DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Sam Houston High School in Harris County. Pull up a chair — this one's got more chapters than most towns. It starts with a death and a gift.
Mayor James H. Stevens died in 1856, and when he went, he left behind five thousand dollars for education. Matching contributions came in, and out of that bequest rose the Houston Academy — a proper brick schoolhouse on block 77, hemmed in by Capitol, Caroline, Austin, and Rusk Streets.
That building would see more history than most folks see in a lifetime. December of 1860. Governor Sam Houston himself walked through those doors and stood up to speak against secession.
Think about that for a moment. The man the school would one day carry the name of, right there in that original building, arguing against the war that was already coming. The argument didn't hold.
And when the Civil War arrived, that same schoolhouse became a Confederate military hospital. A place built for learning, pressed into service for the wounded. The city took over Houston Academy after 1877, added grades eight through eleven, and got back to the business of education.
Then in 1879, a woman named Lucy Williams Brown walked across whatever passed for a stage and became the first high school graduate. First one. Worth remembering her name.
Through the 1880s the school went through a couple of names — the Clopper Institute, then Houston Normal and High School — earned accreditation, and launched something that's still alive today: the Aegis, the first high school newspaper in Texas. Still in publication. That's a press run that started in the eighteen-hundreds and hasn't stopped.
By 1895 a large new building had replaced the original schoolhouse, and the name shifted to Houston High School, and later Central High. Then 1919 brought fire — a blaze that razed the school entirely. A third building rose to take its place, completed in 1921.
The Houston I.S.D. came together, three new high schools went up across the city in the 1920s, and the name changed again: Sam Houston High School. The name that stuck. Now here's one for the record books.
In 1927, a woman named Verna Benton organized the first all-girls marching drum and bugle corps in the state of Texas. She called it the Black Battalion. It later became the Houstonettes, and then the Tigerettes.
Texas's first. Right there at Sam Houston. The downtown school closed in 1952, the building turned into school district offices, and for a moment it looked like that was that.
But 1955 brought a new campus on Irvington Boulevard, and with it, the name and traditions of Sam Houston High came back to life. And then — just to make sure this story had enough in it — Lyndon B. Johnson turns up.
He had taught debate and public speaking at Sam Houston in 1930 and 1931. And on November 2nd, 1964, he came back to make an education speech at the school. The very next day, he was elected to a full term as President of the United States.
He practiced his speaking at Sam Houston. He came back the day before the country decided what to do with him. The school was later renamed the Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center.
From a mayor's bequest to a president's homecoming, from the first high school graduate to the first all-girls drum corps in Texas, from a Confederate hospital to a newspaper that never stopped printing — this institution has turned out thousands of graduates, military veterans, and citizens of Houston. Some legacies don't just endure. They accumulate.
What the marker says
This school's lineage begins with one of the oldest schools in Houston. When Mayor James H. Stevens died in 1856, his bequest of $5,000 and matching contributions founded the Houston Academy, with a brick school built on block 77 (bordered by Capitol, Caroline, Austin and Rusk Streets). In Dec. 1860, Gov. Sam Houston spoke against secession at the school; during the Civil War, the building became a Confederate military hospital. The city operated Houston Academy after 1877 and added grades eight through eleven. In 1879, Lucy Williams Brown became the first high school graduate. During the 1880s, the school then called the Clopper Institute and Houston Normal and High School achieved accreditation and began the first high school newspaper in Texas, the Aegis (still in publication). A large new building replaced the original schoolhouse in 1895; the name was changed to Houston High School and later Central High. A 1919 fire razed the school and a third building was completed in 1921. Creation of the Houston I.S.D. and construction of three new high schools in the 1920s led to another name change to Sam Houston High School. In 1927, Verna Benton organized Texas" first all-girls marching drum and bugle corps, the Black Battalion (later the Houstonettes and the Tigerettes). The downtown school closed in 1952 and the building became school district offices. In 1955, a new high school built on Irvington Boulevard revived the name and traditions of Sam Houston High. Lyndon B. Johnson, who taught debate and public speaking at Sam Houston in 1930-31, made an education speech here on Nov. 2, 1964, the day before being elected to a full term as U.S. President. Later renamed the Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center, this institution has produced thousands of esteemed graduates, military veterans and young citizens of Houston.