George Washington Carver School
Edna, Jackson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The George Washington Carver School, formerly known as the Edna Colored School, had its first class of students graduate in 1912. Though records are hard to find for the early school years, early settlers believed the site of the first school building to be on the east side of Dry Creek where the police station now stands. The school was established during a tumultuous time in America's social history. Segregated schools were established in Edna but even with the Supreme Court decision stating that segregation was unconstitutional, schools operated on a "two-race" system up until 1965. In 1931, The Edna Colored School was relocated to the southern portion of lots V and VI of Marvin's Second Addition. It stayed in this location until 1953. In 1949, a new auditorium and gymnasium were constructed in the Harlem Addition to the school district. During this time, the Edna Colored School received its new name, George Washington Carver School. In 1954, E. T. and Maymie White-Rose gifted land to the school district to build a new school building. Several of the buildings from the Washington and Harris campus were moved to this new site. The Edna school district was finally integrated in 1967 when Edna High School's graduating class included the first African American students. Even under its "separate but equal" status, Carver School was a highly valued educational institution and has served as a central place for the black community of Edna. In 2008, George Washington Carver was sold to a non-profit group and is now named George Washington Carver Center of Jackson County, Inc. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First graduating a class in 1912 as the Edna Colored School, this institution educated Black children in Jackson County through the long decades of segregation. Even after the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, Edna's schools stayed divided under a "two-race" system until the mid-1960s, and the district was not fully integrated until 1967. Renamed for George Washington Carver, the school remained a valued anchor of the community and today survives as a nonprofit community center.
Why it matters
The school's long life — from Jim Crow through integration — is a local window onto the national struggle over segregated and equal education for African Americans.
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Related people
- · E. T. White-Rose
- · Maymie White-Rose
Related events
- · School integration
Themes & tags
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