Site of Bartlett Colored School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The town of Bartlett got its start in 1882, when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad came through and a farming community took root right on the county line between Bell and Williamson counties. By 1912, a second railway was serving the town, and Bartlett had grown into a genuine shipping point for farm and ranch products from all around the area.

A place on the move, you might say. Now, in 1909, the Bartlett Public School put up a fine new brick schoolhouse. And when they did, the school district took the existing six-room frame classroom building and moved it to this very site, making it the first local school for African American students in Bartlett.

Six rooms. A start. Then 1919 came, and the schoolhouse burned.

Dave Johnson was given the contract to build a new one-story, four-room structure, and he did it using recycled lumber. That building stood, and the school carried on. Decades passed.

In 1945, half of a building from the Goodeville School District was moved to the site to serve as a shop and vocational agriculture building. But here's what you need to understand about this school during those years. It was unaccredited.

It only went through the tenth grade. And for students out in the rural areas surrounding Bartlett, just getting to the schoolhouse was a hardship. Fewer still could manage the trip all the way to Temple or Austin to finish their education and graduate.

That's a hard thing to sit with. The school could only take them so far, and the road beyond was long and uncertain for most of them. But the parents and teachers of Bartlett did not give up.

In 1933, they formed a parent teacher association, and through it they kept pushing, kept improving what they had. And in 1946, their work attracted a dedicated couple from Prairie View A&M to come to Bartlett. Gentry Powell, Senior, known as Prof, born in 1909, and his wife came to that school and took it on together.

Principals, teachers, coaches. All of it. They reached out to students in the surrounding area, and the school district granted a school bus and driver at the start of the 1946 to 47 school year so Powell could bring those students in.

By the summer of 1947, attendance had more than doubled to over 160 students. And that school, the Bartlett Colored School, became an accredited twelve-grade system. It had a strong curriculum.

It had new sports programs. It was growing. In 1949, the school moved to the north side of the city, on Cryer Drive.

Now, the marker is careful to honor the principals who made this place what it was. G. B.

Blackburn served from 1909 to 1911. S. E.

Cooper held the post from 1911 all the way to 1945. John R. Powell, Ph.D., served in 1945 to 1946.

And then Marguerite C. Powell became principal, serving from 1947 to 1965. It was under her leadership that the ten-grade unaccredited system became a Class B accredited twelve-grade school.

And in May of 1949, the Bartlett Colored School held its first graduation ceremonies. Think about what that moment meant. All those years of a school that could only take students so far, and then finally, in May 1949, students walked across that stage and graduated.

That's not just a milestone on a marker. That's the whole story.

What the marker says

Site of Bartlett Colored School The farming community of Bartlett was founded in 1882 when the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad reached the town, which is situated on the county line between Bell and Williamson counties. By 1912, a second railway served the town, and Bartlett became a shipping point for area farm and ranch products. When the Bartlett Public School built a brick schoolhouse in 1909, the school district moved its existing six-room frame classroom building to this site to become the first local school for African American students. When the six-room schoolhouse burned in 1919, Dave Johnson was given the contract to build a new one-story, four-room structure using recycled lumber. Decades later, in 1945, half of a building from the Goodeville School District was moved to the site to serve as a shop and vocational agriculture building. The Bartlett Colored School, unaccredited at that time, only went through the tenth grade; few students from area rural populations could get to the schoolhouse, and fewer still made the trip to Temple or Austin to complete their education and graduate. Parents and teachers, united through a parent teacher association formed in 1933, continued improvements and attracted a dedicated couple from Prairie View A&M to move to Bartlett in 1946. Gentry "Prof" Powell, Sr. (1909-1976), and his wife acted as principals, teachers and coaches. They brought in students from the area with a school bus and driver granted by the school district at the start of the 1946-47 school year. By summer 1947, attendance had doubled to more than 160, and the school became an accredited 12-grade system. With a strong curriculum and new sports programs, the Bartlett school grew, moving in 1949 to the north side of the city, on Cryer Drive. (2003) [1st extra plaque] Dedicated principals who served at Bartlett Colored School included G. B. Blackburn (1909-1911) S. E. Cooper (1911-1945) and John R. Powell, Ph.D. (1945-1946) [2nd extra plaque] Under Marguerite C. Powell, Principal 1947-1965, the 10-grade, unaccredited system became a Class B, Accredited 12-grade school and in May 1949 held first graduation ceremonies.