Site of J.H. Rowe School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, public education for African American students in the Jasper area didn't start with a bang or a ribbon-cutting. It started in 1875, quiet and determined, with the formation of a school out at a place called Cold Springs.

That school kept going, kept growing, and by 1924 it had moved to a new campus right there in Jasper. And 1924 brought something else, too. That was the same year a man named James Hoff Rowe arrived as administrator.

You want to talk about the right person showing up at the right moment, well, let the record speak for itself. Rowe was born in Panola County in 1876. He attended Prairie View Normal and Industrial College, the place we now know as Prairie View A&M University, and he went further still, all the way to Hampton Institute in Virginia.

Before coming to Jasper, he had served as dean at Prairie View. The man knew what education could do, and he brought all of that with him. Under his leadership, the education programs increased in scope and significance.

He remained principal until his death in 1943. After he was gone, the school was named in his honor, and it stayed open, serving the community, all the way until integration in 1968. Nearly a century after that first little school took root out at Cold Springs, the story had grown into something worth carving in stone.

And they did.

What the marker says

Formal public education for African American students in the Jasper area dates to 1875 and the formation of a school at nearby Cold Springs. It moved to a new campus in Jasper in 1924, the same year James Hoff Rowe came as administrator. Born in Panola County in 1876, Rowe attended Prairie View Normal and Industrial College (Prairie View A&M University) and Hampton Institute in Virginia. He served as dean at Prairie View before coming to Jasper. The education programs increased in scope and significance during his leadership, and he remained principal until his death in 1943. The school was later named in his honor, and it remained open until integration in 1968. (2004)