West Side School for Mexican Americans

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the West Side School for Mexican Americans, right here in Bee County. Now, before Texas was even a republic, Hispanic and Irish settlers were already putting down roots in this part of the country, running ranches and farms, raising families. And when you've got families, you've got children, and when you've got children, somebody's got to teach them.

Out here, that meant education at home or in community schools. That was the way of it. Bee County organized in 1858, and by 1860, Maryville, which folks came to call Beeville, had been named the county seat.

The citizens of Beeville incorporated in 1893 to form a school district, opened a new school the very next year, and then in 1898, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church founded St. Mary's Academy.

Out beyond the city limits, ranchers and their employees made up a majority of the area's Hispanic population, and those ranchers established schools right on their own property. Rural communities kept their small schools going too. Education was not something this country took lightly.

Now here's where the story gets particular. In 1911, the Beeville school district built A.C. Jones High School.

And at that same time, the district built the West Side School, specifically for Beeville's growing Mexican American population. Two rooms. A frame building.

And in those two rooms, children learned. That building served students all the way until 1932, when a brick schoolhouse was erected one block west, right here at this site, facing Jackson Street. But serving, and being treated equal, those are two different things.

Mexican American students were kept separate, and the weight of that was real. Then, in 1938, Mexican American students integrated into Jones High School. The lower grades followed by the mid-1940s.

During those years, two organizations were not content to wait around. The American G.I. Forum and the League of United Latin American Citizens began challenging inequality toward Mexican Americans directly, taking their cases before Texas courts in the 1940s and 1950s, and those courts barred the segregation of Mexican American students.

In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education extended that same protection to African American students, who in Beeville had attended the Lott-Canada School for many years. Since integration, the school district has kept right on using that West Side, or Jackson, school building.

And the people who walked those halls, the educators, the students, they are remembered for something specific: a strong curriculum, and a community that succeeded, despite the conditions that tried to hold it back. That building on Jackson Street is still standing. And so is the memory of what was built inside it.

What the marker says

In the years before Texas became an independent republic, Hispanic and Irish settlers established ranches and farms in this area. Their children received education at home or in community schools. Bee County organized in 1858 and in 1860 Maryville (Beeville) became the county seat. Beeville citizens incorporated in 1893 to form a school district, opening a new school the next year; St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church founded St. Mary's Academy in 1898. Outside the city, ranchers, who with their employees represented a majority of the area's Hispanic population, established schools on their property, and rural communities continued maintaining small schools. The Beeville school district built the A.C. Jones High School in 1911. At that same time, the district built the West Side School for the city's growing Mexican American population. The two-room frame building served students until 1932, when a brick schoolhouse was erected one block west at this site, facing Jackson Street. Mexican American students integrated into Jones High School in 1938, and lower grades integrated by the mid-1940s. During that era, two organizations, the American G.I. Forum and the League of United Latin American Citizens, began challenging inequality toward Mexican Americans. Their cases before Texas courts in the 1940s and 1950s barred segregation of Mexican American students. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education did the same for African American students, who in Beeville attended the Lott-Canada School for many years. Since integration, the school district has continued to utilize the West Side, or Jackson, school building. The former school is remembered for its strong curriculum, educators and students, who succeeded despite segregated conditions. (2005)