Booker T. Washington School
Elysian Fields, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Following emancipation, African Americans formed communities along with churches, cemeteries and schools. The first school for African Americans in Elysian Fields was the Elysian Fields Colored School, a two-room building constructed in 1870. The importance of education for their children was a cornerstone of the community. For 41 years, the school offered elementary and high school-level curriculum. The first teachers were a Mr. Durant (1871-1878) and Jordan Williams (1890-1893). In 1910, the entire community of Elysian Fields elected to move closer to the newly-established Marshall and East Texas Railway. In 1911, the colored school was moved to the current site of the Elysian Fields Elementary School. In the late 1940s, several rural schools for the surrounding African American communities consolidated with Elysian Fields Colored School and operated under the elysian fields county line rural school system until 1954. On March 5, 1954, the Elysian Fields School Board renamed the school the Booker T. Washington School, in honor of the influential educator and founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University). In addition to academic programs, the school also offered sports, including football and boys and girls basketball. in 1970, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Elysian Fields Colored School, all schools within the district were integrated. The school district then converted the Booker T. Washington School into the Elysian Fields Elementary School. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After emancipation, the Black community of Elysian Fields built its own church, cemetery, and school, opening a two-room Colored School in 1870 that offered both elementary and high-school grades for four decades. The school moved with the town toward the railroad in 1911 and, in 1954, was renamed for Booker T. Washington, the famed educator and founder of Tuskegee. It became the town's integrated elementary school in 1970.
Why it matters
The school embodies the determination of freedpeople to educate their children, making a schoolhouse the cornerstone of African American community life from Reconstruction through integration.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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