By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
In 1976, as America celebrated its 200th birthday, Angela Jackson Viser was making history of her own in Galveston. With a gold-plated whistle, a baton, and a childhood dream, she became the first African American colonel of the Ball High School Tornettes.
Galveston’s well-known Tornettes had been entertaining audiences since 1949. For at least the first two decades, the drill team had no African American members. With school integration, the makeup of the team began to change. African American girls became members of the high-stepping drill team, and some achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. But the highest position, colonel, had not been held by an African American student until Angela earned that distinction in 1976.
Angela had grown up attending Central High School football games, dreaming that one day she would lead a drill team. She practiced throughout her childhood and adolescent years, determined to make that dream a reality. And once she made it, she enjoyed just about every moment.
“Oh my goodness gracious—I’m getting tears and chills right now. I don’t even have words to express the excitement. It was just a rush you will never forget,” Angela explained, remembering how it felt to be on the football field with her whistle and baton, leading the Tornettes.
“Only the colonel got to have a whistle, and my dad had a whistle dipped in 10-karat gold for me,” Angela shared.
Her father’s pride in his daughter was enormous, but so was his concern for her safety.
It wasn’t all glory. There were moments of fear for Angela and her family when she was selected to lead the Tornettes.
“My dad got threatening phone calls,” said Angela.
Because of those calls, a school officer accompanied Angela onto the football field for the first game of the season.
“I thought, oh no, this is going to take away from me being colonel, so I waved him away once we were on the field,” Angela recalled.
She described that year as a whirlwind of fun tempered by caution. Because of the threats, her father shadowed her with his protective love, making sure he drove her to every event and picked her up afterward.
“I had my own car, but he wouldn’t let me drive myself,” said Angela. “He drove me to the games and to all the dances. He was just worried about me.”
Despite those concerns, Angela’s senior year was filled with excitement and recognition. She was elected homecoming queen by the student body, voted friendliest senior, and nominated for Mrs Tor during her senior year at Ball High School.
Angela fondly recalled the friendships and bonds she and the other drill team members forged during countless hours of practice and performances. Some of those friendships continue today as she speaks of the other drill team members.
After football season, there was parade season. For a drill team on the Gulf Coast, that meant Christmas, Mardi Gras, and just about any other event where the Tornettes were called upon to perform. Angela was there, proudly leading the team.
Looking back, she credits her loving family with giving her the values, wisdom, and courage to pursue her dreams.
“I was grateful to be raised in a home with parents who had expectations. I had a whole lot to live up to. Those morals and values remained a part of me. I felt like I was always representing Christ and representing Galveston,” said Angela.
Although she grew up in government housing, or what was then commonly called “the projects,” Angela never considered herself poor. Her parents always provided what she needed, and she never felt she was lacking.
Those childhood experiences and the values instilled by her parents stayed with her throughout her life.
During her lengthy career as a school counselor, Angela shared a straightforward message with the students she encouraged and guided:
“You can still be somebody. Don’t let where you have come from stop you from your dreams and goals,” said Angela.
It was a lesson she had lived herself.
Fifty years later, Angela looks back on the joys of her youth with a smile that radiates from her heart to people around her, just as though she were still on the football field, high-stepping with her baton and golden whistle.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing!” proclaimed Angela.
