Site of Rusk Public School No. 2 for African Americans

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm passing it along to you. By 1884, the Rusk Public School District was running two schools. No. 1 for its Anglo students, and No. 2 for its African American students.

Two schools, one district, and a divide drawn right down the middle. Now, the building that would house School No. 2 for years to come was a small house, built right here around 1895. Small as it was, it held something considerable inside those walls.

Year after year, an average of fifty students came through that door to learn. Fifty young people, in a small house, reaching for something the world was not always inclined to hand them. Then came 1939.

The Rusk Independent School District erected a new school building southeast of downtown Rusk, built for its African American students. And this new facility was named after the man who had given so much of himself to the work: long-term principal G. W.

Bradford. The Bradford school carried on, serving generation after generation, until Rusk integrated its schools in the 1960s. Now here's the part that lands.

Many graduates of this school became highly respected professionals. A small house, a steady stream of students, a principal whose name ended up on the building itself. The marker doesn't have to say anything more than that.

Some legacies write themselves.

What the marker says

By 1884 the Rusk Public School District maintained two schools: No. 1 for its Anglo students and No. 2 for its African American students. A yearly average of 50 students met in a small house built here about 1895 to house Rusk Public School No. 2. In 1939 the Rusk Independent School District erected a new school building southeast of downtown Rusk for its African American students. Named after long-term principal G. W. Bradford, the facility was used until Rusk integrated its schools in the 1960s. Many graduates of this school became highly respected professionals.