| Description | For the Geezle Oral History Project; this interview extends and develops OH 0653 conducted in 1985 about Integration of North Texas Football; it probes Charlie Joe Cole, Jr.'s life journey from a 17-year-old Pilot Point, TX, athlete to a freshman football player at North Texas State College in 1948 to his distinguished Air Force Service during the Korean War; the interview continues with Charlie's return to NTSC and his football career as a varsity player; it explores his membership in the Geezles and the values he gained from that organization; it traces his beginning career as a public school administrator and coach; it intensifies with Cole's distinctive 20-year career as Denton County's Probation Officer, whereby he grew the department by hiring the first black female, establishing the first community and education-research based advisory committees, and garnering government grants, with the sole purpose of making probationers sound, solid, and productive citizens. The Charlie J. Cole Building in Denton, TX, stands as a permanent commitment to that ideal. |
