Elton "Buck" Amburn Project
WTAMU Students Search Campus Resources to Help Family |
| Elton "Buck" Amburn was a student at West Texas State Teachers College from 1936-39. He returned to receive his masters degree from West Texas State University in 1949. |
The Search for Elton Amburn
One of the most valuable pieces of information we can ever be gifted with, is the history of our parents.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 8, 2021, Elton Philip Amburn, of Tucson, AZ, had emailed The Prairie News, the West Texas A&M University online campus newspaper, located 660 miles east, in Canyon, TX. In the electronic message, Philip Amburn had written that he was looking for more information about his father, the late Elton “Buck” Amburn, who attended the Canyon, TX college in the late 1930’s.
“There were whole sections of my dad's life that I don't know a lot about,” said Philip. “I initially got in contact with [The Prairie] asking if there was any way I could look at some online records from West Texas State Teachers College, which is what [WTAMU] was called when my dad went there.”
It was then that Dr. Nancy Garcia, Assistant Professor for the Department of Communication at WTAMU, and The Prairie News advisor, had an idea. Dr. Garcia had replied back that she had a journalism class that had just visited the special archives section at the Cornette Library on the WTAMU campus.
“I had a few pictures from family times that showed me when he was playing both football and basketball for West Texas,” said Philip. “So, I thought well, maybe I can do some online searching in some records… And that's when Dr. Garcia got in touch with me and said, ‘Well, oh, how interesting. Yes, there is some that we could do.’”
Dr. Garcia had replied that it would be a “a great experience for the students, the class could help out with the search… I can make it a class project!”
“My dad has passed away. And so, I can't go back and ask him any of these stories,” said Philip. “So that was why I was looking.”
Elton Amburn, Sr., was born on March 19th, 1915. During his time at WTSTC, the United States was suffering through the Great Depression.
“He was really quiet and close about what he had done in his past,” said Philip. “His nickname was ‘Buck,’ and I've heard that was because he was pretty tough and he was nicknamed ‘Buckskin,’ but then he shortened that to ‘Buck.’”
In the continuing email thread, Philip had forwarded Dr. Garcia 14 photos from his father collection. Four photos from Elton’s days in the athletic program, one from his time in the Navy, three family photos, a newspaper article commemorating his retirement, birth and death certificates, a headshot of him and another of his wife, Nell Merle Hill Amburn, and a photo of the pair’s grave markers.
“Since I live in Tucson, getting over to Canyon to personally go through all the records there would be quite a bit harder for me,” said Philip. “I'm going to really appreciate any of the things that [the class] can find… I would love to have them.”
After an online interview, Dr. Garcia had given the students of her Multimedia Journalism class their assignment, to put together a project about Elton “Buck” Amburn.
An Interview with Philip Amburn
The students of West Texas A&M University had a chance to talk to Elton "Philip" Amburn, to learn more about why he is looking for more information about his father, Elton "Buck" Amburn.
A Look Back At Campus Then and Now
A campus map from when Buck Amburn was attending West Texas State College in 1949.
A campus map of West Texas A&M University in 2021 for comparison.
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