DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Dr. B.F. and Ethel Reed Coop House in Harris County. Now, Bedford Forrest Coop was born in Crockett County, Tennessee, in 1866.
He studied medicine at Washington University, got married, and joined a private practice in Greenville, Illinois. Sounds like a man with his course all charted out — and then, in 1908, tuberculosis had other ideas. Dr.
Coop fell ill, and when the dust settled on that chapter of his life, he had divorced and married a schoolteacher named Ethel B. Reed, born in 1875. Ready for a fresh start — and that's the marker's own words, not mine — the two of them pointed themselves toward Houston in 1914.
And Houston, it turned out, was ready for them. Dr. Coop set up a medical practice downtown.
Ethel, well, Ethel got busy. She served as trustee of the Houston School Board. Director of the Social Service Board.
Instructor at the Red Cross. Member of the Arts and Crafts Club of the Heights. The woman did not sit still.
Then came World War I, and Ethel stepped up as State Chairman of the Housewives League. In that role, the head of the U.S. Food Administration himself — one Herbert Hoover, future President of the United States — named Ethel one of the speakers in the work of food conservation.
Let that one settle in for a moment. Hoover. Named her.
One of the speakers. In 1923, she was one of four appointees who selected the very location of the Heights Library. And in 1950, Coop Elementary School was named in her honor.
Bedford passed in 1929. Ethel carried on until 1948. But here's the thing about Ethel Reed Coop — she didn't just build a legacy out in the community.
She built it right there inside that house. Later in life, she converted the home into a boarding house for young teachers just starting their careers. Decades later, it would serve as a neighborhood bed and breakfast.
That house had a long life of welcoming people in. The house itself was built in 1914 and 1915, a Craftsman-style structure with touches of Victorian and Prairie style domestic architecture. It features a hipped roof with a small central dormer, a wraparound porch, and tapered half-columns on brick piers.
It was renovated, but the marker notes it retains a high degree of integrity. In 1984, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A doctor, a schoolteacher, a house in Houston that kept on giving — and a woman who left her name on a library's location and a school full of children.
That's the story the marker's keepin'.
What the marker says
BEDFORD FORREST COOP (1866-1929) WAS BORN IN CROCKETT COUNTY, TENNESSEE. HE STUDIED MEDICINE AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BEFORE GETTING MARRIED AND JOINING A PRIVATE PRACTICE IN GREENVILLE, ILLINOIS. AFTER FALLING ILL WITH TUBERCULOSIS IN 1908, DR. COOP DIVORCED AND HE MARRIED SCHOOLTEACHER ETHEL B. REED (1875-1948). READY FOR A FRESH START, THE COUPLE MOVED TO HOUSTON IN 1914 AND BEGAN ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES AS PROMINENT FIGURES IN THE COMMUNITY. DR. COOP BEGAN A MEDICAL PRACTICE DOWNTOWN AND ETHEL TOOK ON LEADERSHIP ROLES WITH SEVERAL SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL GROUPS. ETHEL SERVED AS TRUSTEE OF THE HOUSTON SCHOOL BOARD, DIRECTOR OF THE SOCIAL SERVICE BOARD, INSTRUCTOR AT THE RED CROSS AND MEMBER OF THE ARTS AND CRAFTS CLUB OF THE HEIGHTS. WHILE SHE SERVED AS STATE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSEWIVES LEAGUE DURING WORLD WAR I, HEAD OF THE U.S. FOOD ADMINISTRATION (AND FUTURE U.S. PRESIDENT) HERBERT HOOVER NAMED ETHEL ONE OF THE SPEAKERS IN THE WORK OF FOOD CONSERVATION. IN 1923, SHE WAS ONE OF FOUR APPOINTEES WHO SELECTED THE LOCATION OF THE HEIGHTS LIBRARY. IN 1950, COOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS NAMED IN HER HONOR. LATER IN LIFE, ETHEL CONVERTED HER HOME INTO A BOARDING HOUSE FOR YOUNG TEACHERS STARTING THEIR CAREERS. DECADES LATER, THE HOME WOULD ALSO SERVE AS A NEIGHBORHOOD BED AND BREAKFAST. THE 1914-1915 CRAFTSMAN STYLE HOUSE CONTAINS ELEMENTS OF VICTORIAN AND PRAIRIE STYLE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. NOTABLE FEATURES INCLUDE ITS HIPPED ROOF WITH A SMALL CENTRAL DORMER, WRAPAROUND PORCH AND TAPERED HALF-COLUMNS ON BRICK PIERS. THE HOUSE WAS RENOVATED BUT RETAINS A HIGH DEGREE OF INTEGRITY. THE PROPERTY WAS LISTED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES IN 1984.