Newspaper, Profile of Ms. Myrth Hopkins, LaSalle Parish La.




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Copied by: Pat Ezell. PatEzell@worldnet.att.net
Submitted by: Kathy LeMay Kelly, P.O. Box 219, Trout, La. 71371
From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999, Section A,
Page 19
Thank You to the Times -Signal for allowing the following to be added to the
Archives. 
A Times-Signal Feature...."Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute 
"TO TEACH IS TO TOUCH A LIFE FOREVER"
Ms. Elizabeth Myrth Hopkins was born before Olla had any paved streets,
automobiles, a district fair, or even before there was a LaSalle Parish, and
her life has impacted more Olla residents than perhaps any other person.
This week, as the Town of Olla celebrates its 100th anniversary, our Citizen
Profile is perhaps the oldest living Olla native and resident, Ms. Elizabeth
Myrth Hopkins.
Of Olla's 100 years as an official incorporated town, Ms. Myrth Hopkins will
have been a part of 93 of those years when she celebrates her birthday next
month.
Born on October 14, 1906, Ms. Hopkins was born just outside of Olla, raised in
Olla, taught school in Olla, and still resides by herself in Olla today.
Although she never married, no person in Olla can boast of having more
children than her, after spending 40 of her years teaching at Olla schools.
Her father was a sharecropper, like most men of that day, and the family moved
several times while Ms. Hopkins was growing up, but they always stayed in or
around Olla. "To me, there is no place better than here," she said. "We have
good people that continually try to make Olla a better community.
She was born inside the family home when they lived in the Chickasaw
community, just south of Olla. Her father was William Henry Hopkins and her
mother was Margaret Ellen Blake Hopkins. Together, they raised eight children.
Three of those children died at early ages, leaving two girls and three boys.
Ms. Hopkins was the second to the youngest.
Growing up in a family where their dad was a sharecropper, meant moving
several times before she graduated from high school. They started off in
Chickasaw, then moved to Olla and then on the outskirts of Olla on the Sikes
road. It was there that Ms. Hopkins started school at Olla Elementary School.
The school was approximately three miles from their home, and even at the
young age she had to walk those three miles to and from school. Also, she was
in the first class to attend school at the new building for Olla Elementary
School. Today, that "new" building stands no longer as many years ago the
current Olla Elementary School was constructed.
Ms. Hopkins remembers the new school back in 1912 housed an auditorium on the
second floor of the school. "I remember that when all the students were in the
auditorium, the top floor would actually shake because of the weight," she
said. "They decided it was a danger so shortly thereafter they took the top
floor (auditorium) off."
She attended Olla Elementary all of her life except for some three months,
when the family moved to Arizona to live with her brother. After a few months
though, the Hopkins moved back to Olla due to Mrs. Hopkins health.
In 1924, Ms. Hopkins graduated from Olla-Standard High School. She got on a
train in Olla and traveled to Alexandria and on to Natchitoches, where she
attended the Louisiana State Normal College. After two years at the college,
she received a lifetime teaching certificate, which allowed her to come back
to the Olla area to pursue her dream of being a school teacher.
"I got a lifetime teaching certificate but it didn't last a lifetime," Ms.
Hopkins said. "It wasn't very long that they made us go back and get more
schooling."
So in 1939, she graduated yet again, with a fully accredited degree in
education from the La. State Normal College. She started her teaching career
at the Chickasaw Grade School, where she taught first, second, third and
fourth grades.
"Mr. Welch was the principal, and he taught the fifth, sixth and seventh
grades," she said. "There was just the two of us at the school." After the
seventh grade, students from the Chickasaw school went to Olla to attend Olla-
Standard High School.
Ms. Hopkins stayed at Chickasaw for only one year, then she taught at Urania
for the next two years. With the exception of these three years, all of her
years of teaching was done at Olla Elementary or Olla-Standard High School.
She primarily taught the elementary grades, and in 1965 she retired from Olla
while teaching the fourth grade.
During all of this time, anyone who lived in Olla had the pleasure of being
taught by Ms. Hopkins. Her list of students are too many to name, and many of
her students went on to be leaders in various fields of business, politics,
and professions.
"Back then we knew every student, who their parents were, who they were kin to
and so on," she said. "Everybody knew everybody and just about everyone had to
come through the school and my class."
Ms. Hopkins recalls that during the oil boom days, many out of town people
came into Olla working the oil fields. "I remember one person telling some new
people to Olla that they needed to be careful who they talked about around
me," she said. "they said that because I taught everyone in the community."
During Olla's early years, Ms. Hopkins remembers that there really wasn't much
there. "I remember we had a drug store owned and operated by Andrew Blake, and
across the street was the dry goods store owned by his brother, Ben Blake,"
she said. "Of course there was the two story white building which was Dr. O.P.
Mauterer's office, but there really wasn't much here."
She also remembered that Wallace McCartney had charge of the ice house at one
time in Olla, and pointed out who most young people today do not even know
what an ice house is. "I can still remember getting those huge blocks of ice
and the hooked ice picks they used to carry them" she said. "It was a lot
different back then."
Walking was the usual means of transportation during the early years of Olla,
or by horse or horse and buggy. That would all change in times with the
introduction of the automobile. I think J.W. Harris actually had the first car
in Olla," Ms. Hopkins recalled. "Everyone else still used horse and buggies.
Soon more and more automobiles started showing up."
During the early years, roads were little more than dirt paths, which
sometimes proved difficult to travel on when it rained. "It seemed that all
the roads simply turned to mud when it rained," she said. "It was a mess."
The North Central Louisiana District Fair began in Olla in 1908, and by the
time Ms. Hopkins was old enough to remember, it was the highlight of the year.
"The fair was the highlight of the year," she said. "Everyone, and I mean
everyone, came out to the fair."
She explained that during those years there wasn't much in the way of
entertainment for people to participate in. So, when it came time for the
fair, this was the one time of the year, that everyone stopped what they were
doing and went and had a good time.
"The fair was much different back then," she said. "There wasn't as many rides
and concession stands as there are today. It was more of showing things people
had raised in this part of the country…canning, needlework, etc."
Ms. Hopkins remembered that each year there was always a big crowd at the
fair, and people would come from all over to the fair in Olla.
Ms. Hopkins, although she is 92 years old and says she can't remember near
what she used to, has many wonderful memories of Olla and the way the town
used to be.
Not all of her memories are pleasant though.
While Olla had many wonderful things going on during those early days, Olla
also had its share of wild men as well. I guess every town has a story or two
of some wild nights, and Olla is no different," she said. One of the things
she remembers is a shoot-out in Olla which occurred between two Olla
residents. She named their names but for the sake of this article we'll leave
them out.
"It wasn't a frequent thing," she said, "but every so often there would be a
shoot-out. There were some interesting times in Olla."
Growing up in Olla during those days, there were only two churches to attend:
the Methodist Church or the Baptist Church. "Just about everyone went to
church at one of the two churches, every Sunday," she said. "We went to the
Methodist Church."
"Church was a big part of life back then," she continued. "We met every Sunday
no matter what." 
Ms. Hopkins still attends the Olla Methodist church today, where she is
possibly the oldest living member in the church. "Everything has changed since
those days," she said, but the people in Olla are still the best in the
world."
While she can't do as much as she used to, Ms. Hopkins still enjoys working in
the garden, planting things and watching them grow, and she enjoys going to
church and Sunday School.
"I'm very thankful for my life," she said. "I've had lots of good friends,
still do, and I'm still able to live by myself. I'm thankful for that."
Different friends drop by constantly at Ms. Hopkins' house, to check in on her
and to see that her needs are met, and for that she is thankful also. "I
appreciate what my friends do for me since I'm not able to do many things for
myself anymore," she said.
She is known by everyone as one of Olla's sweetest and caring citizens, and
through her teaching she has done more to mold more of Olla's citizens than
perhaps any other person.
Someone once said that the most influential person in the world is a teacher.
The Town of Olla, as it celebrates 100 years, can be thankful that for 40
years a great woman influenced so many of its residents.
"To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever"… Thank you, Ms. Myrth Hopkins, for
touching so many lives. We salute you this week as our Citizen Profile.