DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Now, there are people who pass through a place, and there are people who build it. Miss Mae Murfee — born August 21, 1888, out in Haskell County, daughter of J.
E. and Sarah Murfee — she was the second kind. The building kind. She showed up in Lubbock County in 1905, teaching in the Slide community.
And not just teaching — she was principal there too. Out in Slide. Before Lubbock was the city it would become, Mae Murfee was already shaping the people who would shape it.
Then in 1909 she did something a lot of folks in her position might not have done. She stopped. She went to Texas Woman's University, earned her degree, and came back sharper than she left.
She'd go on to do graduate work later, too. Because for Mae Murfee, learning wasn't a destination — it was just something you kept doing. By 1914, she was the first woman principal of Lubbock Junior High.
First. And two years after that, in 1916, she looked around and noticed the city didn't have a high school library. So she started one.
With her own books. Her. Own.
Books. She didn't wait on a committee or a budget line. She just brought what she had.
She went on to lead Lubbock High School's History and Government Department for many years, obtainin' state credits for those courses and others. She introduced visual aids — buying her own equipment, mind you — and kept making innovations that the school system probably didn't even know it needed until she'd already done them. And she didn't stop at the schoolhouse door.
She worked to bring Texas Tech to Lubbock in 1925. Then, from 1928 to 1936, she served as county superintendent of education, and in that time she standardized all the schools across the county. Every last one of them.
She was active in the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, in historical groups, in civic life — giving her talents to public service throughout her entire lifetime. She had a philosophy, and the marker puts it plain: "Every boy and girl may be saved to useful citizenship if the right person is there at the right time... the parent or the teacher." Mae Murfee died December 31, 1965. The very last day of the year.
And the school named in her memory stands as proof that she believed what she said — and that she showed up, time and again, as exactly the right person at exactly the right time.
What the marker says
Pioneer Lubbock teacher; prominent civic and church leader. Born in Haskell County; daughter of J. E. and Sarah Murfee. First taught in Lubbock County schools in Slide community, 1905; was principal there. Entered Texas Woman's University 1909; earned degree; did graduate work later. Was first woman principal of Lubbock Junior High in 1914. With her own books, she began city's first high school library, 1916; head of Lubbock High School History and Government Department many years; obtained state credits for these and other courses. Introduced visual aids, buying her own equipment; made other innovations. She worked to bring Texas Tech to Lubbock, 1925. As county superintendent of education, 1928 to 1936, she standardized all schools. Her resolute philosophy was: "Every boy and girl may be saved to useful citizenship if the right person is there at the right time...the parent or the teacher". Active in Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, historical groups and other endeavors, she gave talents to public service throughout lifetime (Aug. 21, 1888-Dec. 31, 1965). This school is named in her memory. 1969