Blackwell School National Historic Site

Last updated
Blackwell School
NPS photo of Blackwell School.jpg
USA Texas location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location501 South Abbot St.
Marfa, Texas
Coordinates 30°18′21″N104°01′20″W / 30.3059°N 104.0221°W / 30.3059; -104.0221
Built1909
Architectural styleLate Victorian
Website Blackwell School National Historic Site
NRHP reference No. 100004751
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 4, 2019 [1]
Designated NHSOctober 17, 2022

The Blackwell School was a segregrated school in Marfa, Texas, that served the city's Hispanic population from its construction in 1909 until the end of school segregation in 1965. On October 17, 2022, President Joe Biden signed legislation authorizing Blackwell School National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park Service; [2] it was established on July 17, 2024, after the NPS acquired the property from the Marfa Independent School District. [3] [4] The site memorializes the history of supposedly "separate but equal" practices in Texas and elsewhere, as well as the role of education in Mexican American culture and the Marfa community. [5]

Contents

The main schoolhouse building is made of adobe and has three rooms. [6] The site also includes the Band Hall, built in 1927 as an additional classroom; [2] other buildings have since been torn down. Originally called the Ward or Mexican School, in 1940 it was named after the principal Jesse Blackwell. [7] [8] At that time the school had grown to more than 600 students. [9] After 1954, students were not permitted to speak Spanish; one former student recounted holding a mock funeral for the language. [10] Although segregation was not required by state law, many Texas school districts practiced it until more than a decade after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. [11]

Alumni formed the Blackwell School Alliance to preserve the school in 2006 when the Marfa Independent School District proposed demolishing it. [12] Their efforts led to the school's listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. The Alliance will continue to maintain the school until the National Park Service acquires sufficient land from the district. [2] The national historic site is the second area in the National Park System specifically about Hispanic American history, after César E. Chávez National Monument. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidio County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Presidio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is Marfa. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1875. Presidio County is in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and is named for the border settlement of Presidio del Norte. It is on the Rio Grande, which forms the Mexican border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marfa, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, United States, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park, at an elevation of 4685 feet. It is the county seat of Presidio County.The city was founded in the early 1880s as a water stop. The population of Marfa peaked in the 1930s and as of the 2020 United States Census the population is 1,788.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Historic Landmark</span> Designation by the US government

A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park was established in Topeka, Kansas, on October 26, 1992, by the United States Congress to commemorate the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Brown v. Board of Education aimed at ending racial segregation in public schools. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and, as such, violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees all citizens "equal protection of the laws."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Heritage Area</span> Land designation by the U.S. government to encourage preservation

In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some of which use variations of the title, such as National Heritage Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amache National Historic Site</span> National Historic Site of the United States in Colorado

The Amache National Historic Site, formally the Granada War Relocation Center but known to the internees as Camp Amache, was a concentration camp for Japanese Americans in Prowers County, Colorado. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were rounded up and sent to remote camps. Among the inmates, the notation "亜町" was sometimes applied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Philadelphia National Historic Site</span> Archaeological site in Illinois, United States

The New Philadelphia National Historic Site is the original site of the now-vanished town of New Philadelphia, Illinois, in the United States. It is located near the western Illinois city of Barry, in Pike County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Mendez</span> American civil rights activist

Sylvia Mendez is an American civil rights activist and retired nurse. At age eight, she played an instrumental role in the Mendez v. Westminster case, the landmark desegregation case of 1946. The case successfully ended de jure segregation in California and paved the way for integration and the American civil rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Philip Sousa Junior High School</span> Historic school building in Washington, D.C., United States

The John Philip Sousa Middle School, formerly the John Philip Sousa Junior High School, is a public school located at 3650 Ely Place in SE area of Washington, D.C. Located in the city's Fort Dupont neighborhood, it serves grades 6–8. Its school building, built in 1950, was the scene of civil rights action not long after its construction. Twelve black students were denied admission to the all-white school. This action was eventually overturned in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Bolling v. Sharpe, which made segregated public schools illegal in the District of Columbia. The defeat of the legal doctrine "separate but equal" marked an early victory in the modern Civil Rights Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Galveston County, Texas</span>

This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Galveston County, Texas. There are 10 districts, 73 individual properties, and four former properties listed on the National Register in the county. Two districts and one individually listed property are National Historic Landmarks. One district and six individually listed properties are State Antiquities Landmarks. Seventy-two properties are Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks including one property that contains two while four districts contain many more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Victoria County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Victoria County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Tarrant County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Tarrant County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Anderson County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Anderson County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Gillespie County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Gillespie County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Harrison County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Harrison County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in El Paso County, Texas</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in El Paso County, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Union High School</span> Former school in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix Union High School (PUHS) was a high school that was part of the Phoenix Union High School District in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, one of five high school-only school districts in the Phoenix area. Founded in 1895 and closed in 1992, the school consisted of numerous buildings on a campus which by 1928 consisted of 18 acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School integration in the United States</span> Racial desegregation process

In the United States, school integration is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and remains an issue in contemporary education. During the Civil Rights Movement school integration became a priority, but since then de facto segregation has again become prevalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of African Americans in Austin</span>

The history of African Americans in Austin dates back to 1839, when the first African American, Mahala Murchison, arrived. By the 1860s, several communities were established by freedmen that later became incorporated into the city proper. The relative share of Austin's African-American population has steadily declined since its peak in the late 20th century.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "President Biden Designates Blackwell School National Historic Site as America's Newest National Park". US Department of the Interior. 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  3. "Biden-Harris Administration Establishes Blackwell School National Historic Site as America's Newest National Park | U.S. Department of the Interior". www.doi.gov. 2024-07-17. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  4. Cantrell, Mary (2024-05-22). "Blackwell School property transfer from Marfa ISD to National Park Service nears finish line". The Big Bend Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  5. "S.2490 - Blackwell School National Historic Site Act". Congress.gov.
  6. "Congress makes the historic segregated Blackwell School in West Texas a national park site". Dallas News. 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  7. "EXPLORE HISTORY". Blackwell School. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  8. "Blackwell School". National Park Service. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  9. "Preserving the Complicated History at a Segregated Texas School". National Parks Conservation Association. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  10. "Congress makes the historic segregated Blackwell School in West Texas a national park site". Dallas News. 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  11. "Marfa's Blackwell School given national historic status". Texas Standard. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  12. "Victory! Blackwell School Becomes America's Newest National Park Site". National Parks Conservation Association. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  13. Paulsen, Stephen (2020-09-11). "Reps. Hurd, Vela file bill to make Blackwell a National Historic Site". The Big Bend Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-10-25.