St. Paul Shiloh High School
Oakwood, Leon County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Following emancipation, freedmen settled on the right bank of the Trinity River, forming the Shiloh, St. Paul and Timesville communities. With strong beliefs in education, each community started schools for their citizens. Organized in 1875 in the Bannamon quarters by Larry Dillard, the St. Paul school then moved to the St. Paul Ame church building with Ben Hudson as principal. In 1894, the trustee board purchased property for the colored school no. 12, a one-room log cabin. Additional acreage and improvements to the property, including three rooms, were completed by 1917. In 1934-35, the three schools merged to form the St. Paul Shiloh High School under the direction of the first African American Superintendent, Miss Ruby Nichols (c.1901-1954). Also at this time, plans were drawn for a new African American school. Throughout its existence, the school focused on identifying and fostering great skills and abilities and preparing students for success after high school. Often faced with inadequate facilities and supplies, the teachers and staff continually persevered to encourage students. The school emphasized academics but also provided sports programs for students to express their talents. In 1945, St. Paul Shiloh won the NFA boys basketball crown. The last graduating class was in 1971 before the school merged with Oakwood ISD. Students from St. Paul Shiloh went on to become doctors, engineers, veterans, professional athletes, teachers and a host of other occupations. The success of the students is a testament to the strong convictions of the community to prepare and educate the community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After emancipation, freedmen settled the right bank of the Trinity River and, believing deeply in education, each community started a school of its own. The St. Paul school was organized in 1875, meeting first in the Bannamon quarters and then an AME church before the community bought land for a one-room log "colored school" in 1894. In 1934–35 three of these schools merged into St. Paul Shiloh High School under Ruby Nichols, the area's first African American superintendent; often short on facilities and supplies, its teachers persevered — even winning a state basketball crown in 1945 — and sent graduates into medicine, engineering, teaching, and more before consolidation closed it in 1971.
Why it matters
The school's near-century of self-built, self-run education embodies how Black communities in the segregated South invested everything in schooling as the surest path to a better life.
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Related people
- · Ruby Nichols
- · Larry Dillard
- · Ben Hudson
Themes & tags
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