Lexie Dean Robertson

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to give it the telling it deserves. Now, some folks leave a mark on Texas with cattle drives or oil wells or cannon fire. Lexie Dean Robertson left hers in verse, and don't you underestimate what that takes.

Born in Lindale, Smith County, to a family of educators, Alexander Green and Lena Dean, Lexie came into this world already surrounded by people who believed words mattered. And she wasn't long in Lindale before the family pulled up and moved to Martin's Mill. Her father opened a school there, and he named it Lexie Academy, after his eldest daughter.

Think about that for a moment. Before she'd barely gotten her footing in the world, this girl already had a school carrying her name. If that isn't foreshadowing, I don't know what is.

She spent much of her formative years right there in Martin's Mill, before moving on to Grand Saline and various other communities across the state. She graduated from Canton High School at the age of fifteen, which, even for a girl with a school named after her, is saying something. From there she went to North Texas State Normal College, now the University of North Texas, and it was there she met a young man named James Franklin Robertson, her future husband.

The two of them went on to teach together in Texas and Oklahoma, a pair of educators carrying on the family tradition. Eventually they settled in Rising Star, Eastland County, where Lexie worked as a school principal. But somewhere along the way, the poetry got louder than the schoolbell.

By the mid-1920s, Robertson stepped away from the education field to focus full time on her writing career. She was known for what the marker calls homespun poetry, verse that felt like something you'd find tucked in a kitchen drawer or read aloud on a porch at dusk. Her work found its way into publications all across the nation.

And in 1928, she released her first volume of poetry, Red Heels. Readers took to it, and she followed it up with I Keep a Rainbow in 1932, then Acorns on the Roof in 1939, and Answer in the Night in 1948. Four volumes, each one a world unto itself.

Then came 1939, and with it, recognition that couldn't be argued with. A special Texas State Legislative Committee named Lexie Dean Robertson the Poet Laureate of Texas, a title she held from 1939 to 1941, making her the first native born Texan ever to hold that honor. First.

Native. Born. Texan.

The state that had always been her subject finally turned around and claimed her back. And she wasn't done. In 1944, she was named Poet Laureate of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, adding that honor to a legacy that was still growing.

Lexie Dean Robertson died unexpectedly in Abilene, Taylor County, in 1954. The word unexpectedly sits in that marker like a stone in still water. She left behind poems read by Texas schoolchildren of all ages, and by readers throughout the nation and the world.

A girl from Lindale, schooled in Martin's Mill at an academy bearing her own name, laureate of the state that raised her. The words outlasted everything else, which is exactly what she intended them to do.

What the marker says

Educator and noted poet, Lexie Dean Robertson, was the first native born Texan to be named Poet Laureate of Texas (1939-41). Born in Lindale (Smith co.) to educators Alexander Green and Lena (Ansley) Dean, Lexie and her family moved to Martin's Mill shortly after her birth. Her father opened a school here, naming it Lexie Academy after his eldest daughter. Lexie spent much of her formative years in Martin's Mill, before living in Grand Saline and various other communities. She graduated from Canton High School at the age of 15 and began attending North Texas State Normal College (now the University of North Texas), where she met her future husband, James Franklin Robertson. The couple taught in Texas and Oklahoma, before settling in Rising Star (Eastland Co.), where Lexie worked as a school principal. By the mid-1920s, Robertson left the education field to focus on her writing career. Known for her homespun poetry, Robertson was published in various publications nationwide and released her first volume of poetry, Red Heels, in 1928. She followed the popular anthology by releasing I Keep a Rainbow (1932), Acorns on the Roof (1939), and Answer in the Night (1948). In 1939, a special Texas State Legislative Committee named Robertson Texas Poet Laureate. She also participated in literary clubs and in 1944, was named Poet Laureate of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. Lexie Dean Robertson died unexpectedly in Abilene (Taylor Co.) in 1954. She left behind a legacy of literature through the poems read by Texas schoolchildren of all ages and by readers throughout the nation and world. (2010)