DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — the story of Victoria Taylor Walker, straight from the record in Chambers County. Now, some folks come into this world ready for it. Cedar Bayou had one of those.
Victoria Taylor started school at age four — four years old — at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, which carried African American students all the way up through eighth grade. And when she hit fourteen, with money scraped together by her family, by her church, and by her own work, she was off to Prairie View Normal and Industrial College.
Two years later she had her teaching certificate and was working at Bayshore Elementary in the Anahuac school district. Fourteen to a teaching certificate. Let that sit with you a moment.
But Victoria wasn't done learning — she never really was. After additional classes at Prairie View, she became the teacher at Cedar Bayou Colored School in 1933. And she walked in the door with requests already formed.
Two of them, right up front. First: lengthen the school term from six months to nine, matching what the white school got. Second: put in a water well so her students didn't have to cross a busy road just to get a drink of water.
The school board granted both. That's the kind of quiet, determined power that doesn't announce itself with a lot of noise — it just gets things done. She married Sam Walker and kept right on going.
In 1937 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Meanwhile, she was teaching every day on a lower salary with insufficient resources, and then opening the schoolhouse many evenings to teach adults. The school day ending didn't much apply to Victoria Walker.
By 1951, the community had said enough through their actions — a new three-room school was built, and the school board granted the community's request to name it Victoria Walker Elementary School. That's not a small thing. That is a community pressing its hand to its chest and saying: this woman.
Then 1954 came, and Cedar Bayou schools consolidated with Goose Creek. A decade later, in 1964, the school bearing her name was closed as Goose Creek began the process of desegregation. Mrs.
Walker and her students moved to George Washington Carver school in Baytown — a school that remained segregated until 1966. And then she moved again, to Stephen F. Austin Elementary, where she became the school's first black teacher.
She taught until 1971, when she retired. In 2007, Goose Creek CISD named a new elementary school in her honor. And Victoria Walker had already given them the words to put on the thing — she'd said, and I want you to hear this exactly as she said it: "No one can love teaching more than I do.
They may love it as much, but not more." She started at age four in a church schoolroom in Cedar Bayou. She ended with a school bearing her name, and a quote that stops you cold if you think about what it cost her to mean it that completely. Some people make a career.
Victoria Walker made a covenant.
What the marker says
Cedar Bayou native Victoria Taylor Walker began school at age four at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, which supported African American students up to eighth grade. With financial help from her family and church and with her own work, at age 14 Victoria was able to attend Prairie View Normal and Industrial College. She received her teaching certificate in two years and started working at Bayshore Elementary in the Anahuac school district. After additional classes at Prairie View she became the teacher at Cedar Bayou Colored School in 1933. She made two early requests: lengthen the term from six to nine months, matching the white school; and provide a water well so her students did not have to cross a busy road. The school board granted both requests. After Victoria married Sam Walker she continued her education, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1937. Despite a lower salary and insufficient resources, she taught her students each day and opened the schoolhouse many evenings to teach adults. In 1951, a new three-room school was built and the school board granted the community's request t? name the facility Victoria Walker Elementary School. In 1954, Cedar Bayou schools consolidated with Goose Creek, who closed the school in 1964 to begin the process of desegregation. Mrs. Walker and her students moved to George Washington Carver school in Baytown, which continued to be segregated until 1966. Mrs. Walker then taught at Stephen F. Austin Elementary, becoming the school's first black teacher. In 1971 she retired from teaching. In 2007, Goose Creek CISD named a new elementary school honoring the lifelong educator who had said "No one can love teaching more than I do. They may love it as much, but not more." (2020)