Did you know that not all Oxford residents dislike students, or that DuBois Bookstore used to be a hamburger place? Well Barb Urel is a retired teacher who knows this and a lot more. She was born in 1944 in Albany, New York. After growing up and attending school in New York she moved to Oxford in 1967, where she has been living and working since. I was introduced to her through one of her two sons, whom I work with. The original plan was to stick to the questions, but that was soon derailed as we embarked on a great conversation about the changelessly changing town of Oxford, Ohio.
Charlton: When did you move to Oxford?
Urel: I moved here in 1967 after I had finished college in New York. I taught for one year in New York and came here because my husband was attending graduate school at Miami.
C: Did you attend college with your husband?
U: Yes we both attended one of the state university schools.
C: Did you teach in Oxford?
U: Yes I did. I started at Edgewood for two years, and then we thought we were leaving because my husband had finished his degree. He was then offered a job here as an instructor for just a year. I had already resigned thinking that we were moving. So, then I started teaching at Talawanda. Then I joined the teaching department at the laboratory school that Miami used to have. I then took some time off when my two boys were little. I went back to McGuffey, which was the school founded by McGuffey, the last year they were open. I did that then eventually went back to the Talawanda schools.
C: Does your husband still teach here?
U: He is the associate provost, so he is not teaching but still works for Miami.
C: So you have two sons, what are their names?
U: Brian and Peter.
C: Which one is older?
U: Brian is 26 and Peter will be 25 soon.
C: I know Brian lives in town, but where does Peter live.
U: He lives in Middletown and works for Shriver Center.
C: Is your involvement in the community basically your teaching?
U: Yes, teaching I’ve served on the United Way board a number of times. I think I have served three or four terms.
C: The United Way board, what exactly is that?
U: The board that reviews all applications from the agencies that are seeking
funding from the community. It basically makes us aware of all the needs of
the people in the area. Then my husband and I were co-chairs, honorary co-chairs
actually, of the United
Way campaign.
C: That reminded me, for some reason, of the war protest I just passed uptown, but there was only about seven of them. I find it interesting that people are protesting the war because that didn’t happen during the Gulf War.
U: Maybe there were so little because of the weather. (It was raining during the interview) I also heard that they were spread out in different places in town.
U: I actually lived here during the riots at Miami in 1970.
C: I heard they closed the school during the Kent State incident in 1970. Was that when these took place?
U: Yes it was during the shootings at Kent State.
C: Can you describe what it was like in Oxford during this time?
U: Well we had a curfew in town for one. They had faculty sitting in all the buildings on campus. Tear gas was actually used at one of the buildings. The students were having a sit-in for the war, and I think what happened was that maybe if they had let them just sit there and stay, then it would not have escalated. Then right after that there were crowds in the streets at night. Dr. Philip Shriver was president at the time, and he and faculty members just mingled with the students. Our police, the Oxford police, were real good at the time. They set up volleyball nets on High Street because it was closed. They rerouted traffic to bring things down on an even keel. That was an interesting time here in Oxford.
C: What are the biggest changes that you have witnessed in Oxford since you have been a resident here?
U: I think for me it is the growth of the town. It ended at Locust Street when we first moved here. It was all farmland where Kroger and all of those apartments are.
C: Since you have lived in Oxford, how many houses have you lived in?
U: Two. The first in Southern Knolls for nine years, and here on White Oak Dr. for 22 years, and the first four years we lived here we lived in an apartment on McGuffey Ave.
C: Is there a significant year that you noticed Oxford getting bigger?
U: I think it was probably the late ’70’s before we started thinking ‘wow’ the town is really beginning to change, and now we look back and we think ‘whoa’ it has really changed.
C: Which came first Kroger or Wal-Mart?
U: Oh Kroger was here much earlier. They are in their third building. The first was where Odd Lots is and the second building is behind the new one, and the school owns that one now.
C: Where exactly was the water tower?
U: It was up where the concert area is now at the uptown park. It had been empty and was rusting pretty bad. It was dangerous. I don’t remember the date that it was brought down actually I think it was in late 1999. It seems just like yesterday. It was a big controversy when they took it down. You would go and buy ice cream and sit at the base of it, but I think it was sort of nostalgic or a tradition to some people and they were upset when it came down.
C: Did Follett’s use to be a bar?
U: Yes that was the Boar’s Head, and across the street there was another bar, but I can’t remember the name of it. It was just to the right of Snyder’s. That was a long time ago that was there. They were there in the ‘‘60’s and early ‘‘70’s. The Boar’s Head was a big bar, and then First Run was our movie theater.
C: So Princess wasn’t here?
U: No, that was a small bowling alley.
C: Did you go see movies at First Run?
U: Yes, It was the only place to see movies, but back then they used to close all of the establishments uptown when summer came around. Even the cleaners closed because I remember taking clothes there and going back a couple days later, and there was sign that said it was closed for the summer.
C: Well, I remember going to class here in the summer and it is absolutely dead around here. I actually enjoyed it.
U: Well, actually up until a few years ago my husband and I couldn’t wait for the students to get back in town. It was actually a kind of tradition to go uptown and get ice cream and watch all the students come back. It was like my heavens we are going to have a life again! I love having students here, and I know there are some people who complain all the time, but to keep you young it is really nice to have young people around all the time.
C: I just remembered another question about uptown, and that was whether or not there has been a Godfather’s Pizza where Phan Shin is currently?
U: Yes, that used to be Godfather’s Pizza, and it may have been a small grocery store that used to be uptown, or maybe it was where Antiques on High is. Well, anyways, one of those places was a small grocery store.
C: When did all of the fast-food restaurants begin to pop up uptown?
U: Oh yeah, well, McDonald’s tried to go uptown where Wendy’s is and someone got a petition to keep them out.
C: How did Wendy’s pass the test?
U: Well they did not want a drive-thru and McDonald’s did, but I believe that McDonalds was the first fast-food restaurant.
U: There actually was a burger restaurant where DuBois’s is currently. There also was a little pet store underneath it. Where 45 East is there had been a restaurant called the Cupboard, and then they renovated it and it became Attractions. Right next to that was a real tiny bookstore, and that caught on fire. Where the Masonic Temple is used to be an old-fashioned drugstore that also burned to the ground. That happened during the summer time when we were gone. It was a rather large fire. The uptown character has changed quite a lot over the years.
C: Are you happy with what you can find uptown, or is there anything you would like to change about it?
U: Well, there is no place to shop for people my age. I wish actually that it were easier to park around town. The town has changed considerably since they took away the no car rule.
C: There used to be a rule that did not allow cars on campus?
U: Yes that’s true.
C: Is there one store that you would like to see open uptown?
U: I would like to see a really nice stationery store open. You know, one that had frames and scrapbook materials. I assume that lots of students do those types of things, and there is nowhere to find materials that you need in Oxford. It would also like to see a nice jewelry store open.
C: Is there anything else in general that I did not touch on that you would like to say?
U: Not that I can think of. I think Oxford is a great place to live.
C: Is there any truth to the bad blood between residents and students?
U: Well it’s hard for me to say because I don’t feel negatively
at all. The town wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the students.
I get a bit annoyed when people complain because of that reason.
Urel’s answer would have surprised me prior to this interview. After spending time hearing her experience with this small town, it is hard for me to understand why there would be any animosity towards students. Hopefully other residents share the same opinion as Urel’s, and we can then bridge the gap between the students and the residents.