GHCRA to HCRA By Bobbie Ames, CSR, RPR THE BEGINNING: Upon returning from court reporting school/working in Chicago, there were approximately 55 court reporters in Harris County, about 10 of whom were women, about 10 of whom were pen writers, and probably half of whom were self-taught, including my lifelong friends Mary Edwards and Jimmy Rusk. In the summer of 1964, “Jim” McAtee (a past NSRA President) and “Tom” Watkins had a wonderful idea of forming a local association to, as “Jim” put it, get to know each other more than anything else. About 12 of us met at the Civil Courthouse. We were mostly freelancers and one Federal official. Under Mr. McAtee’s gentle guidance, we were under way as the Greater Houston Court Reporters Association. We met mostly for social gatherings, as there were no point requirements back then. But, if there was a problem, we called all of the reporters together and tried to resolve it, and usually did. One reporter was giving a free extra copy and waiting for payment until the suit was resolved. He was asked to cease and desist, and he stood up like the gentleman he was and agreed. THE FILIBUSTER: About three or four years after we started the association, the largest firm in town decided they wanted the association dissolved, as they didn’t want to socialize with their competitors and didn’t want anyone telling them what to do. At that time, attendance left much to be desired. Buddy Reed, a great guy, called me and said I had to be at a meeting to delay their motion until Jean Jordan, a wonderful lady, could arrive from her deposition. Buddy kept talking and talking for an hour until he ran out of words, and whispered to me, “Bobbie, talk, please talk.” I was as shy then as I am now, but started talking until Jean got there. They made their motion, we defeated it, and GHCRA rocked on. CSR: A few of us went to Austin trying to get the first CSR bill off the ground. I went a total of seven times, both for strategy meetings with the West Texas court reporters who were leading the charge and for lobbying. It was one of my greatest experiences, since I was invited down on the Floor of the House by a Conroe representative and onto the Floor of the Senate by a Jefferson County Senator, who introduced me to their constituents around them. I got to meet every senator in the State of Texas. Our bill went through the House and Senate just through willpower and guts, only to be vetoed at the last minute by Governor John Connally. Later I was told by a senior partner at Andrews Kurth that we had worked a miracle without any money - just energy and love of the profession. That year I was chosen by the Houston reporters to be a Director to TCRA and chosen by the TCRA leaders to be Secretary of the State Association, but could not serve in either capacity because of a handicapped daughter at home. Bill Archer, the then-Senator in Texas instead of from Texas, had told me our bill didn’t stand a chance, as Texas is a right-to-work state and our position was “sour grapes” because we would be grandfathered in and didn’t have to take any test, and we were trying to limit our competition. I told him I didn’t mind taking the test, and I flew to California during that session to take the CSR and sent him the results. HIGHLIGHTS: Jerivon Sternberg called for a meeting of freelancers at the Rice Hotel and chaired the forum sharing good ideas among almost every freelancer in town, which we all appreciated and learned from. We had a picnic for all the reporters, their children and grandchildren, which was attended by almost every reporter and loved by all – playing games, eating, visiting. It was a beautiful day in Galveston County Park. A lot of Houston reporters went to Cincinnati for the NSRA Convention for the specific purpose of getting Shirley Houston elected to the Board of Directors, which feat we handily accomplished. We have always seemed to have busy, intelligent people come forward to serve as officers leading their way to the presidency eventually, even though we all have way too much to do. For this we should all be grateful. And there has always been a steady stream of supporters, both monetarily and attendancewise, that the association couldn’t have survived without. We came from a small group of good, gentle, old-time reporters who wanted to make it happen, and did; and we evolved into a dynamic group of more educated, extremely competent people who try to protect our profession and have sometimes made long-time friends because of participation. Almost 40 years and still counting. (Back to Table of Contents)

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