O.J. Thomas High School
Cameron, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
O.J. Thomas High School Early efforts to serve the educational needs of Cameron's African American students centered on church instruction at a place called "Little Rocky" Church in the Marlow Community. In 1923, Oscar John Thomas (1894-1977) joined the district to serve as principal and teacher. Under his leadership, the district secured financing from the Julius Rosenwald fund and built a new facility in 1925. The school was renamed for Thomas in 1938. Thirty years later, during integration, the facility became Cameron Junior High. A 1974 petition changed the name back to O.J. Thomas. In 1995, the junior high closed, and in 1998, the building was sold to an alumni group for use as a community center. (2002)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Education for Cameron's African American children began in church instruction at the "Little Rocky" Church in the Marlow community until Oscar John Thomas arrived in 1923 as principal and teacher. Under his leadership the district drew on the Julius Rosenwald Fund to build a new school in 1925, later renamed in his honor. The building became Cameron Junior High during integration, regained the O.J. Thomas name by petition in 1974, and after closing was sold in 1998 to an alumni group for use as a community center.
Why it matters
The school stands as a testament to the Rosenwald-funded push to educate Black children across the segregated South, and to a community that fought to keep its founder's name on the door.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the early twentieth century, Texas, like the rest of the South, ran segregated and deeply unequal school systems. Black children often learned in churches, lodges or makeshift buildings, with short terms, few supplies and teachers paid far less than their white counterparts. In Cameron, as the marker notes, education for African American students first centered on church instruction at "Little Rocky" Church in the Marlow community.
In the 1910s and 1920s a major philanthropic effort tried to close part of that gap. The Julius Rosenwald Fund, created by the Sears, Roebuck and Company leader and shaped by his partnership with Booker T. Washington, helped pay for the construction of thousands of schools for Black children across the South. The fund usually required matching contributions, and Black communities themselves often raised a large share through donations of money, land and labor.
After the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, desegregation came to Southern school districts slowly and unevenly, many of them not until the late 1960s. When schools did integrate, Black schools were often closed, renamed or turned to other uses. Communities frequently lost institutions they had built and cherished.
People & events
The central figure is Oscar John Thomas (1894-1977), who joined the district in 1923 as both principal and teacher, a double load typical of Black schools at the time. Under his leadership the district obtained Rosenwald Fund financing and opened a new school building in 1925. For Cameron's Black families it meant a real schoolhouse, built for learning.
In 1938 the school was renamed for Thomas, an unusual honor for a man who was still in the middle of his career. Thirty years later, as the district integrated, the building became Cameron Junior High, and his name was taken off the door.
The community did not accept that. In 1974 a petition restored the O.J. Thomas name. The junior high closed in 1995, and in 1998 an alumni group bought the building for use as a community center. The people the school had educated took responsibility for keeping it alive.
Its place in the American story
O.J. Thomas High School belongs to one of the most remarkable school-building efforts in American history. Rosenwald schools went up across the South, and together they educated a generation of Black Southerners. Many people who later took part in the civil rights movement began their education in buildings like this one.
The school's later history reflects a hard truth about desegregation. Integration was a moral and legal victory, but it often meant that Black communities lost their schools, their educators' leadership roles and the names that honored them. Cameron's 1974 petition is a small but telling example of communities insisting that their history be remembered.
Today many surviving Rosenwald schools are recognized as important historic places, and preservationists across the country have worked to save them. The alumni purchase in 1998 puts this school in that tradition of memory kept alive by the people who lived it.
If you visit
Look at the building as a survivor. It was built in 1925 with Rosenwald support, served as a segregated high school and then an integrated junior high, and now belongs to the community it educated. Rosenwald-era schools were often designed to let in plenty of natural light, so notice the windows and the overall layout if you can.
The building is used as a community center run by an alumni group, so treat it as an active community space rather than a museum. Check ahead before expecting to go inside, and be respectful of events or gatherings that may be going on.
Cameron is a manageable stop on a Central Texas drive. This marker and the town's other historic sites together tell different sides of the same community's story. For travelers following African American history in Texas, it is a meaningful place to see what one town built, lost and won back.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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