The Importance of...
Gussie Nell Davis founded the Kilgore College Rangerettes. The Rangerettes are known to be the first "actual" drill team in the world. She created the Kilgore Rangerettes to perform a perfect performance during halftime at football games. Gussie once said, "All i ever wanted to do with my life was to dance on a stage. I hadn't had the chance to have the proper training to do so. I know what i'll do. I'll just have a bunch of people dance for me. I'm coming to Kilgore, which is the most cosmopolitan town and perhaps they'll like what I do there." The Rangerettes performed on the field for the first time in 1940. Eleanor Kirksey Anderson, who was on the first Rangerette team, said that "the first time performing was not pleasant, but it was the last time THAT ever happened." Many of her friends, family, and girls from the drill team have said that she was a perfectionist. Miss Gussie Nell Davis did more than just teach the team how to dance, she taught them how to be a woman. Martha Lee, Rangerette ('62) said, "She always demanded perfection from her girls and herself. She never asked her girls to do anything she couldn't do."