Strategy, Strategy, Strategy

Always thinking, always strategizing, Rusty Russell was a man who had foresight and delighted in planning. His mind was never relaxed; he was always thinking about the future and how to manage and execute to meet goals.

"Whether it was bridge, or football, or investments or really, anything, he was a master strategist," Betty Russell recalls of her father, H.N. "Rusty" Russell, who, because of his influence, remains an avid football fan and reads the newspaper sports section first every day and plans her schedule around sports events she can watch on tv or attend.

According to History Professor J. Rufus Fears, the ability to have foresight is a critical element of leaders who make an impact.

Going through the letters and cards received after her father died, those whom Russell mentored as teacher or coach mentioned most the influence he had in their lives in teaching them values, character, and how to be successful in life. Rarely was football even mentioned in these letters.

Doug Lord, Golden Gloves, Then & Now...

When Rusty Russell's great-grandson was watching a mixed martial arts event in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in early 2009, he was surprised to discover that Doug Lord was a judge at the fight. For those who know Lord, it was no surprise.

Lord, one of the characters in Twelve Mighty Orphans, was one of the smallest kids on the Mighty Mites football team but was a born ringleader and he talked four of his buddies into going to the Will Rogers Colliseum in Fort Worth where the Golden Gloves were being held and they all signed up to fight, forging parental permission forms. There, with a mouthpiece he picked up off the floor and one pair of tennis shoes - both shared among all the buddies - he fought a man almost ten years his senior and although he went to the final bell, his opponent won. One of Lord's Home buddies, Ray Musselwhite, made it all the way to be crowned champion of the Golden Gloves.

Doug Lord over the past 50 years has continued to be involved with Texas Golden Gloves and professional and amateur boxing. He was the manager of World Welter Weight Champion Curtis Cokes, who was known for his training regimen. Lord, having been taught with the Mighty Mites how to be best prepared to go into a contest, would have brought those skills to prepare Cokes for his matches.

He continues to be a boxing judge at ring side in fights throughout Texas. Lord was honored at the 2008 Golden Gloves by his ex-fighters, fans and friends. The trophy presented to him read: Doug, thanks for all you did to make the Golden Gloves a great success.

Texas has had a very large share of National Golden Glove Champions and Lord's consistent contribution over the years to the sport has helped make Fort Worth a strong center for this sport.

Fort Worth's Scrawny Team: Mighty Good News in Tough Times...

At a time when The Great Depression hit everywhere, causing disruption to families and businesses, ripping lives asunder, times were not easy. This photo captures a bank run on a downtown bank on Main Street in Fort Worth, Texas during those Depression years.

It wasn't the coach, or the football team, or The Masonic Home officials who came up with the name "Mighty Mites" for the scrawny team of boys who were known as scrappy orphans beating the toughest football teams in the state of Texas.

The official nickname the school had chosen for its fledgling football team originally had been The Masons, a tribute to the organization that established and supported The Masonic Home and School to take in and care for children of dues-paying Masons in good standing when no one else could. When the name was chosen, no one knew or cared much about the little unknown team. In 1927 it didn't matter much what the name was.

Fort Worth newspaper sportswriter Henry Holman "Pop" Boone years later renamed them the Mighty Mites, and the name stuck as the little tough team beat opponent after opponent in spite of all odds. The city that now calls itself Cowtown, that was known from it's founding to be the town on the edge of The West, an outpost to the unknown that rounded up cattle to be sent to feed a nation, grew to love this homegrown team and came out in force to root and cheer for the little guys who felt they were giants, coached to go up against anyone and anything.

The ragged team with hardly a spare boy on the bench and no fathers to root for them, inspired a city, then all of Texas, then the entire U.S. with their winning spirit and their desire to defeat the big boy teams from the largest schools around.

Rusty Russell: The Impact of Life Events...

Unforseen events and the influence of others can have an impact in the direction of lives. For the Home Kids, family circumstances altered their definition of home and family. For H.N. "Rusty" Russell, outside intervention twice in his life changed his course.

First, he was plucked off a tractor to play sports for Howard Payne boarding school in Brownwood, Texas. He had to work hard with tutors to catch up academically. He continued to play sports for Howard Payne University with a small interruption when he fought in the trenches in France in World War I.

The second major life event was that he received major injuries as he served as a medic on the front lines. He nearly died and spent a year recovering in hospitals in France. He dreamed of returning and making a difference in the lives of others, but first he had unfinished goals. He wanted to finish his college career with a team championship and achieve his personal goal of making All-Conference. This photo is from 1922 when he returned from the Great War.

Returning to Howard Payne after his war experience and recovery, Russell resumed his sports activities with even more intensity. He was All-Conference in football and basketball at Howard Payne, lettered in track and was named Best All-Around Athlete. He was Captain of both his basketball and football teams. The football team won the Conference Championship his senior year.

Most of all, more important than the sports to Russell, was the opportunity to learn and to immerse himself in an academic environment that he would otherwise not have had helping out on his family farm. He had to have private tutoring to bring him up to speed academically when he first entered Howard Payne. The world of the mind was the foundation of the game of life.

Why would Russell take a job at an orphanage in Fort Worth? Jim Dent thinks that Russell knew he could mold these kids into something big - they had nothing else to lose, says Dent. The Masons built The Home in Fort Worth to give orphans a first-class education. Science teacher-turned coach Russell rarely had more than 12 to suit up. His daughter, Betty, says he thought his calling was to be in Child Guidance, a relatively new field then and the academic focus for his master's degree. However, the importance of teachers as mentors in his own life and in the life of his wife, Juanita, led him to understand innately the impact he could make in the world by touching one child at a time with hope, love, teaching and guidance. And...coaching.

In the midst of the Great Depression, Masonic Home games were routinely outdrawing the major college games of Dallas (Southern Methodist University), and Fort Worth (Texas Christian University). More than 25,000 would come to watch the Mighty Mites. Sacks and sacks of mail were delivered with letters and telegrams arriving from people all over the nation.

Had someone not seen his potential as more than riding a tractor to help his family make ends meet, Russell's life might have taken a completely different path. The appreciation for that intervention led him to do the same for others from that point on. He would not have been injured in the war had he not put his own welfare second to his goal to save others on the front who had been hit by mustard gas.

Partners See High Interest, Passion as Meetings Kick Off in L.A.

Ryan Ross is taking a production role with 12 Productions in moving the 12 Mighty Orphans project to film. Ryan's film production experience and background and his passion for the Mighty Orphans story makes him a key principal with feet on the ground in Los Angeles and he is excited about the reception that the project and partners are receiving as they meet with industry executives.

A resident of Beverly Hills, Ryan is right in the heart of the film industry in Los Angeles and he has been spending the last month setting up meetings and getting the story into the hands of film industry executives interested in being part of the production team. All four partners of 12 Productions have just returned from a round of meetings in L.A. and are amazed at the level of intense interest and passion they have encountered.

"We knew this would make a great film but it is awesome to see that others in the film industry get the story and see the potential, too," Ryan says, adding that all partners were astounded at the reception they received, especially as first-time producers. The 12 Production partners hope to have an announcement very soon regarding a joint production arrangement with a major company.

Ross receieved his undergraduate degree in film from the University of Texas and he brings not only his acting experience and passion for film to the project, but he has most recently worked at Imagine Entertainment prior to taking the production role with 12 Productions for this project. Ross' film experience brings a skill set unique to the partnership. Ross is wanting to produce the best film possible that will not only satisfy the people who lived this story, but will inspire a nation at a time when they need it most...just like the Mighty Mites. He will continue to oversee the development for the film.

More: The Advocate magazine in Dallas, Texas, writes a feature on Ryan

What Some Say...

So much has been said about the story, but here are a few comments to highlight:

Walter Lavender from Lorena, Texas thought the book was fantastic. "I had no idea that the Masonic Home was so tough. Miller, Cecil and Dot were my grandmother's sisters children. I knew about their situation when I was growing up but I had never even thought that Miller and Cecil were on one of the best highschool football teams ever. It was so interesting that I read the whole book in the space of 2 days."

I purchased this book for my father ...he's a huge football fan, played high school ball in Texas years after the depression. He'd never heard of the Mighty Mites, and, were it not for a review I heard on the radio, we may never have. ...This is a wonderful story of the human condition, of overcoming odds and expectations, and how one person can make a huge difference in the lives of others when he is truly committed. Football fan or not, this is a wonderful telling of the lives of some special kids and the man who led them.

Willliam L. Brigman, Class of 1940 says:
I played blocking back in a single wing formation on the Mighty Mites team and was at the school from 1930 until my graduation in 1940. ...we were one of the most efficiently trained teams in the arts of the fundamentals of football including blocking and tackling. ... it is not true that the reputation (Hardy Brown) earned in pro football was the reputation he earned playing high school football. I played football with Hardy from the time I was seven years old until I was 18 as a member of the class a year ahead of the so-called Twelve Orphans. We had approximately 30 kids on the traveling squad; about half of them were too small to play in most games. This left us with less than 15-20 who got much actual playing time. Russell insisted on a very rigorous dedication to learning the fundamentals of the game which was one of the main reasons we were such a good team. Coach Russell put through practice scrimmages in which we learned the proper techniques for blocking and tackling; our practice scrimmages were often harder than the actual games we played with other teams. We suffered few injuries depite our relatively small sizes because we were so well-trained. ...The coach also knew how to get the best out of his players. ...A much more accurate read about our coach and team is a chapter contained in the book written by Harold Ratliff titled I SHOOK THE HAND. Mr. Ratlifff was a sports writer in Texas for many years and wrote in this book about the great people of sports whom he met during his career. Rusty Russell was certainly one of the greats. Rather than teaching us to win by dirty tricks he taught us sound fundamentals and he later on became the coach of Southern Methodist University in the days of giants like Doak Walker and Kyle Rote. It is true that the students worked at the home under the supervision of the adult staff; we all had daily chores including cleaning, farmwork, tending the orchards, maintaining the pool and tennis courts, waiting tables, etc. which rather than being abusive helped to prepare us to take care of ourselves and become self-sufficient adults. Each team member was assigned to maintain ten-yards of the field. Taking care of the Home and ourselves gave us pride in both the institution and a sense of self-sufficiency; it also bound us together into a type of family. This was Dustbowl and Depression-era Texas. I came from the Panhandle where my family was struggling to eke out a living. If I had remained at home, I would have had similar chores with less supervision and training since my widowed mother had to toil as a practical nurse in our small town hospital... Sure, we missed our families but we were better off at the Home where we had three meals a day, supervision from well-qualified staff whose mission was to help us to grow into independent, responsible, well-educated and caring citizens. We wrote home once a week, attended church on Sunday with a rotating clergy representing several denominations, and visited our families for two weeks each year when we could afford it. ...All of us were given vocational training and experience in addition to a scholastic education and the polish of good manners. Hooliganism was not encouraged or tolerated on the football team or anywhere else at the Home.

I grew up in Ft. Worth in the late 40's & 50's and heard plenty about them from my father & his friends... am surprised there never has been anything ever written about them before..

Tommye Nichols Hullum '68 read the book and wrote in the ex-student association newsletter (pdf) "Most of the Home kids were placed at the Home because one or both of their parents were dead or divorced." Tommye's Dad was a Mason...and two weeks after turning five, the kids which included Tommye, two sisters Mary and Ruby, and two brothers, Billy and Robert, entered the home in 1955. "My Dad and uncle were at the championship game in Corsicana."

Arthur Calcaterra, graduate of the Masonic Home and School, 1996, contacted us through the website and writes: "Another connection that I have is Hardy Brown would be my first cousin twice removed. My great grandmother was Mary Ann Brown, Hardy Brown Sr. Sister. So, my grandfather and Hardy Brown were cousins. Please let me know as this project progresses. This summer the Brown family will be holding a family reunion."

And...Twelve Mighty Orphans is absolutely the best sports nonfiction book to come along since Seabiscuit, An American Legend. And they both have a similar theme throughout - that of America's love for the underdog. ....it's the back story of the underdogs that grew up at the Masonic Home and scrapped their way to winning...

A Winning Spirit...

Underdogs they might have been, but the Mighty Mites learned to have a winning spirit. The '08 issue of the Masonic Home Ex-Student Association quotes Joe Ray Hogan '48 who played football w/ Doug Lord, in fall of 1944 played against Riverside. He felt, as a freshman, he was playing among Giants, "a great privilege. I felt dwarfed. Yes, Riverside won, but the next day the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said we were "outweighed" (always were), "out-manned" (always were), but "never (bold) out-fought."

The can-do winning attitude was carried out into life by Home kids. Teachers such as Marie Glick who taught for 41 years at The Home, was told by her husband "You're married to the Masonic Home." Glick continues to return to reunions (at age 100 she attended a special celebration held for her in Houston) and holds an special seat whenever she shows up. "She was our mother, she would help us out," said one former student in a documentary The Eyes of Texas. "She was just an awesome, awesome teacher," Opal Worthington Lord remembers. Glick was present at the Twelve Mighty Orphans book publication kick-off at the Masonic building in downtown Fort Worth. She loved greeting former students.

The Masonic Home in Fort Worth closed in 2005 but it produced nine U.S. judges, four army generals, 47 doctors, five ministers, lawyers, church leaders and university presidents.

What the 12 Mighty Orphan story reminds us is that in the midst of a horrible depression, anyone, no matter what their circumstances, could be a winner.

The Story That Finally Was Told..

The story of the 12 Mighty Orphans could have easily died. In fact, several people over the years have tried - and failed - to write the story. When author Jim Dent called H.N. "Rusty" Russell's grandson R. Russell Morton in 2005 asking for archive access and information about Coach Rusty Russell for his story, it was just yet another author and Morton was skeptical about allowing anything to leave the family's hands.

"Many people have tried to tell the story but until Jim Dent came to me, I never thought it would happen," Morton says. In fact, he allowed Dent full access to archives and spent hours with Dent in interviews and arranging time for Dent to have access to family members and archive materials.

Dent was rushing to get the story told while those who were there could still remember. The portrait of Rusty Russell by Dewitt Coulter (pictured above) is one of the family's prize belongings. It was always on the wall above Rusty Russell's desk at home. Releasing this to Dent was a risk but Morton knew this time, at last, the story was going to get told.

After Russell Morton joined the 12 Productions team, he was given a 1952 Dewitt Coulter card (a Bowman card) in mint condition, enclosed in hard plastic by someone who read Dent's book, Twelve Mighty Orphans, and who has a huge collection of baseball and old football cards.

Morton says of the gift, "It was the last year Dewitt played in the NFL and he made pro bowl that year, so was the last card put out on him. It it considered a rare find. Anyway, he just gave it to me and said "we need fresh hope and big dreams right now and this book hits home".

The Story Lives On...

A few weeks after Jim Dent's book, Twelve Mighty Orphans, was published, Dewitt "Tex" Coulter died at age 83. At left are the Coulter brothers, Dewitt and Ray at The Masonic Home.

Dewitt had been a Mighty Mite star in the 1940s, playing all line and backfield positions and punting. Dewitt played for West Point's famous teams of WWII, the New York Giants of the National Football League where he was an All-Pro left tackle (he was an offensive and defensive end, offensive and defensive tackle, linebacker and punter, too) and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. He was an All State football player, won a national shot put in track, was All American at West Point before he was All Pro but he also excelled and found great satisfaction with his art, writing and humanitarian talents.

In an article on Dewitt for the Dallas Morning News, titled Greatest of the Great, Dewitt said, "Whatever Rusty said, we did. We never had many players but we believed we could hold down our own against the biggest school. It was exciting to run those trick plays Rusty taught us and play a lot of different positions. Masonic Home guys always have been close. When you spend that much time together, you're brothers for the rest of your lives."

Just like Dewitt's life embraced more than football, (his talents ranged far beyond the playing field-- an artist, cartoonist, sportswriter, builder and humanitarian -- his portrait of Rusty Russell comes up on the next blog post), the 12 Mighty Orphan story can not be defined as a sports story. As Home kids have grown up, led successful lives and think of the foundations they had, they have realized how unique their story was. And so, the story continues to stay alive.

As more people read and share the story, it becomes deeper and holds more meaning. Once the story was told by Dent, it has continued to grow legs even while many who were a significant part of the story, like Dewitt and Ray Coulter and Rusty Russell, have died. The story has come back to life and in so doing, continues to touch the hearts of many.

The Coulter Children...

The Coulter children came to The Masonic Home after their father, Hal, a Mason in good standing, died of tuberculosis and their mother, Lodie Bell, couldn't support the children. Ray, at left, was put in Dorm Two, separate from his younger brother, Dewitt, who was put into Dorm One with younger boys. The two older sisters, L.E. and Ima, at top and right, went into the girls' area. Boys and girls were separated and mingling of the sexes then was taboo. The initial adjustment was hard on children and that first night Dewitt remembered crying.

Melissa Coulter Ballas, youngest daughter of Ray and niece of Dewitt, has two young sons - Luke, 17 months, and Colt, 4, who are just a few years younger than Dewitt and Ray were when they came to The Home. "My husband and I joke that our boys will be just about the right age to play Ray and Dewitt as little ones entering the orphanage," she writes, "I am really enjoying reminiscing!"

She has discovered the story beyond the book and she writes "I am SO excited that this movie is going to happen! Reading the book was so therapeutic (and a bit overwhelming!). I loved reading certain parts and thinking Hey! Daddy told me about that! or I remember hearing about that game!"

Melissa sent this family photo of the four Coulter children, taken prior to their father's death and she shared her memories:

All four kids came to the home when my father was 5. That would make Ima 7 or 8, L.E. 9 or 10, and Tex 3. One memory that was huge (and heartbreaking) for my father was Dewitt crying and saying “I want to stay with YOU Ray!” when my dad had to go to school during the day. How devastating for ALL of them but for a little 3 year old without his mommy…so sad!

The boys and girls were separated except for Sundays and that was hard on them all, especially the boys! Someone told Jim Dent that my grandmother had at least one other child besides these four (it was in the book). My sisters and I don’t think that is accurate. We NEVER heard of any other aunts or uncles that we have. Ima definitely would have known! They continued to visit their mother holidays and summers in the Tyler area. ...Ima was one incredible lady! I know she had a lot of friends from the Masonic Home.

Grasshoppers Taught To Be Giants...

"The genius of Rusty Russell was in his ability to make every boy a giant in his own eyes," said Abner V. McCall, Chancellor of Baylor University (photo at right), as he gave the eulogy at H.N. "Rusty" Russell's funeral in Dallas, Texas on a cold, rainy day in December, 1983. McCall came to The Masonic Home in Fort Worth in 1926 as an eleven year-old, played football, and was one of Mr. Russell's kids.

McCall said any of the hundreds of Russell's former "kids" (Russell called all of The Masonic Home children "his kids") would have felt privileged to testify of his admiration and love for him.

Excerpts from McCall's eulogy:

Everyone has heroes. At least everyone ought to have heroes in his life. They serve as models. They inspire us to be better than we would otherwise be....Mr. H.N. Russell was one of my heroes.

Some have praised Mr. Russell as an offensive genius in football and many sportswriters over the years have noted the innovations he brought to football offense and ranked him among the great football coaches of this century. But this is not the reason he was a hero to me and to many others who he called "his kids." ...

Our team was just an ordinary group of boys. Only half of us weighed as much as 140 pounds. We were not bigger, stronger or smarter than our opponents... What made the difference? We were competing with teams who in our eyes were composed of giants and in our own eyes we were but grasshoppers...He did not convince all of us that our opponents were mere grasshoppers but he did convince us that we could win over any opponent.

...Because of Coach Russell, all my life I have carried with me the philosophy that I could confront and conquer any problem which came my way. My story can be duplicated by hundreds of Mr. Russell's "kids." We all have gone through life with more courage and confidence and achieved more and been better persons than we would have otherwise been except for Mr. Russell. ...