Counting the Ballots on October 19, 1964

October 19, 1964 was the day that the citizens of Lane County voted to form the Lane Community College District.

Bert Dotson, executive secretary of the Lane County Community College Study Committee, was in the basement office of the Intermediate Education District in downtown Eugene counting the ballots.

Larry Romine, education reporter for The Eugene Register/Guard joined Bert as the ballot boxes were brought from all parts of the county to be counted on that cold and icy night.

In an oral history interview on July 9, 2004, Larry Romine remembered the historic election night of October 19 and the morning of October 20 "when we knew we had a college."

Counting the ballots on October 19, 1964 (MP3, 3:46 min, 4.3MB.)

The election, which the Register/Guard, through or with me, covered extensively, was October 19, 1964. And I was hanging on Bert's coattails so thoroughly that the night of the election I stayed up all night with him counting the ballots. They used paper ballots put in wooden boxes held by a padlock. And at that time the person calling the election conducted it, and sent these boxes out to the polling places.

October 19, 1964, was a cold, icy night, a terrible night, people spinning off the road. It was really cold. The turnout at one precinct at South Eugene High School was very heavy, that's a lot of university people living out there, lots of education people living out there. And when the polls closed at 8:00 they still had a line maybe a block long so they invited them all in and tried to help them warm up and check off the paper ballots.

We were in the offices of the IED [Intermediate Education District] in downtown Eugene, which was a basement area. And we had to wait until each box came in, and then Bert would unpadlock it and count the ballots. He didn't let me see them. He didn't think that was cricket, according to the rules and so, of course, I cooperated. I didn't need to stay all night.

The people in the outlaying areas didn't get their boxes in because of the ice. And finally, Bert made it happen. Deputy sheriffs went and got those boxes from Florence and Mapleton and way up the McKenzie and brought them in. And I think it was about 7 o'clock in the morning before we got the last one in.

During the night we got hungry and flipped to see who would go to Skippy's for a couple of hamburgers, which it was legal to eat then. He said one flip, and I flipped and I won, and he was very disappointed and he didn't want to go outside, so I said, OK, flip again and he lost again, so it was two out of three. And he went. And the guy who went didn't have to pay and he was gone for a long time. And no boxes came in, it must have been 4 in the morning. And what he brought me was a hamburger wrapped in paper, as if it was taken out of a freezer; and I accuse him to this day of holding the thing out of window as he drove back from Skippy's.

Anyway, by 7 o'clock we knew we had a college and I went over to the Register/Guard and wrote the story which is printed in this Parnell document [ LCC: The Parnell Years], something about it doesn't have a name, doesn't have a budget, but today there is a community college in Lane County.

The Eugene Register/Guard, October 20, 1964

Article by Larry Romine reporting on the formation of Lane Community College

Larry Romine Oral History

To listen to the complete recorded interview, contact the Archives or click on the links below.

• Listen to a recording of Part 1 (mp3; 46:08 minutes; 42.2 MB)
• Listen to a recording of Part 2 (mp3; 45:95 minutes; 41.2 MB)
• Listen to a recording of Part 3 (mp3; 46:59 minutes; 43.0 MB)

Bert Dotson Oral History - conducted by Larry Romine

To listen to the complete recorded interview, contact the Archives or click on the links below.

• Listen to a recording of Part 1 (mp3; 45:47 minutes; 41.9 MB)
• Listen to a recording of Part 2 (mp3; 45:35 minutes; 41.7 MB)
• Listen to a recording of Part 3 (mp3; 45:49 minutes; 41.9 MB)

Related web sites:

• Online Exhibits - web exhibits featuring photographs and excerpts from oral histories and other reminiscences.
• Collections: Oral History - web pages containing excerpts from oral history interviews.
• Lane Community College: The Parnell Years - web exhibit about the founding and early years of LCC based on a book written by Larry Romine, 1998.
• The President's Records:  Dale P. Parnell (1965-1968) - guide to the records documenting Parnell's tenure as president of the college.
• Assistant to the President Records: Bert Dotson (1964-1975) - guide to the records documenting the founding and early years of the college as well as the activities of the first president of the college, Dale Parnell, 1965-68.
• Institutional Advancement Records: Larry Romine (1963-1994) - guide to the administrative records of Institutional Advancement during the tenure of director, Larry Romine, 1968-1992.