DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at the Mina Ward School has to say — and friend, this one carries some weight. Let's go back to 1832, when Bastrop was established as a Mexican municipality — later renamed Mina. That name stuck around long enough to mark a schoolhouse, and that schoolhouse ended up at the center of a federal courtroom.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. By the early twentieth century, Bastrop's grade schools were divided into three campuses: one for Mexican American students, one for African American students, and one for Anglo American students. Three separate facilities in one town.
That was the architecture of the era — not just in brick and lumber, but in law and custom. Bastrop established a school for Mexican Americans in the nineteen-tens, and then in 1933, they built the Mina Ward School on land east of Main Street, north of the M-K-T railroad tracks. Now picture it: a one-story yellow frame schoolhouse with classroom space and a stage, one or two teachers working through eight grades of students drawn from Bastrop and the surrounding rural area.
Eight grades. One or two teachers. A stage.
Whatever dreams were staged in that little building, they were happening under conditions the law was not yet done with. Here's where the story turns. In 1947, Samuel and Nemesia García asked school officials if their granddaughter could attend the Anglo American school.
The request was denied. Just like that. Denied.
What happened next moved fast. On November 17, 1947, San Antonio attorney Gustavo — Gus — C. Garcia filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of twenty students across four local school districts.
The case was titled Minerva Delgado, et al. versus Bastrop Independent School District of Bastrop County, et al. Standing behind that effort were University of Texas professor George I. Sanchez and the League of United Latin American Citizens — LULAC.
The complaint accused the schools of depriving children of equal educational opportunities. On June 15, 1948, it came before federal judge Ben H. Rice.
And Judge Rice did not hesitate. He issued a summary judgment, ruling that the segregation of children of, quote, Mexican or other Latin American descent, was — and these are his words — arbitrary and discriminatory and in violation of plaintiffs' constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Mina Ward School closed.
Now — and this is the part the marker does not let you look away from — the decision preserved segregation of African American students statewide. And it allowed the continued segregation of any first graders who did not exhibit English-language proficiency. The ruling cracked one wall and left others standing.
But the crack mattered. Delgado versus Bastrop is remembered today for its significant contributions to the Civil Rights movement and for providing greater opportunities for generations of Texans. That yellow frame schoolhouse east of Main Street, north of the railroad tracks — it didn't just hold classrooms.
It held, as it turned out, the starting line for a fight that ran all the way to a federal judge's bench. Some buildings are small. Some cases are not.
What the marker says
Bastrop was established as a Mexican municipality (later renamed Mina) in 1832. As in many Texas towns, early 20th century grade schools here were segregated into three campuses, with separate facilities for Mexican American, African American and Anglo American students. Bastrop established a school for Mexican Americans in the 1910s, and in 1933 built the Mina Ward School on land east of Main Street and north of the M-K-T railroad tracks. The one-story yellow frame schoolhouse had classroom space and a stage for one or two teachers educating eight grades of students from Bastrop and the surrounding rural area. In 1947, Samuel and Nemesia García asked school officials to let their granddaughter attend the Anglo American school, but the request was denied. On Nov. 17, 1947, on behalf of twenty students in four local school districts, San Antonio attorney Gustavo (Gus) C. Garcia, supported by University of Texas professor George I. Sanchez and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), filed a class action lawsuit titled Minerva Delgado, et al. vs. Bastrop Independent School District of Bastrop County, et al. The complaint accused the schools of depriving children of equal educational opportunities. At the hearing on Jun. 15, 1948, federal judge Ben H. Rice issued a summary judgment, ruling the segregation of children of "Mexican or other Latin American descent" was "arbitrary and discriminatory and in violation of plaintiff's constiutional rights as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States." The Mina Ward School closed, but statewide the decision preserved segregation of African American students and any first graders who did not exhibit English-language proficiency. The school and the Delgado v. Bastrop case are remembered for their significant contributions to the Civil Rights movement and for providing greater opportunities for generations of Texans. (2015)