Lee College
Baytown, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1934, during the Great Depression and after several years of planning, the residents of the Goose Creek Independent School District voted to establish Lee Junior College, stressing the importance of higher education opportunities for area residents. One hundred seventy-seven students registered during the fall 1934 semester, and paid less than $15 per semester in fees. The junior college first shared facilities with Robert E. Lee High School, and classes met at night. In 1935 four women made up the first graduating class, and vocational education was inaugurated with a non-credit class in child psychology. The school’s name was changed to Lee College in 1948, and a separate campus was first utilized in 1951. In 1965, the college separated from Goose Creek C.I.S.D. and obtained its own board of regents. Lee College instituted a college level program in Huntsville at the Texas Department of Corrections in 1966, becoming a pioneer in prison education. The program was designed to reduce recidivism of inmates by offering them educational opportunities, and remains a vital part of the college’s programming. The Lee College honors program was established in 1974 to serve gifted and highly motivated students by preparing them for success in education and employment opportunities. Classes in the program are taught in a seminar format, and several scholarships are awarded through the program based on academic excellence. Lee College continues today to offer academic as well as vocational-technical and continuing education classes to the residents of Baytown and the surrounding area. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the depths of the Great Depression in 1934, voters of the Goose Creek school district chose to found Lee Junior College, betting on higher education when money was scarce. Its first 177 students paid under $15 a semester and met at night in a high school, and four women made up the 1935 graduating class. Renamed Lee College in 1948, it became a pioneer in prison education in 1966 with courses inside the Texas Department of Corrections aimed at reducing recidivism.
Why it matters
Lee College reflects the American faith in the community and junior college as an engine of opportunity — and its prison program extended that promise to people society had written off.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
George Washington Carver High School
Baytown, TX
This site tells the story of Black education in Baytown, beginning in 1921 with the Goose Creek School for Coloreds, whose classes met partly in Mt. Rose Baptist Church. Renamed in 1940 for the scientist and educator George Washington Carver and accredited as a four-year high school in 1941, Carver became one of the state's top segregated schools, winning nine state band titles and eight athletic championships in the Prairie View Interscholastic League. The high school closed in 1967 as desegregation ended the era of separate Black schools, but the Carver name still anchors education in the community.
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When oil transformed the Goose Creek field after 1908, the booming tri-cities of Goose Creek, Pelly, and Baytown needed a school to match, and in 1928 architect Harry D. Payne delivered a striking Art Deco building. Named Robert E. Lee High School in an era when the Confederate general's memory was widely honored locally, it became the civic heart of the district, hosting churches, clubs, and even a junior college's night classes. It survived an arson fire in 1987, restored by alumni to its original appearance.
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