Doyle Colored School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Doyle Colored School in Kerr County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a community that built something out of almost nothing, and then watched it grow into something worth naming. In 1909, the African American community of Kerrville started a school.

Not with a grand endowment, not with government backing. They raised fifty-three dollars. Fifty-three dollars to move a frame building, a castoff from the white school after a new one was built for those students.

That frame building got relocated onto land donated by a woman named Anna W. Doyle, and she didn't just give the land. She gave nearly two decades of her life as head teacher.

No utilities. Not at first. The schoolhouse sat without running water until 1920, without electric lights until 1923.

One room. Five north Kerrville families sending their children through the door. Twenty-five students in all, which was just about the whole of the black population's school-age children in Kerrville at the time.

Small, yes. But they didn't stay small. That building expanded.

Three classrooms came. An auditorium. Two bathrooms.

A storage area. And still, through all of that growing, the school didn't have a formal name. Just the school.

Then enrollment climbed to about seventy-five students by 1940, and the community hired husband and wife B.T. and Itasco Wilson, along with Miss I.E. Cheeks, to teach. Now, B.T.

Wilson, who folks called Prof, was the kind of man a community leans on. Revered, the marker says, for his dedication to the students. And it was Wilson, this man the community held in such high regard, who looked around at what had been built and decided the school ought to bear the name of the woman who donated the land and taught there for so many years.

Anna W. Doyle. The name finally stuck to the place she'd already given so much of herself to.

By then, Doyle School had athletic teams, cheerleaders, a choir, a marching band. Classes in sports, theater, music, home economics, alongside the traditional academic subjects. A full life inside those walls.

Then 1964 arrived, and integration of the Kerrville schools reduced Doyle to a one-year program for elementary students. After that one year, all African American students were integrated into the broader system. In 1970, Doyle became a kindergarten campus, operating under Starkey Elementary School Principal Fred H.

Tally and Head Teacher Jean Tally. And B.T. Wilson, Prof Wilson, he didn't walk away from students.

He moved into a new position and kept on influencing young people, and eventually the sixth grade school was named for him. The man who named Doyle after Anna Doyle got a school named after himself. There's a kind of symmetry to that, the kind this community seemed to earn over and over.

The Doyle School building was eventually sold to a non-profit neighborhood association. It remains open today as a community center. Fifty-three dollars and a donated piece of land, and what they built is still standing.

What the marker says

The Doyle School began as an African American school in 1909. The African American community raised $53 to move the frame building of the former school for white students after a new one was built. The land where the building was moved was donated by Anna W. Doyle, who was the head teacher for nearly two decades. The one-room schoolhouse had no utilities until running water was installed in 1920 and electric lights were installed in 1923. The black population in Kerrville was small and only 25 students from five north Kerrville families attended. The school expanded to include three classrooms, an auditorium, two bathrooms and a storage area. There was still no formal name for the school at the time. As enrollment grew to about 75 students in 1940, husband and wife B.T. and Itasco Wilson and Miss l.E. Cheeks were hired as teachers. B.T. (Prof) Wilson was revered in the community for his dedication to the students of Doyle. It was Wilson who decided that the school should be named after Anna W. Doyle. The school had high enough enrollment for athletic teams, cheerleaders, a choir and a marching band. Classes included sports, theater, music and home economics, alongside traditional academic subjects. Integration of the Kerrville schools in 1964 reduced the school to a one-year program for elementary students. After one year, all African American students were integrated. In 1970, Doyle became a kindergarten campus under the direction of Starkey Elementary School Principal, Fred H. Tally, and Head Teacher, Jean Tally. B.T. Wilson continued to positively influence students in his new position and the sixth grade school was eventually named for him. The Doyle School building was sold to a non-profit neighborhood association and remains open as a community center. (2015)