Alla School
Celina, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1866 Moses and Mary Jane Hubbard and their daughter Alla moved from Missouri to Collin County, where Hubbard was a successful doctor, farmer, and one of the largest landholders in the area. Concerned with the inadequacy of the local school, the Hubbards supplemented Alla's education at home and then sent her to Pritchett Institute in Glasgow, Missouri, where she earned a degree in literature in 1880. A talented writer, Alla Hubbard returned to Texas and married Dr. B.F. Spencer in 1884, but died five years later. In 1895 her parents founded a school in her memory. Named Alla School, it was formed from the consolidation of the nearby Emerson and McWhirter school districts and was completely financed by the Hubbards. With an initial enrollment of 108, Alla School opened in 1896 with nine grades, no scholastic age limit, no tuition, and an eight-month school term. The Hubbards, aware of the benefits of a solid educational background, instituted these uncommon features at a time when there was little support for free public shools. In 1958 the Alla School merged with the Celina Independent School District. Funds from the Hubbard estate, however, continued to serve public education in the Celina Schools. (1983)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Dr. Moses Hubbard and his wife Mary Jane found local schooling inadequate, they educated their daughter Alla at home and then sent her to a Missouri institute, where she earned a literature degree in 1880. After Alla's early death, her grieving parents founded a school in her memory in 1895, financing it entirely themselves. Opening in 1896 with 108 pupils, Alla School charged no tuition and set no age limit at a time when free public education had little support in Texas.
Why it matters
A memorial born of private grief became a rare early experiment in free, universal schooling, foreshadowing the public education system that would follow.
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Related people
- · Alla Hubbard
- · Moses Hubbard
- · Mary Jane Hubbard
Themes & tags
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