Furney Richardson High School
Teague, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1933, trustees of Busby and Grove Island Schools consolidated as a single district for African American children in western Freestone County. Trustees Wesley Madison, J.H. Clemons and Rufus Carter acquired land from the Albert Wright family, and the new campus, named for the first superindendent, opened here that fall with grades through high school. Several businesses opened near the school building to form a rural community. The school became a leading educational institution for African American students in the area. Attendance waned by 1958, when high school classes transferred to Teague; the entire school merged with Teague ten years later. The schoolhouse continued in use as a community center and reunion site. (2008)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1933, at the depths of the Depression, trustees of the Busby and Grove Island schools joined forces to create a single district for African-American children in western Freestone County. On land acquired from the Albert Wright family, the campus opened that fall—named for its first superintendent, Furney Richardson—offering classes through high school, and a small rural community of businesses grew up around it. A leading Black school for decades, it lost its high school to Teague in 1958 and fully merged a decade later, after which the schoolhouse lived on as a community and reunion center.
Why it matters
The school stands for the determination of rural African-American communities to build and sustain their own institutions of learning through the long era of segregation.
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Related people
- · Furney Richardson
- · Wesley Madison
- · J.H. Clemons
- · Rufus Carter
Themes & tags
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