DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell you this one straight from the official marker, the way the Texas Historical Commission laid it down — and it's a story worth every mile of road that brought you here. Somewhere in Uvalde, there stands a single-story brick schoolhouse on Nicolas Street, and it is the only surviving school left in this county that can tell you — in walls and mortar and memory — what African-American education looked like here. Just one.
That ought to stop you for a second. The story starts before the building does. It starts with a woman named Mrs.
T. B. Harris — Susie, to those who knew her — who came to Uvalde all the way back in 1912 to teach at the Oak Street School.
That's twenty-five years before anyone broke ground on Nicolas Street. Twenty-five years of showin' up, of teaching, of knowing this community down to its roots. You want to understand what happened in 1938, you have to understand that Susie Harris had been there since 1912.
Now, by 1937, enrollment in Uvalde was growin'. The school board could see it plain as a drought. So they did what boards do — they applied for federal aid to build three new buildings.
Two for Mexican-American students, one for Anglo students. And the African-American students? Well, the board had originally promised them new facilities too.
That promise, as promises sometimes do, quietly disappeared. The plan shifted. The board decided those students could have one of the older buildings instead — one of the ones being left behind while everyone else moved forward.
Now, you might think that's where the story stalls. But that's where Susie Harris picked up a pen. She wrote to the Vice-President of the United States.
Not a petition. Not a committee. One woman, one letter, to John Nance Garner — who, as it happened, was himself a Uvalde man.
Garner knew this town. He'd walked these streets. And when that letter landed on his desk, he didn't look the other way.
The board received a telegram. From the Vice-President of the United States. In support of Mrs.
Harris. In 1938, the board approved the purchase of land on Nicolas Street. A new school would be built.
San Antonio architect Will Noonan drew up the plans. Uvalde contractor Robert Holcomb put it up — a rectangular, single-story brick schoolhouse, metal hipped roof, open eaves, exposed rafters. Modest, yes.
But it was new, and it was theirs. And who taught there? Mrs.
Harris, naturally. And alongside her, a woman named Mrs. Jewel Kinchlow — who had once been a student of Mrs.
Harris herself. Just the two of them, teaching eight grades under that hipped roof. In time, Mrs.
Kinchlow became principal of Nicolas Street School and held that role until 1956. The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District voted to integrate public schools in 1955. But Nicolas Street School kept its doors open another ten years, all the way to 1965, when the school board transferred the property to the City of Uvalde.
In a time of segregated but seldom equal facilities, this little brick building on Nicolas Street carried more than its share. It carried the determination of a teacher who arrived in 1912 and refused to let a broken promise be the last word. It carried eight grades, two teachers, and generations of children who deserved better — and, because of Susie Harris, got a little closer to it.
The Texas Historical Commission made it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2011. And now you know why.
What the marker says
The Nicolas Street School, built in 1938, is the only surviving school to tell the story of African-American education in Uvalde. Mrs. T. B. "Susie" Harris, who came to Uvalde to teach at the Oak Street School in 1912, was integral in the establishment of Nicolas Street School. By 1937, increasing enrollment led the Uvalde school board to apply for federal aid to build three new buildings, two for Mexican-American students and one for Anglo students. Although they had originally promised new facilities for African-American students, the board instead decided to transfer the students to one of the older school buildings. Mrs. Harris wrote to U.S. Vice-President John Nance Garner, a Uvalde resident, asking for his assistance in obtaining a new campus. The board later received a telegram from the vice-president in support of Mrs. Harris. In 1938, the board approved the purchase of land on Nicolas Street for a new school. In a time of segregated but seldom equal facilities, the Nicolas Street School contributed significantly to the education of local African-American children. San Antonio architect Will Noonan designed and Uvalde contractor Robert Holcomb built the rectangular, single story brick schoolhouse with metal hipped roof, open eaves and exposed rafters. Two teachers, Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Jewel Kinchlow, taught eight grades here. Mrs. Kinchlow, a former student of Mrs. Harris, later became principal of Nicolas Street School until 1956. Although the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District voted to integrate public schools in 1955, Nicolas Street School remained in operation until 1965, when the school board transferred ownership of the property to the City of Uvalde. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2011