Transript of documents provided by Harvey Miller
Item one: Timeline of Gary Center History
11/18/1965: LBJ again visits the Gary Center following his signing of the $2.6 billion Higher Education Act at Southwest Texas State University. The Presidential motorcade stopped many times during the fast-paced trip through he Center so LJB could greet and talk with Corpsmen. He told 17-year-old Corpsman David Pearce of Magnum, Oklahoma, “Some folks say this program won’t work but I’m betting on you fellows and I believe you are going to make it alright.”
12/4/1965: The Gary Center currently has one staff member for each 223 trainees. Funded through he Office of Economic Opportunity, there are 900 permanent employees, 200 part-time employees and an 18 month budget of $8.15 million. The Center has 2,457 Corpsmen and expects to reach the maximum enrollment of 3,000 men by next June. Sixty percent of the budget goes for staff salaries.
9/22/1966: After one year of operation, 1,442 Corpsmen are ready to be placed in jobs, 203 have entered the armed forces, 74 have returned to high schools and 15 have enrolled in colleges. Of those ready for placement, 1,232 have been referred to the Regional Office of Economic Opportunity and 210 have been placed directly in jobs by the Center. Currently 39 vocational trades are offered.
2/6/1967: Texas Governor John Connally and OEO Director Sargent Shriver co-host a meeting of leading American industrialists, businessmen and educators at the Gary Center. The group formed “Opportunities, Inc.”, an umbrella organization to act as advisors to the Center.
Photograph of LBJ shaking hands with young men. Caption reads: The President continually stopped to “press the flesh” and give words of encouragement to Corpsmen.
3/2/1967: Gary gains a sister Center with the opening of the McKinney Job Corps Center for Women opened in McKinney, Texas. Dr. George Kadera serves as the first Center Director. Six hundred women from across the country are enrolled.
5/1/1967: Gary trims its staff to 1,000 permanent employees with 3,000 corpsmen in training. A new two-year operational budget, the longest yet issued, will run around $29 million. Annual cost per student is $4,555.
5/3/1967: Gary Corpsmen undertake a joint project with t City of Austin in preparing a 5-acre site on Town lake as the location for a new YMCA structure. Corpsmen presently use “Y” quarters at 7th and Guadalupe Streets as a lounge when they are visiting Austin on weekend pass.
10/11/1967: An open house at the Gary Center attracts 2,500 guests in spite of heavy rains.
Item two: Photographs from the dedication ceremonies
Photograph of President Johnson at a podium. Caption reads: President Johnson (below) makes an inspiring speech at the dedication ceremonies for the Gary Job Corps Center for Men. At left, arms folded, is Congressmen J. J. Pickle, Governor Connally listens at right.
Photograph of President Johnson in a crowd. Caption reads: Arriving at Gary to dedicate the center (above), LBJ discusses matters with three of the first Corpsmen.
Item three: More photographs from the dedication ceremonies
Wide photograph of a man at a podium, showing many people seated on the stage with him. Caption reads: Dedication ceremonies, held in the old base theatre, attracted state and national press coverage. Speakers included (from row, left to right:) Cabinet member Orville Freeman, OEO director Sargent Shriver, Congressman J. J. Pickle, Dr. O. J. Baker at the microphone, LBJ and Governor Connally.
Three smaller photographs of LBJ looking at the facility. Caption reads: LBJ inspected the welding stations at Gary … and stopped to chat with Corpsmembers.
Item four: News article and photographs of barracks
Scan of undated newspaper article – the title reads “Gary Transferred to Army; Sec. Hugh Milton Speaker.” Article text is too small and low-resolution to read.
Small interior photos with caption that reads: Improvements were made to living quarters through the years, but accommodations were not luxurious.
Two larger exterior photographs. First caption reads: Before … the old barracks undergo renovation. Second captions reads: Officers quarters, too, were austere.
Item five: Flier titled Dorm Agenda, Gary Job Corps Center, LBJ’s Birthday, August 27, 1987
Photograph of Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Johnson was one of three Presidents to be born in this century. But this hill country in 1908 was not much different from the frontier his father and mother had known.
The comforts and amenities were few, the educational opportunities were determined by the quality of a single teacher or a handful of teachers, and man’s fortunes were dictated by the amount of rain or the heat of the sun or the coldness of the north wind.
Yet a child’s dreams could be as wide as the sky and his future as green as the winter oats, because this, after all, was America.
Lyndon Johnson made his dreams come true because he saw the real opportunity of this land and this political system into which he was born. He never doubted he could do it, because he always knew he could work harder than anyone else, sustain his dedication longer than anyone else, and renew his spirit more completely than anyone else no matter how series the setback or even the defeat.
President Johnson cared for people, no matter where they lived in this world or their color or their heritage. “He was a mountain of a man with a whirlwind for a heart.” He loved this hill country. He often said, “I love this country where people know when you are sick, love you while you are alive, and miss you when you die.”
A portion of the Order of Graveside Services, Officiated by the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham. August 27, 1987.