up to enter Georgia Tech. He had no prior college prep classes, so he had to take Physics in the summer. He talks about how reasonable tuition was and how he would travel to school by streetcar. Before entering Tech he had to take an entrance exam, which was his first introduction to a scantron test. He briefly talks about the instructors and how different they were from the professors today. He says how he enjoyed school except for studying, which he considered to be the roughest part. He tells how they would go to class and then to the Robbery to purchase milk shakes and sandwiches. He continues on describing items he purchased for school, including used books, at one-third the price, drawing instruments and his slide rule. Next, he talks about the cafeteria that was adjacent to the Robbery and what a bargain it was for a meat, two vegetables and a drink for only $.25. He also tells short stories about several professors, including Hill, Narmore, Howell, Trotter, Rosselot, Starrett, Smith, and King and the subjects that they taught. He then describes his three favorite places to relax. One was the lounge in the ME Building with its radio. Another was the basement of the Administrative Building, which had classical music available for listening. The third place was the YMCA where he would go to play pool. He explains in detail how he built an electric motor with Professor King and bookends with Uncle Heine. He then goes on to describe how he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The next day at school all the talk was about the war. He continues by explaining how he joined the Army Reserve by signing up at the Rhodes Theater. He ended up at Cleveland, Ohio working for NASA, with the help of George Griffin, for the next ten years. He then describes his social life, including lunch at the Yellow Jacket, Sigma Gamma Fraternity and movies at the Fox Theatre. He finally recalls the freshmen traditions of the Rat Caps and the Shirttail Parades. He continues by describing the jobs he had while working with the National Youth Administration. In closing, Mr. Rousso tells two more humorous stories about two professors, including one who was a Golden Gloves fighter and one who would lock the door once class started, so the only way to get in was to knock on the door.
- Local Identifier:
- 2009.062_0018
- Metadata URL:
- http://history.library.gatech.edu/items/show/3643
- Rights Holder:
- This item is the property of the Georgia Institute of Technology and may be protected under United States and international copyright law. Any user of the item is asked to cite the following: Item Title, Collection/Source Title, Georgia Institute of Technology Archives and Records Management. Permission to publish must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Records Management.
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia Institute of Technology. Library. Archives, Records Management and Digital Curation Department
- Rights:
-
