Pleasanton School Integration
Pleasanton, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pleasanton School District began educating African American children in 1913 with the creation of the Abraham Lincoln School. By 1955, students from the Lincoln School and white students were participating in football workouts together and scheduling basketball games. However, in 1956 the African American citizens felt that the Lincoln School was inadequate and petitioned for improvements. In 1957, Pleasanton School officials and residents considered the cost of building a new school for African Americans and the possibility of losing state funding and accreditation if action was not taken. All agreed that the current Lincoln School was not an acceptable option, and opted to integrate once the new high school and elementary school under construction were completed. Opposition to school integration in Texas was very apparent and bills such as House Bill 65 abolished the right of school trustees to integrate without a petition from the community and then a vote. The community of Pleasanton provided the petition and held a vote on October 26, 1957. By a vote of 343 to 88, Pleasanton School District became the first integrated school under House Bill 65. On November 1, 1957, nine black students entered the new high school with several media outlets present to record the event. Unlike many other integrated institutions, the Pleasanton High School recorded no incidents of violence and the students were welcomed by their white classmates. Pleasanton High School was peacefully integrated and African Americans were given the opportunity of a better education for their children.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pleasanton had educated its African American children at the Abraham Lincoln School since 1913, and by the mid-1950s Black and white students were already practicing and playing sports together. When the Lincoln School proved inadequate and Texas's House Bill 65 required a community petition and vote before integration, Pleasanton's residents supplied both, approving the measure 343 to 88 on October 26, 1957. Days later nine Black students entered the new high school before assembled press, welcomed by their classmates in a transition that recorded no violence.
Why it matters
Pleasanton became the first Texas district to integrate under House Bill 65, a rare instance of peaceful, community-approved desegregation in the fraught years after Brown v. Board of Education.
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Related events
- · School integration under Texas House Bill 65
Themes & tags
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