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THE RISE AND FALL OF TYLER COMMERCIAL COLLEGEPart IV - Conclusion
By Marvin Mayer
This will be my final article dealing with Tyler Commercial College. Forgive me if there is some duplication.
Over the past 3 months, we've witnessed the birth, expansion, and subsequent demise of what was purported to be the largest business school in all of America. Numbers of students processed through the school staggered the imagination. It should have been no surprise, then, to have found several school alumnae among the crowd gathered during last January's historical marker dedication at the school's site on South College Street.
The school had a positive impact on thousands of people from around the country and from at least 7 foreign countries.[1] But the students were not the only beneficiaries of the school. Perhaps the biggest impact of the college was upon the business and social life of the city of Tyler. Many graduates entered into the business world by accepting employment with Tyler firms, choosing to remain there, and they become valued citizens.[2] Considering enrollments in the early twenties ran at over 4,000 per year, one can easily understand the economic impact on the city. [1] "Alcalde" Tyler High School Year book ad, 1920 [2] "America's Largest Business Training University" by Morris S. Burton, Chronicles of Smith County Texas, Vol 10, #2, page 33.
Flexibility contributed to the school's success. Students could enter at any time since no summer vacation was observed, and the fact that most courses involved so much individual attention, no classroom schedule was involved.[1] [1] Ibid
During WWII, Tyler Commercial College again impacted Tyler's economy. In April, 1942, TCC opened its Signal Corps Radio Operator Training School. More than 2,000 soldiers from every state in the Union and representing virtually every branch of the Army took the 13-week course offered at the college. A total of 1,997 men successfully completed the course by attaining the required minimum code speed of 15 words per minute. At that time, there were no military quarters in Tyler; therefore, it was necessary to contract with the local downtown hotel and two motels for accommodations for the student radio operators. It was eventually agreed that the Blackstone Hotel would allocate beds for 400 trainees as the course of instruction proceeded, and the Bluebonnet Courts provided beds for 140 men while the Alamo Plaza Hotels Courts contributed an additional 160 beds.[1] Imagine what such commitments did for occupancy and how positive an impact that was for the City of Tyler. [1] "World War II Comes to Tyler: by Philip L. Dibert, Chronicles of Smith County Texas, Vol , # Pages 2, 3
Graduate List Registers at More than 85,000 recalls a newspaper article from 1978.
The following advertisement in a special 60-year celebration issue of the Courier-Times newspaper encapsulates and emphasizes the economic benefit it produced for the city. The headline read, "A 60-YEAR STORY OF SUCCESS DESERVES CONGRATULATIONS, COURIER-TIMES…" and follows with "For thirty-seven of the sixty years for which this edition is dedicated, we have occupied a prominent part in the development of Tyler. From a beginning with thirteen students thirty-seven years ago, we have grown to be one of the largest, if not the largest, business training institution in the great Southwest. It takes time to build into an educational institution those things so necessary for its well being. How well we have succeeded should speak for itself---more than fifty thousand young men and young women have passed through our halls and on to success and happiness. By comparison, Tyler Commercial College has brought more wealth to the city of Tyler and has done more to favorably advertise Tyler to the world than perhaps any other business, with the possible exception of the Cotton Belt Railroad. Many cities where school or colleges are located are called upon from time to time for donations to maintain the school. Not so with Tyler Commercial College. It has always been and is still self-supporting. These things alone should cause the citizens of Tyler to recognize the value of the school to our city and to speak favorably of the school when the occasion arises."