Site of Booker T. Washington School
Bonham, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to local tradition the Bonham Colored School began in a one-room structure in northwest Bonham in the early 1890s. Enrollment in the 4-teacher school grew from 40 pupils in 1904 to 216 in 1911. By 1920 the school offered 11 grades and was called Booker T. Washington. A new school complex, funded in part by the Rosenwald Foundation, was built on 10 acres here in 1928; Ray Seay served as principal. The school expanded to 12 grades in 1940. Until 1966, when it closed due to school integration, the school served as a focal point for Bonham's entire African American community. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Beginning in a single room in the early 1890s, Bonham's school for Black children grew into an institution that by 1920 offered eleven grades under the name Booker T. Washington. In 1928 a new complex rose here on ten acres, funded in part by the Rosenwald Foundation, whose partnership with African American communities built thousands of schools across the segregated South. It anchored Bonham's Black community until integration closed it in 1966.
Why it matters
Rosenwald schools like this one were a lifeline of education under Jim Crow, and their closing at integration marks both a hard-won civil-rights victory and the loss of a beloved community institution.
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Related people
- · Booker T. Washington
- · Ray Seay
Related events
- · Rosenwald school construction
- · School integration
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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