Why Clearwater? - Freedom Magazine Presents The History of Clearwater, Florida Part XI

He graduated in 1922 with 28 others from Clearwater, Dunedin and Safety Harbor. Most students arrived for classes by car, as there were no buses then. They met in the courtroom of the Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater for the graduation ceremony.

Ogg went on to the University of Florida in Gainesville where in 1926 he earned a degree in chemistry. He then accepted a position as professor of chemistry at the State College in Raleigh, North Carolina. One year shy of his doctorate, the Depression caught up with the college and Ogg’s salary was reduced so drastically that he was unable to afford his job. He returned home to Clearwater.

“I sent applications to several outfits and received replies like, ’We were very pleased to receive your application. You are number 175 on our list,’” he explained. “Luckily, I had continued to photograph in my years at the university, taking pictures of the experiments we were performing on tung oil, used as a medium for paint in those days. I had even co-written a paper on darkroom procedure. When I returned home in 1936, I set about learning the trade from a photographer.”