GMS History The History of Greenbrier Military School | Page 20

the PX (post exchange, or store), and the armory were in the main building.
The dry cleaner was in a separate small laundry building. Such a rosy
picture, however, was a far cry from teachers’ apartments, which had no
kitchens at all.
When Capt. Harry Barker (A.B., M.A. West Virginia Wesleyan,
Marshall College) taught psychology, German, and sociology in the early
1950s, he and his wife and young daughter lived in a small apartment at the
corner of the Quadrangle. “I still vividly remember the bugler standing
directly outside our door blowing reveille every morning,” said Nancy
(Marker), who was around five at the time. “And just fifteen minutes later, the
full band was playing.” She remembered the Morgans (Coach Al Morgan and
his wife Mary, children Carolyn and Mike) living on the first floor, her family
on the second, and Capt. and Mrs. Cohen on the third. The Cohens invited any
Jewish cadets to join them for special holiday dinners. It was a trick for
women to cook in the kitchenless apartments. Teachers and their families
were expected to eat their meals in the dining hall with the cadets. One
Christmas Eve, Nancy recalled, Miss Willie served them oyster stew. Mrs.
Barker eventually got a stove installed in the hallway, but their dishes were
kept on a shelf that Capt. Barker built over the bathtub. “The shelf folded up
against the wall when not in use. The washing machine was also in the
bathroom, and the drain hose emptied into the tub, too. Baths had to be
carefully scheduled between dishwashing and clothes washing chores.”
The Quadrangle, which was basically four joined walls of rooms
facing a square open to the sky, had slatted, bare metal stairs connecting its
four floors. In the open center on the ground floor stood the guard house

Inside the Quad, after 1970.