DUANE
Duane's take
Now, the marker's the one tellin' this tale, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Pull up and listen close, because this one's got grit, glory, and a school that refused to be forgotten. Formal education for African American children in Livingston got its start in a building on West Street, back in the late 1800s.
That's where it began — quiet, determined, planting roots in ground that wasn't always welcoming. By 1908, the school had grown enough to offer teaching certificates through one-month institutes. Think about that.
A community so hungry for learning that they were training their own teachers right there on the spot. Now here's a detail that'll stick with you. At some point, part of a previous schoolhouse — one that had belonged to Livingston's caucasian students — was set on logs and pulled across town by mule teams to serve as a new African American schoolhouse.
Mule teams. Hauling somebody else's castoff building across town. The community took what was offered and built something out of it anyway.
That's a particular kind of resolve. But the West End Addition needed something bigger, something permanent. School trustees built a larger facility there, and they gave it a name that meant something — Paul Laurence Dunbar, a nationally renowned African American poet.
Dunbar High School opened in 1936 as the largest school for African Americans in Polk County. Twelve grades. Vocational studies.
A brick building with eight classrooms, a library, a principal's office, and a fully equipped homemaking department. That wasn't a makeshift schoolhouse on logs anymore. That was an institution.
Through the 1940s, things kept growing. A full-time athletic program took shape. Agriculture courses.
Choral music. The school was becoming a full world unto itself for the community it served. Then 1945 came.
A fire gutted the building. Classes moved into neighborhood churches while the school found its footing again. And here's the thing — it did find its footing.
The state Department of Education accredited Dunbar in 1946. The fire didn't end the story. Not even close.
What came next was something worth hollering about. The Dunbar Leopards. In athletics, those Leopards were something else.
State titles in football — 1953, 1954, and 1958. Three championships. The kind of record that echoes down the years.
In 1957, New Willard School consolidated with Dunbar, bringing faculty, students, and a building right onto the campus. The community kept gathering itself together under that one roof. But 1965 brought change of a different kind.
Citywide school integration began through the Freedom of Choice program, and by 1968, Dunbar had closed. Decades of history, championships, certificates, choral music, and community — all of it caught in the tide of a changing era. The story still wasn't over, though.
In the 1980s, the Committee to Save Dunbar Complex bought the property and transferred it from the school district to Polk County, keeping it in public hands, keeping it alive in some form. And today, an alumni association carries the school's name forward, honoring what Dunbar gave to its graduates and its community. A building on West Street in the late 1800s.
A school dragged across town on logs by mule teams. A brick building that burned and came back. Three football championships.
A closing that wasn't a surrender. That's Dunbar High School — and Livingston, Texas has never forgotten it.
What the marker says
Formal education for African American children in Livingston started in a building on West Street in the late 1800s. By 1908, the school also offered teaching certificates through one-month institutes. Later, part of a previous schoolhouse for Livingston's caucasian students was put on logs and pulled across town by mule teams for a new African American schoolhouse. To meet the needs of the growing community, school trustees built a larger facility in the West End Addition. The school was named for Paul Laurence Dunbar, a nationally renowned African American poet. Dunbar High School opened in 1936 as the largest school for African Americans in Polk County, with twelve grades and vocational studies. The brick building housed eight classrooms, a library, principal's office and a fully equipped homemaking department. In the 1940s, activities expanded with a full-time athletic program and courses in agriculture and choral music. A 1945 fire gutted the building, with classes temporarily held in neighborhood churches. The state Department of Education accredited the school in 1946. The Dunbar Leopards excelled in athletics, winning state titles in football in 1953, 1954 and 1958. New Willard School consolidated with Dunbar in 1957, transferring faculty, students and a building to the campus. In 1965, citywide school integration began with the Freedom of Choice program, resulting in Dunbar's closing in 1968. The Committee to Save Dunbar Complex bought the property and transferred it from the school district to Polk County in the 1980s, ensuring continued public use. School pride endures through an alumni association and the school's contributions to its graduates and its community. (2008)