San Felipe Independent School District
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
From its early days, the historically Hispanic community on the east side of San Felipe Creek has made education a priority, erecting a schoolhouse by 1883. Although the 1890 creation of Del Rio Independent School District (I.S.D.) did not include San Felipe, residents persisted and by 1909, the community had two schools. During the 1920s, San Felipe’s school population continued to increase as immigrants came here from Mexico. In 1928, Del Rio I.S.D. annexed a large portion of San Felipe Common School District, including most of the community and both schools, in an effort to gain tax revenue. San Felipe residents, led by school trustees Santos Garza, Hernan Cadena and Andres Cortinas, opposed the action. A district court sided with the community, reversing the annexation. Santos Garza and attorney Rodolfo Gutierrez then worked to create an independent school district; Garza presented a petition to Val Verde County school trustees, and San Felipe Independent School District was formally established in 1929. The District completed a new high school building in 1930, which became a focal point of the community. San Felipe I.S.D. served Del Rio’s east side until 1971, when a federal court ruled that it must consolidate with Del Rio I.S.D. for integration purposes. Both districts were abolished and the new San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District was formed. Today San Felipe Independent School District continues to be remembered as an integral part of the movement for educational and social equality for Americans of Mexican descent in Texas. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On Del Rio's east side, the historically Hispanic community along San Felipe Creek made education a priority, raising a schoolhouse by 1883. When Del Rio schools annexed the community in 1928 to capture its tax revenue, residents fought back—winning in court and then organizing their own San Felipe Independent School District in 1929. The district served the community until 1971, when a federal court ordered consolidation with Del Rio for integration.
Why it matters
San Felipe I.S.D. stands as a landmark in the long struggle for educational and social equality for Mexican Americans in Texas.
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Related people
- · Santos Garza
- · Rodolfo Gutierrez
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Langston School
Del Rio, TX
San Felipe ISD opened this two-room schoolhouse for African American students in the 1930s and ran it again from 1945 to 1956, naming it for Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes. A single teacher taught as many as thirty children across grades one through eight, while those seeking high school had to travel to Del Rio or as far as San Antonio or Houston. As the district integrated, Langston School closed in 1957.
Santos S. Garza
Del Rio, TX
Known as 'Don Santos' and the 'Father of San Felipe Schools,' Santos S. Garza came to Del Rio in 1898 and built a string of businesses—a theater, general store, dairy, pharmacy, ranch, and bar. His lasting legacy was civic: in 1928 he blocked the annexation of the San Felipe area by the Del Rio school district, keeping his largely Mexican-American community in control of its own schools, and he led the movement that created the San Felipe I.S.D. in 1929.
Tarver School
Del Rio, TX
Del Rio organized a school for African American students as early as 1901, and in 1929–30 the district built a one-room stucco schoolhouse on Ware Street. Chronically underfunded, it made do with books and equipment discarded from white schools, teaching a handful of students per grade under a tiny faculty. Later renamed for principal W. H. Tarver, the school closed in 1957 as segregation ended.
Nicolas Street School
Uvalde, TX
Built in 1938, the Nicolas Street School is the last surviving school telling the story of African American education in Uvalde. Its creation owed much to teacher Susie Harris, who — after the school board reneged on promised new facilities for Black students — wrote directly to Uvalde resident and U.S. Vice President John Nance Garner for help, and won a new campus. In an era of "separate but seldom equal" schooling, two teachers taught eight grades here, and the school served the community until 1965, a full decade after the district voted to integrate.