Rutherford B. H. Yates, Sr., House
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Rutherford Birchard Hayes Yates (1878-1944), son of the Rev. John Henry "Jack" and Harriet Yates, grew up next door to this property (in a house later relocated to Sam Houston Park.) Yates followed in his father's footsteps as a civic and religious leader in Houston's Fourth Ward, originally known as Freedmen's Town, a spiritual, cultural and business district for African Americans in Houston since the Civil War. Following his graduation in 1906 from Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, with a degree in printing, Rutherford Yates taught school in Vinto, Louisiana, and Palestine, Texas, before moving to Dallas with his wife, Erie (Sherrod), and their infant daughter. In 1908, they moved to Houston and resided in the Yates family home until this house was completed in 1912. A well-preserved and typical example of the middle class residences built in the Fourth Ward in the early 20th century, the Yates house features leaded glass windows, a wraparound porch with Classical columns, and doors with transoms and sidelights. During the time that the Yates family occupied this house, Rutherford Yates worked with several African American printers and taught at the Houston Academy (founded by his father) where he had attended school as a young boy. In 1922, he and his brother Paul established the Yates Printing Company, which grew and prospered over the years until it closed after 1978. At a time when commercial lodging for African Americans in Houston was limited, Rutherford and Erie Yates and their children -- Johnnie Mae, Olee and Rutherford -- often opened their home to visiting dignitaries and delegates to church and other conventions. The house remained in the Yates family ownership until 1994. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1998
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1912 in Houston's Fourth Ward — the district known as Freedmen's Town, a hub of Black spiritual, cultural, and commercial life since the Civil War — this house belonged to Rutherford B. H. Yates, son of the pioneering Rev. Jack Yates. A trained printer and teacher, Yates co-founded the Yates Printing Company in 1922 and taught at the Houston Academy his father had established. With few hotels open to African Americans, the Yates family regularly hosted visiting dignitaries and convention delegates in this home.
Why it matters
The house embodies the entrepreneurial, self-reliant Black middle class that Freedmen's Town produced, and the hospitality networks African Americans built to survive the constraints of a segregated city.
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Related people
- · Rutherford B. H. Yates
- · Rev. John Henry "Jack" Yates
- · Erie Sherrod Yates
Themes & tags
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