Abilene Negro High School

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one bringin' it down the road for you. Now settle in, because this one starts small — real small — and grows into something worth knowing. We're talking about the first public school for African Americans in Abilene, Texas, and the year is 1890.

One room. One teacher. Twenty-two students.

That's it. That's the whole school. They called it the Abilene Colored School, and they put it in the 200 block of Plum Street.

Twenty-two young people walking through a door that hadn't existed before. Think on that for a moment. By 1902, the school had outgrown itself — moved to a one-room structure up at North 7th and Magnolia.

Only now there were two teachers and eighty-four students. The numbers were climbing. The community was growing, and it was investing in its children.

Then comes 1923. The colored school held its first graduation. One student.

The ceremony was held at the Macedonia Baptist Church. One graduate, one ceremony, one milestone — and I don't care how modest that sounds, because somebody walked across that floor and received something that had never been handed out at that school before. That matters.

By 1929, a five-room school had been constructed at 541 North 8th Street, and the student body had swelled to 217 pupils. That same building would go on to serve Abilene's Hispanic youth through the Americanization School and later become a community recreation center — walls that just kept finding new purpose. Then 1936 arrives and they built something permanent.

A ten-room brick school, right here on a campus of more than six acres. 1941 brought a four-room expansion. The place was growing because the need was growing, and the people were showing up. By 1951, the school took on the name Carter G.

Woodson School. Two years later, in 1953, it became Woodson Elementary School — because a new Carter G. Woodson Junior-Senior High School had opened down at 342 North Cockrell Street, and the students were moving up.

That high school closed in 1968, when the Abilene School District became integrated. What started as one room, one teacher, twenty-two students in 1890 had grown, shifted, renamed itself, and served generation after generation — and those structures are still standing, still serving the Abilene community for educational purposes to this day. From Plum Street to North Cockrell, this is a story about a community that kept building, kept showing up, and kept graduating.

What the marker says

The first public school for African Americans in Abilene was established in 1890. Located in the 200 block of Plum Street, the one-room school was named the Abilene Colored School. Its first class consisted of 22 students and one teacher. In 1902 the school moved to a one-room structure built at North 7th and Magnolia, and had two teachers serving 84 students. The colored school held its first graduation in 1923 at the Macedonia Baptist Church for one student. A five-room school was constructed at 541 North 8th Street in 1929. That year the student body consisted of 217 pupils. The building was later used for the Americanization School for Abilene's Hispanic Youth, and as a community recreation center. A 10-room brick school was erected in 1936 here on a campus of more than 6 acres. A 4-room expansion was added in 1941. By 1951 the school became Carter G. Woodson School. In 1953 it became Woodson Elementary School with the opening of the Carter G. Woodson Junior-Senior High School at 342 North Cockrell Street. It was closed in 1968 when the Abilene School District became integrated. The structures continue to serve the Abilene community for various educational purposes. (1996)