DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Ector High School in Odessa, Texas — and friend, this one's got weight to it, so settle in. It starts, like so many West Texas stories, with oil. In 1926, they struck it in Ector County, and the people followed — steady, then in waves, then in floods.
Oil field work brought families, families brought children, and children needed schools. The numbers just kept climbing. So on March 10, 1955, the Ector County Independent School District school board sat down and approved plans for something new.
Twenty acres of land in the 800 block of West Clements Avenue, on the south side of Odessa. What they were building was no modest schoolhouse. The final plans called for 164,052 square feet of building — thirty-two classrooms, an auditorium, a band hall, a gymnasium, a library, a cafeteria, and workshops.
Now that is a school. They named it after General Mathew Ector — Civil War veteran, Texas legislator — and they opened the doors in the fall of 1957. Before those doors swung open, ECISD had already set up a student committee to pick a mascot and school colors.
The students chose the Eagles. They chose Columbia blue and white. And on September 3rd, Ector High School officially welcomed 306 students through those doors.
Here's where the story gets complicated — and important. Ector was considered a minority school. Its students were predominantly Hispanic and African American, and the school district knew exactly what that meant in the context of a segregated Texas.
It took until 1974 for the community of South Odessa to start applying real pressure on ECISD to fully desegregate. And when that pressure wasn't enough, in 1981, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund — MALDEF — filed a civil action to force the district to completely desegregate its schools. The district's answer was not to desegregate.
Instead, Ector closed as a high school, became a junior high, and its secondary students were sent to the other two area high schools. That's how it ended — not with graduation ceremonies, but with a lawsuit and a reassignment. And yet — and yet — in the years that Ector High School stood as a high school, those Eagles flew.
Two state titles in basketball. One in track. Distinguished alumni.
Community leaders. Social activists who went out and changed things. The school they built to handle a growing population, named for a Civil War general, opened by 306 students who picked the Eagles and Columbia blue — that school left a mark on South Odessa that no reassignment order could erase.
Sometimes the story of a place isn't just about how long it lasted. It's about what it meant while it did.
What the marker says
With the discovery of oil in Ector County in 1926, the area saw a continuous influx of people to work in the oil fields. As the general population grew so did student enrollment in area schools. As a result, on March 10, 1955, the Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) school board approved plans for a new high school to be built on a twenty-acre tract of land in the 800 block of West Clements Avenue on the south side of Odessa. The final plans called for a 164,052-square-foot building with thirty-two classrooms, an auditorium, band hall, gymnasium, library, cafeteria and workshops. Named after General Mathew Ector, a Civil War veteran and Texas legislator, the new high school opened in the fall of 1957. Prior to the school's opening, ECISD established a student committee to select a mascot and school colors. Students selected the Eagles and Columbia blue and white respectively and Ector High School officiall opened September 3, with an enrollment of 306 students. Being considered a 'minority school,' Ector's students were predominately Hispanic and African American. Beginning in 1974, the community of South Odessa began exerting pressure on the school district to fully desegregate. In 1981, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) filed a civil action to force ECISD to completely desegregate their schools. Instead of desegregating, Ector closed as a high school and became a junior high school while the current secondary students were sent to the other two area high schools. Ector High School's existence saw many successful athletic accomplishments including two state titles in basketball and one in track, produced many distinguished alumni and created multiple community leaders and social activitists. (2017)