Little Dixie residents remember Albert

Sunday, February 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- On the national stage, Carl Albert will be remembered as a champion of civil rights during his years as U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives. But in his home of Bugtussle, a tiny community tucked away near McAlester in Pittsburg County, Albert is remembered as a generous, down-to-earth man who reveled in contact with people from his district.

A cross section of America is expected to show up for funeral services on Wednesday for Albert. Services have been scheduled for 2 p.m. at McAlester's Expo Center to accommodate the expected crowd. "He said he was born in Pittsburg County and he hoped he died in Pittsburg County," said long-time friend Gertrude Duncan who lived nearby Albert in rural Indianola. "He got his wish."

They'll be remembering a giving man who, despite rising to the highest office ever held by an Oklahoman, never forgot where he came from. "He'd just stop and help you, no matter what," said Duncan. The Little Giant from Little Dixie loved children and fought hard for their rights while he was in Congress. "I remember many times we were traveling the district â€“ he knew it like the back of his hand," said Julian Rothbaum, the president of a Tulsa oil company and a friend from childhood who worked in all of Albert's campaigns. "We'd go into all these towns. And all the little black and white kids wouldn't call him Speaker, they'd just call him Carl."

Later, Rothbaum would establish scholarship awards in the name of his friend at all the schools Albert attended, from McAlester High School to St. Peter's College in Oxford. Duncan recalls when Albert was at their house playing dominoes with her twin 5-year-old grandsons. When the reluctant boys had to go to bed, Albert disappeared for a little while. "He went back there and rassled the boys," said Duncan,although she didn't know it until the next day when one of her grandsons told her about it. "He said 'Memaw, I got Mr. Speaker down, but I didn't want to hurt him.' "

Berry McAlester recalled the kindness Albert showed his son Jimmy when they visited the federal building. Jimmy McAlester was a Boy Scout working on a badge. Albert was already Speaker of the House, but he made time for the boy. "We didn't really know him, he was from Bugtussle, and we lived across the creek," said Berry McAlester. "But he was real nice and took time out for an interview for a boy."

Not much is left in Bugtussle, where Albert attended a two-room school through eighth grade. But the school house still stands, like another monument to Albert. The former two-time national debate champion and Rhodes scholar was already a legend to children who attended the school after him. "You heard a lot about him," said Shirley Stroehmer from the Bugtussle Baptist Mission, which is the only building with the Bugtussle name on it.

Albert remembered his roots in Bugtussle with good humor. "I asked him one time where the name Bugtussle came from,"said Rothbaum. "He said that during the Depression, times were so hard, that even the bugs had to tussle to make a living."