A Gleaming White Building

Robert S. Kerr, governor of Oklahoma 1943-47, served in the U.S. Senate from 1950 until his death in 1963. 

Roy S. McKeown wrote a book called "Cabin In The Blackjacks, A History of Ada, Oklahoma."  In his book, he said, " (Kerr) was the most powerful member of the U.S. Senate." 

I met Roy after I came to Ada. 
Roy came to Ada, Indian Territory, with his family in 1906. Roy attended Ada Schools. He went away for schooling a while. Then he made his home in Ada, with his wife Jewell, in 1930. 
He was Editor of the local newspaper, Ada News, for a number of years, before joining East Central College (East Central became a University in late 1970's). His last five years before retirement in 1972 were spent as a full time (English) Department member. 
Roy published his book on Ada in 1980.


Neither S.C. nor I had much knowledge about Ada, before we moved here. 
We merely knew that Senator Kerr was instrumental in bringing the Water Lab (that is what we locals call the present EPA facility) to Ada.

Roy said about the building,
"A gleaming white federal laboratory building rose on a hilltop just south of the City (Ada)." 

Construction of the building and its complex facilities on 16-acres site, on a hilltop, south of Ada, began in 1964. The building was completed and dedication ceremony was in May 1966. 
The building sits on former Kerr property. Senator Kerr was born in the little log cabin nearby. He grew up and went to school in Ada. He was buried near the Water Lab for a number of years until the family decided to move the grave to the City.
The little log cabin is now at Wintersmith Park.

I am sure the Gleaming White Building greatly impressed S.C., with all its state-of-the-art equipments.

The locals were all in awe of the Water Lab and of the scientists who worked there. Family members included. All scientists who worked at the Lab were also Adjunct Professors at East Central, that included my husband.
When we first moved here and mentioned that we were with the Water Lab, everyone gave us instant Credit.
The downtown merchants would say to me, "Take the dress home. If you don't like it, just bring it back. Otherwise, we will just bill you." 
No receipts required. I did not even tell them my address.
I was very surprised. No one in any Big City where I lived would do that for me even if they knew me. 

Ada is 88 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, which we refer to as The City,
133 miles north of Dallas, TX.,
has a total of 15.9 square miles, 0.1 square mile is water,
had a population of about 16,000 in 1966,
had a population of 16,810 as of 2010,
And, Ada still has a population no more than 17,000, I think. But that does not include the Chickasaw Nation. The Chickasaw Nation has done wonders for Ada in recent years. The Chickasaw Nation capitol is in Ada.

In 2010, Medium household income was $22,977.
In 2010, 21.4% of the population lived below poverty line.
In 2010, 17% of the population were 65 and older. 
I am sure the last number has increased. We see a great number of older people around, including me and many of my friends.

That being said, Ada had been a thriving little town, actually a booming town, back in the thirties when Fitts Oil Boom made many people in Ada very rich.
And, when we first came here, Ada was developing rapidly. 

But little did we know that we would have to spend more than a couple of days in a kind of no-star motel on Broadway - because there was not a suitable home for us to rent! 
 
We came into town on a Saturday evening, nearly missed the town. We stopped at Main and Mississippi (both two lane streets at that time) where there were four service stations, one on each of the four corners. We stopped at one of them and asked for directions. The guy at the service station looked at us, shook his head, and said,
"You are right here!"
We asked about motels or hotels. He said that there were two on Broadway. So we thanked him and back-tracked to Broadway. We checked into the better looking one. 

The next day was Sunday. All the stores were closed, even the service stations. No real estate people worked that day either.
S.C. went to work on Monday, and I, with our three little girls, had the job of finding us a place to rent.

Now, in Ada, in 1966 -
The very rich lived on Kings Road. 
The upper middle class owned homes in a few choice areas. There was hardly any suburban development to speak of.
The rest lived in little sad-looking frame houses.

There were very few homes for rent, many were not suitable for us.
There were very few middle class people like us.
And, we were the first Chinese-American family in town.

For the first time, I encountered discrimination. 

When I found that there was a decent three bedroom home for rent, I went to see the owner at the lumberyard. He told me it was not available. I found out later that he rented the same house to a white scientist at the water Lab, and he had come to Ada after we did.  

Of course, I did not shop at that lumber yard Ever!