Department
History
Document Type
Autobiographical Writing
Publication Date
10-29-2020
Abstract
A World War I veteran, he had been born sixteen years before Henry Ford introduced the Model T to America. A rural citizen of deep southeast Alabama, he had missed the automobile’s advent in his home state; municipalities had tagged cars even before the state began licensing them in 1911. Although aware of them, he would have had rare opportunities to ride in, much less drive, an automobile due to his family’s rural poverty as well as its location. Perhaps things were different by the time Rufus went to college, where he crammed four years into eight.
Once he had spent some time at Troy State Teacher’s College, Rufus taught school to earn money for college. Several years into his teaching career, he met Ruby, then “sparked” her. When he proposed, she accepted on condition of upward mobility. So he took every available civil service exam, eventually making his way to the nation’s capital where he worked his government job during the day, kept books for the Good Roads Association (among others) at night, and found time to earn a law degree from Georgetown University. He married Ruby there and started his own family.
Recommended Citation
Granade, S. Ray, "Learning to Drive" (2020). Creative Works. 75.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/creative_work/75