DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Cartwright School in Van Zandt County. Pull over if you need to — this one's worth your full attention. Around 1878, somebody in Wills Point did something that mattered.
They made provisions for the first African American public school in town. That's the word the marker uses — provisions. Not a grand ribbon-cutting, not a ceremony.
Just the quiet, determined act of making room for something that should have existed all along. The school started on the north side of Wills Point, on what is now North Wills Street. It stayed there for nearly half a century.
Then, in 1926, it relocated to the south side of town, to Bertha Street. New location, same mission. Now here's something that'll stay with you.
The school was underfunded — the marker says so plainly, and you should hear that plainly — and yet it attracted certified African American teachers. People who had credentials, who had choices, and who chose this. Some of them taught children during the day and came back at night to teach those same children's parents.
Let that sit a moment. By 1930, the school had grown to offer grades through the tenth. And that year, it was given a name — named in honor of principal and teacher Professor Robert L.
Cartwright. Around that same time, a new school building went up, and it didn't come from nowhere. The local African American community provided land and labor.
Grant funds came through the Rosenwald Foundation, which had been established specifically to improve African American education in the South. That community didn't wait for someone else to build their school. They built it themselves, with help they had fought to find.
In 1935 and again in 1938, students from Cartwright School traveled to Prairie View College — a historically Black college — and came home with awards in math, in declaiming, and in debate. These were children whose school was underfunded, competing and winning. Enrollment kept growing.
In 1944, Samuel A. Sparks was hired as principal. Five years later, in 1949, classes extended all the way through twelfth grade, and Cartwright became a state accredited high school.
An a cappella choir. Homemaking. Basketball.
A real school, a full school. The last graduating class walked across that stage in 1965, following integration. Several of the original buildings were demolished in 1998.
But with a state grant, the gymnasium was converted into a multi-purpose center — still standing, still serving. The marker calls Cartwright School a clear reminder of hardships and determination. Both words earn their place there.
Because what happened at that school, from around 1878 all the way to 1965 and beyond, was people refusing to let the hardship be the whole story. The determination — that's the part that lasted.
What the marker says
Provisions for the first African American public school in Wills Point were made around 1878. The school was located on the north side of Wills Point on what is now North Wills Street. In 1926, the school relocated to the south of town on Bertha Street. Although the school was underfunded, it attracted certified African American teachers, some of whom taught children during the day and their parents at night. In 1930, when grades were extended through tenth grade, the school was named in honor of principal and teacher professor Robert L. Cartwright. a new school was built with assistance of land and labor provided by the local African American community and grant funds through the Rosenwald Foundation which was established to improve African American education in the south. In 1935 and 1938, students earned awards in math, declaiming and debate in competitions at Prairie View College (a historically black college). Over the years, school enrollment grew and in 1944 Samuel A. Sparks was hired as principal. Classes were extended to twelfth grade in 1949 and the school became a state accredited high school. Acapella choir, homemaking, basketball and other activities were added to the curriculum. The last graduating class at Cartwright School was in 1965 following integration and several original buildings were demolished in 1998. However, with a state grant, the Cartwright School gymnasium was converted to a multi-purpose center. The school is a clear reminder of the hardships and determination to provide an education to the African American community.