Memoir recounts life at Buckner Orphans Home
It’s hard to imagine what life was like at the Buckner Orphans Home. But a captivating part of a new memoir “Me, Bobbi Nell,” recounts personal stories growing up at Buckner.
Bobbi Nell Richardson Parson Batchelder Austin published her memoir in 2025, weaving a colorful story told as if the reader is sitting with the author, listening to her tell the tales. As she so warmly describes it: “walk with me through the cotton fields, the chapel pews, the orphanage halls, the tennis courts and into the lives of those loved and lost.”
Now known as the Dallas campus for Buckner Children and Family Services, the campus in East Dallas today houses family programming, counseling and other services for families and children.
But during the 1940s, it was the thriving center of life for many children, as it was for Austin and her siblings.
As the book unfolds, Austin paints a picture of her life growing up as the daughter of a sharecropper in 1930s rural Texas. Their house had but one water well rather than plumbing, oil lamps for lights, and bricks that warmed by the fire to ward off cold feet at night.
Sadly, her childhood years were marked by tragedy and at the age of six, Austin and her siblings were cared for by family until they arrived at Buckner in 1939.
She recounts their very first days living in the receiving hall for new children, full of worry about the new life and home that lay ahead.
As told by Austin, what lay ahead were years surrounded by friends and matrons who ensured the children had a proper upbringing that included academic education, life skills, and time for play.
Her book includes several pages of campus photos of the stately red-brick buildings but also behind-the-scenes photos of children gathering in the dining hall or cooking in the on-campus bakery.
Woven among the stories of friendships and daily life, is the narrative of how the Buckner staff ensured the children had joyful childhood experiences that brought happiness and social engagement – swimming, skating, movies.
The book shares intimate stories about life growing up at the children’s home from how holidays were celebrated to summers swimming and picking pecans in the fall. Austin tells of learning to make her own bed with a quilt handmade by Texas Baptist Women and attending chaperoned dances as a teen.
On Christmas children received a bundle of gifts, including a toy and a sweater, tied together with string. Austin recounts that for years children would greet each other with: “Merry Christmas! I hope you have a good string!”
The children’s lives at Buckner included spiritual development as well. Austin was baptized in the campus chapel, reciting Psalm 23 that day.Austin writes of her life at Buckner: “The steady rhythms of weather, tradition, friendship, and faith shaped more than just the calendar year – they shaped me. Looking back, I don’t see just childhood memories. I see the roots of resilience, the quiet formation of character, and the gentle grace that has guided my life ever since.”
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