DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the site of Terrell High School in Denison, Grayson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a community that built something worth remembering — and then had to watch it come down. Before there was a proper school for African American students in Denison, it was churches and private schools doing the heavy lifting.
That's how it went until 1886, when Anderson Public High School opened its doors at 530 West Bond Street. That was a start. But Denison kept growing, and a growing community needs room to grow with it.
So in 1927, district trustees opened a new school right here on this site. They named it Terrell School, in honor of Augustus H. Terrell — noted educator, respected civic leader, and the first principal of Anderson High.
Augustus Terrell passed in 1929, but his name was already on the building by then, and it would carry forward in ways nobody could have fully counted yet. William R. Wims stepped in as the first principal of the new school.
That original building served all grades — every child under one roof — with four classrooms and a small auditorium. Modest by some measures, but it was theirs. Wims, along with Mason S.
Frazier and Evans Tyree Hardeman, those three principals directed the school's expansion through its formative years, widening what Terrell could offer and who it could reach. Now, those early teachers — they gave everything they had, and what they got back in salary wasn't close to fair. But in 1946, an elementary teacher at Terrell named Sammye Taylor Savage decided she'd had enough of that arrangement.
She sued for pay equalization throughout the district. And she won. That's not a footnote — that's a turning point, and it happened right here.
Terrell students didn't just show up. They set high standards in academics, the arts, and athletics. The school sent accomplished civic, business, and professional leaders out into the world.
Performing artists. Athletes. And then there were the Dragons — the maroon and white Dragons — whose winning traditions included state football championships in the 1940s.
That was more than school pride. That was community identity, woven tight. But here's where the story takes its harder turn.
With the implementation of integration came the close of Terrell High School. The last class graduated in May 1967. The campus kept serving as middle and elementary school classes for a while after that, but in 2000 it was razed.
Gone. That same year, a new Terrell Elementary School opened nearby — two hundred yards to the southeast — carrying the name forward into new walls. The marker puts it plainly: Terrell High School was in existence for forty years.
Forty years of Dragons and diplomas, of teachers who fought for what they were owed, of principals who built something from four classrooms up. The campus is gone, but the name survived it. And if you ask the alumni, so did everything else that mattered.
What the marker says
Churches and private schools provided early educational training for African American students in Denison until 1886, when Anderson Public High School opened at 530 W. Bond Street. To meet the need for improved and centralized facilities, district trustees opened a new school at this site in 1927. William R. Wims served as the first principal for Terrell School, named in honor of Augustus H. Terrell (d. 1929), noted educator, respected civic leader and first principal of Anderson High. The original school building served all grades and included four classrooms and a small auditorium. Prominent principals Wims, Mason S. Frazier and Evans Tyree Hardeman directed the school's expansion in its formative years to serve a growing community and provide increased educational opportunities. Early teachers received low salaries, but in 1946 Sammye Taylor Savage, elementary teacher at Terrell, successfully sued for pay equalization throughout the district. Terrell students set high standards in academics, the arts and athletics. The school produced many accomplished civic, business and professional leaders, as well as performing artists and athletes. The winning traditions of Terrell's maroon and white Dragons, including state football championships in the 1940s, were a source of community pride and identity. With the implementation of integration came the close of Terrell High School, and the last class graduated in May 1967. Later used for middle and elementary school classes, the campus was razed in 2000, the year a new Terrell Elementary School opened nearby (200 yds. SE). Today, the history of the high school, in existence for forty years, continues to live on in the Terrell name and in the memories of its alumni. (2005)