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The Class A Truckstop
'The First
Lady
Truckdriver'
'The First
Lady
Truckdriver'
Lillie married S. B. Boulware on October 31, 1931; they had no children and received a divorce in April 1943.
Lillie
dropped out of school in the fifth grade. At the age of thirteen she
obtained
employment as a telephone operator; by the time she was twenty-two,
however,
she had lost most of her hearing ability, probably as the result of
scarlet
fever suffered some years earlier; she wore a hearing aid throughout
most
of her adult life. She and her second husband started a trucking
business
in March 1928, primarily to take advantage of an oil
boom
near Hempstead. They purchased their first truck, a used, open-cab
Model-T
Ford, which her husband drove. As their business rapidly prospered,
they
bought a second truck, a closed-cab Chevrolet driven by Lillie. Later
they
added other trucks and hired additional drivers. After their divorce in
1929, Lillie became the sole owner of the Drennan Truck Line and, until
1934, a soft drink bottling plant in Hempstead that the couple had
also
acquired. Lillie received her commercial truck driver's license
in
1929 after the Railroad Commission began supervising the motor freight
business in the state. Commission examiners appeared reluctant to grant
her a license, contending that her hearing impairment would make her a
safety risk. But Lillie perceived sex bias and effectively argued her
case,
based on her driving record: "If any man can beat my record I'll just
get
out of here." She operated the Drennan Truck Line for nearly
twenty-four
years and withstood opposition from unfair competitors, dishonest
shipping
clerks, and others who believed that a woman lacked the fortitude to
manage
a trucking company. She and her drivers, most of whom were black men,
hauled
oilfield equipment, explosives, soft drinks, and general freight
throughout
East Texas, braving mud and ice. On occasions Lillie drove over
forty-eight
hour stretches with virtually no sleep or rest, but apparently she
never
had an accident. Joe Carrington, a well-known insurance carrier for
Texas
trucking companies, wrote in 1946 that he knew of "no other truck
owner"
who enjoyed a safety record comparable to Lillie's. Carrington also
praised
the excellent reputation of her other drivers. Lillie received safety
awards
from the Railroad Commission and the Texas Motor Transportation
Association.
She also demonstrated her driving skills as a guest participant on a
Texas
Motor Transport Association "Rodeo" obstacle course at the state
fairgrounds
in Dallas in September 1950.
Lillie Drennan achieved national fame for her colorful personality. Attired in her khaki pants and shirt, laced work boots, and a ten-gallon hat, she placed a loaded revolver by her side when she drove, although she never used it. She insisted upon training every driver she hired; she sometimes kicked her employees in the seat of their pants and threatened, in her foghorn voice, to "pistol-whip" or "brain them with an iron bar" for violating her rules. When criticized for her cursing, she responded, "Me and God have an understanding." During World War II the United States Army praised Lillie's success in its recruiting campaign to attract women truck drivers for the quartermaster corps. During her long career Lillie received media attention in periodicals, newspapers, and radio broadcasts. In 1943 she visited Hollywood, where the Los Angeles Times hailed her as a "dry land Tugboat Annie." Although Lillie entered into negotiations for a movie based upon her life, the production apparently never occurred. On May 17, 1946, the Hempstead News dedicated a special oversized edition to Lillie, whom a trucking trade publication described as "a twentieth century pioneer who has all the color of an Annie Oakley, and who lives the life of a hard-hitting frontiersman." The city of Hempstead, sometimes known as Six-Shooter Junction, honored Lillie with a banquet on Six-Shooter Junction Day, May 23, 1946; such luminaries as Texas Department of Public Safety director Homer Garrison and future governor Beauford Jester attended. As an amateur horticulturist, Lillie wrote newspaper articles in the Hempstead News about flowers and their culture and became a member of the Texas Women's Press Association in 1939. She also was a member of the Texas Transportation Association and an honorary member of the Houston Freight Carriers Association. She delivered lectures to students at Prairie View A&M College (now Prairie View A&M University) about her experiences in trucking. She sold Drennan Truck Line in September 1952 and operated the Six Shooter Junction Novelty and Package Store on U.S. Highway 290 in Hempstead afterward. Lillie died in Hempstead on September 10, 1974, and was buried in the Hempstead Cemetery. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Florence Guild Bruce, Lillie of Six-Shooter Junction: The Amazing Story of Lillie Drennan and Hempstead, Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1946). Joe C. Carrington Papers, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Houston Post, September 11, 1974. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
by Paul M. Lucko
