DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm gonna do my best to honor it. Now, before we get into what Mary Jim Morris built, let's talk about what she walked into. She was born near Atlanta, Georgia, in 1876.
And when she arrived in Greenville, Texas, in 1899 — a young woman, fresh to Hunt County — that summer she earned her teaching certificate from the Hunt County Normal School, the place the community called the County Teachers Institute for Colored Teachers. That same summer. She wasn't here a season before she got to work.
And here's where you need to hold a picture in your mind. Schools for freed slaves didn't open in Hunt County until 1881. That's the ground Mary stepped onto — a community still in the early chapters of formal education, still finding its footing.
When Mary started teaching, there were about three hundred African American students enrolled in the schools of Greenville. Three hundred young people. She taught at North School and at East Colored School, and she did not leave.
She stayed at those schools for forty-five years. Forty-five years. Let that settle.
Along the way, she kept reaching. By 1926, Mary was the assistant principal and teacher for grades five through eight at North School. In 1930, she became principal at Fred Douglass Elementary School — a place previously known as East Side Colored School.
And she held that post until her retirement in the late 1940s. Now, in 1934, Mary earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M College. The marker calls that something of a rarity in Greenville.
She was still teaching. Still reaching. Still showing her students exactly what reaching looked like.
Because that was her standard. She pushed her students to succeed, and she wanted those students in Greenville to achieve a higher graduation rate than any other public school in Texas. Not just in Hunt County.
Not just in East Texas. Any other public school in Texas. That was the bar she set and the bar she held.
Outside the classroom, Mary was a Christian missionary at New Hope Baptist Church in Greenville for more than twenty years. The school, the church, the community — she threaded herself through all of it. Mary Jim Morris died November 20, 1973, at her home in Greenville.
The same town she'd come to in 1899. The same community she'd spent her life building up, one student at a time, one graduating class at a time, forty-five years of standing at the front of a room and refusing to let any child believe the ceiling was low. Some people pass through a place.
Mary Jim Morris became it.
What the marker says
Born near Atlanta, Georgia, in 1876, Mary Jim Morris moved to Greenville, Texas, in 1899 with her family. That summer, Mary received her teaching certificate from the hunt county normal school, locally known as the county teachers institute for colored teachers. Mary started teaching at a time when many African American students were just starting to attend school. Following the Civil War, schools for freed slaves were not open in hunt county until 1881. Mary taught at North School and East Colored School in Greenville, where there were about 300 African Americans enrolled in the schools. She taught at these schools for 45 years. Mary earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M College in 1934, which was something of a rarity in Greenville. By 1926, Mary was the assistant principal and teacher for grades five through eight at North School. In 1930 she became principal at Fred Douglass Elementary school. Fred Douglass was previously known as East Side Colored School. Mary remained principal there until her retirement in the late 1940s. Mary pushed her students to succeed and wanted her students in Greenville to achieve a higher graduation rate than any other public school in Texas. While she was involved in education in the Greenville Community and the state of Texas, she was also involved in the local New Hope Baptist Church. She was a Christian missionary at New Hope Baptist for more than 20 years. Mary Jim Morris died November 20, 1973, at her home in Greenville.