Helen Louise Elliott Neal, along with Marvell White, was the first American black graduate of West Texas State University in 1962. [1] [2] In 2019, the school, now named West Texas A & M University, opened the Nathaniel and Helen Neal Multicultural Suite to commemorate her experience. [3] [4] [5]
She was born Helen Louise Elliot on September 17, 1927, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States. She was married to Nat Neal, who in 1971 became the first black faculty member at West Texas State. [6] Helen first attended all-black Langston College in Oklahoma. The Neals moved to Amarillo in 1955, there were no local colleges that would accept black students. When WT was forced by the federal Government to integrate in 1961, Neal enrolled. [7]
Neal died in October 15, 2013. [8]
Memphis is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,290.
Amarillo is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the most populous city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The estimated population of Amarillo was 200,393 as of April 1, 2020, comprising nearly half of the population of the panhandle. The Amarillo metropolitan area had an estimated population of 308,297 as of 2020.
Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is a public airport six miles (10 km) east of downtown Amarillo, in Potter County, Texas, United States. The airport was renamed in 2003 after NASA astronaut and Amarillo native Rick Husband, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February of that year.
West Texas A&M University is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on September 20, 1910, as West Texas State Normal College as one of the seven state-funded teachers' colleges in Texas.
Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm.
The Amarillo Venom are a professional indoor football team based in Amarillo, Texas. They play their home games at the Amarillo Civic Center and are members of American Indoor Football as of August 2024. The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
The Amarillo Globe-News is a daily newspaper in Amarillo, Texas, owned by Gannett. The newspaper is based at downtown's FirstBank Southwest Tower, but is printed at a facility in Lubbock.
William Joseph Takacs is the principal trumpet of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and trumpet instructor at West Texas A&M University.
State Highway 33 is a route that runs from U.S. Highways 60 and 83 south of Canadian and travels east to the Oklahoma state line, where it becomes State Highway 33.
Hardy C. Powers (1900–1972) was an American minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
The Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway (P&SF) was a railroad company that was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), operating primarily in the Texas Panhandle.
Russell "Red" Steagall is an American actor, musician, poet, and stage performer, who focuses on American Western and country music genres.
Jerry Don Logan is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 10 seasons with the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He was a member of the Colts' team that won Super Bowl V.
The Caprock Chief or Caprock Xpress was a proposed Amtrak inter-city rail service which would run from Fort Worth, Texas to Denver, Colorado, passing through the Texas Panhandle, which currently does not have passenger rail service of any kind. Initially proposed 2000–2001, the project has not yet seen significant progress and is unlikely to be implemented. "Caprock" is a geological term for a harder or more resistant rock type overlying a weaker or less resistant rock type, and lends its name to the Caprock Escarpment that defines the edge of the high plains of the Llano Estacado.
Carmen Espinoza-Rodriquez is an American singer-songwriter. She was lead vocalist for twelve years for the musical group Algo Simple before going solo. She is best known for her video America which has been used in PBS documentaries. As an actress, she played the lead role in Texas Legacies for the 2003 season.
Alternative Energy Institute was West Texas A&M University's alternative energy research branch. Formed in 1977, the program was nationally and internationally recognized, and along with research provides education and outreach around the U.S. and the globe.
Janet L. Springer is an American ballet dancer, artistic director, choreographer, and specialist in classical ballet. She was a professional dancer in the early 1970s with the Oklahoma City Ballet. She is a ballet pedagogue, specializing in the method of teaching classical dance; the six and eight-year program of ballet training developed by Agrippina Vaganova, and Vaganova's assistant, Vera Kostrovitskaya.
Bob Schneider is a retired American high school and university sports coach. Schneider started his coaching career with high schools in Texas and New Mexico between 1958 and 1978. During this time period, Schneider was primarily a coach for Canyon High School from 1966 to 1978. With Canyon, Schneider won five basketball and three track titles in the 3A girls division as part of the University Interscholastic League. He also had 350 wins and 59 losses with the girls basketball team at Canyon.
Ben Arbuckle is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Washington State Cougars football team.