TIPHC Newsletter, Nov. 25-Dec. 1, 2018

SHOWCASING A LEGACY
Exhibit showcases history of Waco’s African-American high school

Image: Items provided by A.J. Moore High School alumni will rotate in and out of the exhibit at the East Waco Library on a regular basis. Staff photo, Rod Aydelotte

(Waco Tribune-Herald) What tells a high school’s story? Its building? Student achievements? Successful graduates? Photos and books? Living memories?

That was the challenge for members of the Central Texas African-American Heritage Foundation and A.J. Moore High School graduates in creating an exhibit on the school that’s currently on display at the East Waco Library.

“The Legacy of A.J. Moore High School,” contained largely in a glass-topped display table and a large wall panel near a corner of the library, touches on all of the above elements in telling the story of Waco’s black high school, which educated more than 4,000 students over nearly a century before closing its doors in 1971.

It’s part of a series of exhibits the CTAAHF plans for the East Waco Library over the next two years as part of the organization’s efforts to make Waco more aware of its African-American history and culture, said foundation chair Don Wright. “Our mission is to get this history out to the people,” he said. (more)

The Story of Houston’s Third Ward and Emancipation Avenue

(Texas Historical Commission) This summer, I was given the unique opportunity with the Texas Historical Commission to spend two months in Austin learning about the agency’s different divisions and their roles. As part of the Preservation Scholars program, I visited all the divisions and saw how everyday people are working to curate and preserve our great state’s history for the public.

As a history major at the University of Houston and a born and raised Houstonian, the opportunity to work with the Texas Main Street Program on the history of Third Ward and Emancipation Avenue has been a life-changing experience to work with a community that is changing rapidly.

In my short time in Austin, I’ve been able to research and find over 2,300 unique businesses and residences along just 17 city blocks making up the Third Ward. Today though, the area is a shell of its former self.

The blocks that used to be home to thriving businesses and a vibrant community are empty now, and overgrown lots have no chance of telling the stories that were once housed there. This is where I come in, using cultural history as a catalyst to economically revitalize the neighborhood.

At the same time, I’m discovering more and more of the rich history of the neighborhood, and I’m starting to realize that Third Ward’s future is just as uncertain as my own. Not that it’s a bad thing. There is so much history and culture contained in the Third Ward, it’s inspiring me to go beyond just teaching history, but also working at becoming an active participant in the preservation of history. (more)

Did you know…?

Prairie View A&M University was the first historically black college or university to simultaneously host both Army and Navy reserve officer training corps units.

And, this year PVAMU salutes the 100th Anniversary of its Army ROTC program and the 50th year of the university’s Navy ROTC unit. For that, TIPHC student assistant and history major Zachary Lee has researched and provided content for a new page, “Celebrating PVAMU ROTC and NROTC — History, Honor, and Service to Country.”

The page looks at the history of ROTC programs in general, dating to 1891, as well as how both Army and Navy programs came to be here. We also look at the unit commanders and some of the distinguished program graduates and PVAMU alumni, including seven U.S. Army generals and three U.S. Navy admirals.

Click here to view the page.

TIPHC Bookshelf

Published scholarship on black history in Texas is growing and we’d like to share with you some suggested readings, both current and past, from some of the preeminent history scholars in Texas and beyond. We invite you to take a look at our bookshelf page – including a featured selection – and check back as the list grows. A different selection will be featured each week. We welcome suggestions and reviews. This week, we offer, “Requiem For A Classic, Thanksgiving Turkey Day Classic,” by Thurman Robins, Ed.D.

In the era when segregation and Jim Crow laws ruled the land, The Turkey Day Classic was created. The event prospered from 1927 to 1966. Newspaper accounts describe the classic between Jack Yates and Phillis Wheatley High Schools as the largest annually attended schoolboy game in America. Fans came dressed to kill to witness the game and the glorious halftime activities. Marching bands, drill squads, and other performing groups gave eloquent entertaining performances during halftime. However, the crowning of the schools’ queens were the highlights of halftime. Game summaries, team lineups, and editorial comments by the author are presented.

This Week in Texas Black History

Nov. 27

On this day in 1944, U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland was born in Lubbock. He graduated from Houston’s Phillis Wheatley High School in 1963 and earned a pharmacy degree from Texas Southern University in 1970. Leland served six terms in Congress (18th District) and five years as a Texas state legislator (88th District). He was a civil rights activist and a staunch advocate in the fight against hunger. He was the lead supporter for passage of the Africa Famine Relief and Recovery Act of 1985, legislation that provided $800 million in food and humanitarian relief supplies. Leland died in a plane crash on August 7, 1989 while on a relief mission to an isolated refugee camp, Fugnido, in Ethiopia, which sheltered thousands of unaccompanied children fleeing the civil conflict in neighboring Sudan.

Nov. 28

The Jack Yates – Phillis Wheatley high school football rivalry in Houston started in 1927, but the game officially became the “Turkey Day Classic” on this day in 1946. Played at Jeppesen Stadium — then a venue for public school sports events, the Thanksgiving Day game would be played until 1966 and drew standing room only crowds of 30,000-plus fans making it, for many years, the largest event in the nation for high school football.

Nov. 28

Claude William Black, Jr., minister and political figure, was born on this day in 1916 in San Antonio. Rev. Black was pastor of Mt. Zion First Baptist Church in San Antonio for almost 50 years, but was also a noted Civil Rights leader who became a four-term city councilman (1973-1978) and the city’s first black Mayor Pro Tem. He was an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Phillip Randolph, and Thurgood Marshall. During President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, Black was a delegate to the White House Conference on Civil Rights.

Dec. 1

On this day in 1989, dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey died in New York City of blood dyscrasia. Ailey, a native or Rogers, Texas, founded his namesake dance theater in 1958. A native of Rogers (Bell County), Ailey made his Broadway debut in 1954 and in 1958 gained his first critical success for his choreography for Blues Suite, which also marked the beginning of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. His troupe, in 1970, became the first American dance company to tour the USSR in 50 years and received a 20-minute ovation for their performance in Leningrad.

Dec. 1

On this day in 1956, Charles Brown became the first black athlete to participate in a major college sport in Texas when he suited up for Texas Western College (now Univ. of Texas at El Paso), 10 years before John Westbrook at Baylor and Jerry LeVias at Southern Methodist University broke the color line for the Southwest Conference in September 1966. Brown had attended predominantly black Douglass High School in El Paso, served in the Air Force during the Korean War then attended Amarillo Junior College before he and his nephew, Cecil, joined Texas Western. In his debut, Brown scored 16 points and, according to the El Paso Times, “dazzled the crowd” as the Miners beat New Mexico Western 73-48. Though only 6-foot-1, from 1956-1959, Brown led the Border Conference in scoring and rebounding. He concluded his career with 1,170 points and 578 rebounds, averaging 17.5 points and 8.6 rebounds. Brown was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 and the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. On March 2, 2011, UTEP hung Brown’s jersey No. 25 in the rafters. On Sunday, May 11, 2014, Brown passed away in Antioch, California at the age of 83.

Dec. 1

James Cash becomes the first African American to play basketball in the Southwest Conference on this day in 1966 when Texas Christian University opened its season at Oklahoma, losing 90-76. Cash had starred at Fort Worth I.M. Terrell High School playing for legendary coach Robert Hughes. Cash graduated from Terrell in 1965, but because of the NCAA’s freshmen ineligible rule, would not take the court for TCU until 1966. In his first season, 1966-67, Cash started at forward and averaged 11.5 points, and led the team in rebounds with 266. The team would finish the season 10-14 overall, 8-6 in the SWC (second place). However, Cash would help lead the team to a conference championship and NCAA Tournament (first round loss) the next season. An Academic All-American, Cash received a degree in math and later a master’s and Ph.D. from Purdue University and would become a full-time professor and then Dean of the MBA Program at the Harvard Business School (and the school’s first tenured black professor). Cash served on various corporate boards including Microsoft, General Electric, and Wal-Mart and became part owner of the NBA Boston Celtics.

Dec. 1

On this day in 1976, the Clarksville neighborhood in Austin was added to National Register of Historic Places. Clarksville was originally the location of slave quarters for a plantation outside of Austin owned by Texas Governor Elisha M. Pease who gave the land to his emancipated slaves. Freedman Charles Clark established the community in 1871 and subdivided the land among other freedmen.