More on J. Elmore Hudson '30
J. Elmore Hudson, Class of 1930, recorded aspects of cadet life in drawings and photographs, serving as a cartoonist for The Battalion, Art Editor for the 1929 Longhorn yearbook, and Features Editor for the 1930 Longhorn yearbook.
Due to economic hardship, Elmore attended AMC over nine regular semesters from 1924-1930, not counting summer terms. He entered AMC in fall 1924 in Company C Infantry, laid out the 1925-1926 calendar year to return for the 1926-1927 and 1927-1928 years, again laid out the fall 1928 semester, to return the spring 1929 and summer 1929 semesters and complete his course in architecture in the fall 1929-1930 school year.
Because of his interest in photography as a cadet in the 1920s, images of Elmore as a cadet were identified and are included in the adjacent gallery. In addition to providing a record of Elmore, those photographs, like those available elswhere, also provide identification of the cadet uniform and activities of the day.
Other images and artwork of Elmore provide a window into one cadet’s experience at AMC. Elmore was an artist, who created images of his time, often to gain some monies to support his college enrollment. These images were sometimes added to envelopes sold to fellow students. On other occasions, the artwork may simply have been a one-off addition on a fellow cadet's slicker. Along the way, he also created letterhead for student organizations. The artwork which has survived is included in the adjacent gallery.
His skill as an artist enabled him to win a tile-design contest, which provided the necessary funds for the purchase of his Texas Aggie Senior Ring, which bears the core hallmarks of today's Texas Aggie Senior Ring, albeit with some noticeable embellishment's lacking and with some differences. That story and the associated materials are included in the gallery similarly titled gallery.
Fortunately, during his lifetime, some of the materials Elmore retained for nearly sixty (60) years were collected into a scrapbook by his daughter-in-law Margaret Ann Hudson. Those materials sometimes sparked discussions of source and circumstance, leading to preservation of some of his memories at A&M. Images of the scrapbook are included here for reference.
Beyond the scrapbook, Elmore retained prints and negatives from his time, which are found in the nearby gallery. His campus and life differed from those who preceded him and those who followed after him, but remains recognizable.
Encouraging the preservation of the history of the Corps of Cadets at A&M seems a fitting remembrance.
