Tracing the history of African American education in Cherokee County

This column will attempt to document African American education in our county by accessing old school records, photographs and books published locally. In addition, to illustrate the impact these early schools had on students’ lives, interviews with descendants are included here – their words “paint a picture” of the importance placed on education by their ancestors.
Special thanks to members of the African American community such as Alto residents George Martin, his sister Linda Fay Martin Skinner, and Maxine Session of Rusk. During interviews, I learned of historic communities which established churches, cemeteries and schools during the early days of Cherokee County. Stories begin to emerge, not only of prominent leaders but ordinary hard-working individuals whose contributions are worthy of preservation.

To this day descendants feel a source of pride for the determination of their ancestors.

After Emancipation in 1865, some of the prosperous African American communities in the region were Shady Grove, Central Heights (Bradford Mountain), Woodville, New Hope, Bradford Mountain, Pine Hill, Mt. Haven, Church Hill, Cuney, Pleasant Plains, Elm Grove, Old Larissa, Weeping Mary and Pine Grove.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, schools were organized separately into Common School Districts for white and black students.

The New Hope Community, located north of Alto, can be traced back to the 1870 census where blacks are listed by their names. This census would report a total of 253,475 Blacks in the state of Texas.

According to information found in the Alto Booker T. Washington Alumni booklet, “early families’ knew to move forward, education was the vehicle needed for future generations.”

And move forward they did when, “in March 28, 1872, a group of black men purchased a tract of land from George Knox and wife R. L. Knox. This group included King Solomon, William McGuahew, John Griffin, Ned Harrison, Guy Griffin, Edmond Harrison, Wilson Harrison and Wilse Richardson. A small log cabin was built and used for a church and school.”

Around 1924-25, the New Hope Community, along with assistance from the Rosenwald Foundation, built a new school. Later, the school was named for the famous Tuskegee educator, Booker T. Washington.

The Rosenwald Foundation was established by Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck & Company. He committed large sums of money for the construction of schools, known as Rosenwald Schools in poor, rural and primarily Black school districts in 15 Southern states. These schools were cooperatively built with assistance from the local communities.

According to George Martin, vice chairman of the Cherokee County Historical Commission, “there were other Rosenwald Schools in the county, such as the St. Thomas Chapel School built in 1928.”

St. Thomas Chapel, located west of Alto in the Peter Bean Survey, began around 1870. This community was composed of farmers, loggers and share croppers. Cherokee County school records show a rural school there in 1884 with as many as 75 students at one time. In 1946, the school consolidated with Booker T. Washington School in the New Hope Community.

Another school funded by the Rosenwald Foundation is the Sweet Union School, built about 1922-23 and was part of the Barsola School District. Located in southern part of Cherokee County, it began after Emancipation Proclamation. Lumber mills were a significant source of income for many in the area; however, as sawmill schools in Forest and Wells were closed, African American students went to Sweet Union for their education.

In Morrill, located south of Alto on FM 1911, another Rosenwald School was built in 1920-21. This community was home to the Morrill Orchard Company, which began in 1903. There was a store, post office, church and school. This school would consolidate with Booker T. Washington in Alto after World War II.

While touring the county with Maxine Session, I learned of other historic African American communities and schools. As a retired educator, administrator and editor of the Texas Informer newspaper, Session shared stories she has featured in print of contributions made by local African Americans.
One stop on our tour was Bradford Mountain, a community I had heard of but never visited. Located South of Rusk, we reached the mountain by way of a narrow road which, at one point, was one lane.

The Bradford Mt. Community School, known as Macedonia, was located in a church building. This small two-teacher school was the pride of “the Mountain,” as the locals called it. G.W. Bradford and his brother Jess Bradford help lead the list of great leaders that came out of this small community. Today, Fatima Bradford lives on the Mountain in the Braford family home.

Jess Bradford was a teacher and County Extension Agent and one of the first Blacks to get a Master of Education degree from the prestigious Cornell University in New York State. G.W. Bradford was an accomplished and well-loved local educator, and the Rusk African American School would bear his name. Today, Rusk Primary School is named for G.W. Bradford.

From Session I also learned of the accomplishments of Rusk citizens Irvin and Inez Conley, who were educators and civic leaders. Mr. Conley would donate land to the City of Rusk for Conley Park and Rusk Memorial Cemetery. He was a successful business man, developer and a barber. He also gave property in Rusk for the Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church, CME, and sold a lot to the St. Johns Masonic Lodge.

The history of African American education and resulting contributions of graduates in Cherokee County is too big to cover in the space allotted for this column. To get a true sense of this impact, one only has to look at the number of successful African Americans in our county and those graduates who have gone on to successful careers throughout Texas and beyond.