Emma Henderson Wallace

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Emma Henderson Wallace, right there in Orange County. Now settle in, because this is a story about someone who showed up and never really left. Emma Smiley Henderson Wallace was born in Waxahachie, Texas, in 1876.

She attended Prairie View College, and by 1896 she was a teacher. She worked in Tyler, Ellis, and Jefferson Counties before arriving in Orange in 1901. When she got there, the Orange Colored School was making do with what it had, holding classes inside Salem Methodist and Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Churches, with just four teachers on staff.

Emma was one of them. She joined the Orange Public School faculty in 1914, and she kept going. The widow of Lofty Henderson, Emma married Anderson Wallace in the nineteen twenties, and she kept going still.

She served first as a teacher at Moton High School, named for educator Robert Russa Moton, and then in 1933 she was appointed Principal. Now here is where the story picks up speed. Under Wallace's thirteen years of leadership, that campus grew.

A library came. Basketball courts and tennis courts. A band, a choir, a drama group, student clubs.

The school was building something, piece by piece, under her hand. Then in 1946, a drill corps formed to support the school's longtime Dragons football team. And that same year, something else happened.

The Moton School Parent-Teacher Association made a request, and the school was renamed Emma H. Wallace High School, in her honor, while she was still there, still working, still showing up every day. That is the kind of mark you have to earn.

Emma Wallace retired from Orange Public Schools in 1952. Beyond the classroom, she was an active member of Mount Zion Baptist Church, the Civic Betterment League, the Order of the Eastern Star, and other organizations. She moved to Dallas in 1959, and she died there in 1968.

The community she served for the better part of a century continues to honor her memory, and the many students whose lives she shaped through her dedication to Orange's African American youth carry that legacy forward. A school named after you while you are still in it. Waxahachie sent her, and Orange kept the name.

What the marker says

A native of Waxahachie, Texas, Emma Smiley Henderson Wallace (1876-1968) attended school at Prairie View College before becoming a teacher in 1896. She taught in Tyler, Ellis and Jefferson Counties before moving to Orange in 1901 to become one of four teachers at Orange Colored School, which was housed in the Salem Methodist and Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Churches. She joined the Orange Public School faculty in 1914. The widow of Lofty Henderson, Emma married Anderson Wallace in the 1920s. After serving first as a teacher at Moton High School, named for educator Robert Russa Moton, she was appointed Principal in 1933. Under Wallace's 13-year leadership, the campus developed with a library, basketball and tennis courts, a band, choir, drama group and student clubs. A drill corps, which supported the school's longtime Dragons football team, formed in 1946. That same year, at the request of the Moton School Parent-Teacher Association, the school was renamed Emma H. Wallace High School in her honor. Emma Wallace retired from Orange Public Schools in 1952. In addition to her role as educator, she was also an active member in Mount Zion Baptist Church, Civic Betterment League, Order of the Eastern Star and other organizations. She moved to Dallas in 1959 and died there in 1968. The community Wallace served for the better part of a century continues to honor her memory. Her legacy is remembered by the many students whose lives she affected though her dedication to educating the youth of Orange's African American community and her devotion to her pupils'success. (2004)