EMMETT J. SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL, 1918-1970 - REUNION 2000 - Smith County, TX ********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Submitted by Claude and Versie Isabell Terrell - cwt8@earthlink.net 27 March 2001 ********************************************************************** "Scotties Forever" . . . . . . . . . . ."Celebrating All That You Are" 7th All School Reunion July 1 - 4, 2000 Tyler, Texas EMMETT J. SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL 1918 - 1970 REUNION 2000 Harvey Convention Center 2000 West Front Street Tyler, Texas 75702 Loretta Mosley X Dewberry, '50 General Chairperson, Reunion 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MILESTONES Some milestones affecting the purpose and the mission of the School are: 1884 - Mr. P. V. Pennybacker served from 1884-1893 as the first superintendent for the so called "negroes". He was the third superintendent for the Tyler Public Schools. Charles B. Stewart was the first superintendent for the Tyler Public Schools followed by Mr. Brooks from 1883-1884. Mr. Pennybacker died in 1899. 1888 - On March 2, 1888 a committee from the colored people of Tyler requested that a building be built for colored children in North Tyler, appropriately furnished and competent teachers be employed to staff it. The City Council approved unanimously and in the May meeting the selected lot on Herndon Street near Front Street was approved. In June meeting, N. P. Baker was chosen as the contractor and $6,000 in bonds issued for this expense of the first public school building in Tyler to be built with public funds and named West End School. Four-room structure grades 1-10. In the fail of 1888 in response to the challenge to staff the school with competent teachers, the board elected A. D. Bridges, a highly recognized black educator, as the first principal who served until 1894. 1890 - Two rooms added to the West End School. A three-room residence, known as the Northwest School, was also used. 1894 - W. A. Peele became the principal of the West End School 1895 - Four young men, R. H. Bonner; F. H. Bonner, later an Overton principal; C. L. Lyons and L. B. Wells are on the roil as graduates of the Tyler colored school. 1896 - New three room frame Building was constructed. The East End School. Only Vinie Brown is listed as a colored graduate that spring. She later became a teacher in Smith County Schools. 19? - J. R. Price became principal of the West End School. 1904 - The graduating class for the colored school included only two men - H. T. Preston and C. L. Stafford. 1907 - Mrs. Fannie Finch, a black graduate of Tuskegee, presented a petition from a group of Tyler black citizens for an elementary school for black children in North Tyler. In support of her request a prominent businessman, Frank Bell, donated a large frame building which the board renovated and opened on Vance Street near Confederate about where the Instrurtional Service Center is now located. Only grades one and two were taught in Northwest School and Mrs. Fannie Finch taught both grades. 1918 - The colored teachers in the Tyler public schools were listed as T. J. Austin, H. M. Jordan, F. E. Finch, L. B. Furch, M. P. Mosely, F. L. McDaniel, G. E. Martin, M. F. Griffin, N. M. White, A. A. Warren and G. E. Mitchell. 1920 - A 1920 signal achievement for Tyler, now a city of 12,085, was the opening of Emmett Scott campus at 1230 North Border Street with T. J. Austin as principal. This building housed grades 1-12 for a number of years. 1921 - The West End School was destroyed by fire and black children in that part of Tyler were taught in the tabernacle and in True Vine Baptist Church for almost two years when they were acoommodated at Emmett Scott campus until Peete School was erected in 1930 on West Houston Street. 1923 - The school was rebuilt and renamed Emmett Scott Junior High School and the location was changed from Herndon Street -- the neighbors protested it rebuilding there -- to Border Street. When erected, Scott Jr. High was used for both elementary and high school grades until the erection of W. A. Peete and T. J. Austin elementary schools. The small unit formerly used for elementary grades became Emmett Scott homemaking department. 1930 - Tyler opened Peete Elementary. Hogg Junior High on South Broadway and Roberts Junior High in the backyard of the Rowland house on North Hroadway. 1937 - A negro minister appeared before the school board asking that the school provide a place for black schools to have programs so that churches would not have to furnish such services. Tyler purchased an athletic field for Emmett Scott at the request of R. S. Austin and four black businessmen. 1939 - In the fall of 1939, Mrs. Bessie Davis Randall was employed as librarian at Emmett at the salary of $450 a year. 1950 - Another Tyler educational milestone was separating the high school grades from Emmett Scott on Border Street in 1950 and placing them in a new building on Lincoln Street between Confederate and Englewood. Mrs. Florence, an English teacher, spent two periods a day checking out library books from a small service room. The East End School was replaced with a modern brick structure on the corner of North George and East Line Streets. It was renamed for an eminent black author, Paul Lawrence Dunbar. 1951 - The auditorium was added to Emmett Scott 1952 - The New Gymnasium was added to Emmett Scott. 1955 - Mrs. Glover Tunnell, acting as a spokesman for an 80 member Citizen Committee, asked the board to delay an action on integration until the governor's committee had reported and until Tyler had studied the matter well. The board replied that Tyler would continue a policy of "free choice" since this had been the decision of a local school committee which had worked two years already on the matter with representatives from both black and white schools in the city. 1957 - Emmett Scott Baseball Team advanced to State Semi Finals 1958 - Emmett Scott produced seven District Championships Teams with the 1958 Team advancing to State Semi Finals and Scott also produced five district Championships in Baseball. 1959 - Mr. R. S. Austin still on the central staff had the distinction of being the first black educator included in a newspaper picture showing Tyler administrative staff after a meeting about some aspect of curriculum, perhaps the new wood shop he had set up at Emmett Scott. 1960 - A library/study hall was added to Emmett Scott during that year and Mrs. Florence Vaughn was employed fulltime as librarian until the building closed in 1970. Mrs. Vaughn had a masters in Library Science from Columbia and took advanced work at a different university almost every summer as a vacation activity. Her library colleagues always said she knew more than all of them together. 1962 - Emmett Scott High School Band was named the Best Marching Band at the Tri-State Music Festival in Enid, Oklahoma. 1963 - Katie Stewart and Heny Williams, officers in the Department of Classroom Teachers and Teachers State Association of Texas, were accompanied to the South Central Regional Conference by a third Emmett Scott teacher, Sibbie Waits. l965 - Martha Hunter became a visiting teacher and Tyler bought a laminating machine to the delight of teachers who wanted to preserve pictures and articles from age and curious hands. By 1965 Emmett Scott had produced eleven District Basketball teams and the State 2 AAAA Championship. 1966 - Emmett Scott won the State Title in Baseball 1968 - The Track Team set two National Schoolboy records in two events at the National Track and Field meet in Tuskegee, Alabama Seretha Hilliard were among the creative teachers who developed four programs at TEC-SAC (Tyler Early Childhood Study and Appraisal Center) which included a laboratory for staff develop, one for teachers and pnmary grades, a dialect study and a lab for teachers of preschool children. 1969 -- Dr. Martin L Edwards, who on April 6, 1969 was elected as the first black board member in Tyler, had the pleasure of presenting diplomas to Emmett Scott's 200 graduates in the CaIdwell Auditorium. ------------------------------------------------------------------- EMMETT J. SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL FIFTY TWO YEAR HISTORY 1918 - 1970 It is dIfficult to visualize the beginnings which form the basic framework of Emmett Scott High School. The high school -- the old West End building on South Herndon -- was established in 1888, with A. D. Bridge as its first principal. His wife, a former elementary teacher in the schools (who played for all school programs), resided in Galveston. The West End School was a four-room structure, housing grades 1-10 inclusive. A few years later two rooms were added to relieve crowded classrooms. To further relieve crowded classrooms a three-room residence, known as the Northwest school, was used. Grade assignments, which meant more than one grade or grade and a half per teacher, came from Superintendent P. V. Pennybacker, a scholarly man. During his tenure here, he and his wife complied our first State history of Texas. Some time between 1892-1896, Mr. Bridge left Tyler and went to South Texas. He was succeeded by W. A. Peete, a graduate of Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Peete was a brilliant writer. He edited a column in the Dallas Express under the pseudo-name "Old Hickory" -- a column eagerly and closely read by most of his former students. Mr. Peete remained principal rendering valuable service, until his health became so impaired that he was forced to give up his work. J. R. Price, a former principal of the East End School, served as principal until the coming of T. J. Austin in 1915 from Holly Springs, Mississippi. Mr. Austin, in advance years, was still the cultured, Christian gentleman he was when he accepted the position here and was loved and honored for all that he did for the schools during his regime. During the early years of Mr. Austin's encumbency --1921 --the old building burned. School sessions were held in churches in the city -- the churches suffering greatly in their physical set-up from scarred benches, broken chairs, and windows, with continual regular marching in and out into improvised rooms, partitioned off by curtains. The curtains were not high enough to make a complete division and many times apple cores and other missiles went with a band over these curtains into other rooms to the dismay of the teac her in charge and hailed as a "thrill" by the thrower and his cohorts who knew where such missiles went and from what direction they came. Rebuilt in 1923, it was renamed Emmett Scott Junior High and the location was changed from Herndon Street -- the neighbors protested its rebuilding there -- to Border Street. When erected, Scott Jr. High was used for both elementary and high school grades until the erection of W. A. Peete and T. J. Austin elementary schools. The small unit formerly used for elementary grades became Emmett Scott homemaking department. In 1949, Emmett Scott Senior High School on West Lincoln became a reality. There has been marked progress from the four-room structure with its first graduating class in 1894 of four young men. The present structure includes 26 classrooms, and administrative suite, library, cafeteria, shop, auditorium, gymnasium, and band hall. Emmett Scott High School closed in June 1970, through an integration order. Information given by Mrs. P.R. Robinett and Mrs. G.E. Martin -------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE TEACHERS ALVIN ANDERSON - Assistant Principal; 1968-1970; married to Juanita Love Anderson, one child and seven grandchildren. JUANITA ANDERSON - Teacher, Science; 1948-1961; married to Alvin V. Anderson, one child and seven grandchildren. WILLIE J. ANDERSON - Teacher, September 1957 - May 1970; Contemporary American Problems; World History, American History; American Government. Head Track Team Coach - 1957-63; Head Jr.-Varsity Football Coach-1957- 1963; Debate Coach-1958 & 1959; Sponsor-Boys Forum 1957-1970. Married to Ruth Finley Anderson; two children; two grandchildren. JAMES E. BEAL - Head Coach, boy's Physical Education. JOAN BROOKS - Teacher - Typing; 1964-1966, sponsored the Newspaper, UIL Competition; Married to Daniel L. Brooks; two children and one grand- child. was selected as one of the "first" "crossover" Teachers. FRANKIE BROWN - Teacher, Special Education ETHEL L. WARREN CALLOWAY - Teacher - American Government and World History. 1961-1963. Sponsored the Debate Team; Married to Marvin A. Calloway. MECERIA L. COFFEY - Teacher - 1957-1969. Senior English and Honors Journalism. Sponsored: (1) The Bulldog (school paper); (2) Lay Reader, (3) Homeroom Sponsor, (4) Interscholastic League Essay and News writing Sponsor, (5) a sponsor of one play: The Claw. JUANITA H. CONLEY - Study Hall Supervisor 1960-1965. Has two children and one grandchild. SHIRLENE SHIELDS COOK - Teacher-Home Economics. 1962-1969. Sponsored Future Homemakers of America ad The Waiters Club. Married A. R. Cook. CHARLES A. CRADDOCK - Teacher/Coach - Government - Black History; Economics and Sociology. 1963-1970. Assistant Football Coach; Base- ball Coach; Boys' Seminar - Black History Program. Married to Berdine Lane Craddock; one child and one grandchild. OLLIE CRAWFORD - Teacher - English and Art - 1955 to 1970. Sponsored the Photography Club. LORETTA DEWBERRY - Teacher - Health and Physical Education; sponsored the Rosettes (Drill Team and Pep Squad) and Cheerleaders. SARAH J. EDWARDS - Teacher / Beta English (Honors) grades 10 and 11, 1966-1970. Sponsored S E F Beta Club for College Bound Students. MELVIN FLOYD - Teacher - Chemistry, Physics, General Science, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Tennis, Track and Field Assistant. Seller of tickes- Football and Basketball, Hired Security Person for Football Games; and policeman and others. Married to Ruth C. Floyd, one child. CAROLE HADLEY - Teacher - Business, Typing, Shorthand, Note Hand. 196 - 1964; two children and three grandchilddren. FREDERICK HARVEY - Music NOLLIE V. JONES - Teacher - Homemaking - 1945-1963. Sponsored a division of The Future Homemakers. Two Children and two grandchildren. CHARLES R. LEE - Teacher - Algebra and Industrial Arts (Wood, Electricity, Drafting) 1953-1970. Sponsored the Book Club; one child and four grand- children. CHARLSYE LEE - Library Assistant and Study Hall Director, 1966-1970. Sponsored the Book Club; one child and four grandchildren. JOHNNIE R. MARTIN - Teacher Typing and History. 1949-1954. Married to Ernest V. Martin: two children. ELOISE V. MONTGOMERY - Library Assistant; Study Hall Director, and Attendance Roll Keeper. 1957-1961. FLORA NAULS - Counselor. 1966-1970. Married to Lloyd V. Nauls; four children and six grandchildren. GEORGE NATHAN OLIVER - DOROTHY B. PENDLETON - Teacher - Typing, Shorthand, General Business, Notehand, 9th Grad English. 1956-1966. Sponsored Press Club, Honor Society, Year Book Staff and UIL Coach. Produced first "Commercially printed" school paper since my graduation, and resumed publishing yearbook in 1957. School reporter to Tyler Morning Telegraph. Two children four grandchildren. ELLA FAYE PERRY - VERETTA S. RIDER - Library Assistant abt. 1966-1966. Married to Jesse E. Rider; four children and two grandchildren. MYRTLE ROBINSON - Teacher - Biology, General Science, Driver Education and Physical Education 1960-1967. Coached Intramural and Cheerleaders. Has one child and one grandchild. PURVIN RODGERS - Teacher - Biology and Physical Science, 1961-1062. 9th Grade Homeroom Sponsor. Married to Oradean E. Rodgers, two children and one grandchild. THEODORA CRENSHAW ROSS - Taught Health and Physical Education from 1950- 1956. Sponsored the Rosettes. Married to Ray Ross; three children. DOROTHY H. SHEPARD - Teacher - English II EARNESTINE P. STATON - Teacher - General Science, Biology, and Chemistry 1944-1970 - Sponsored the Student Council. Has two children, six grand- children, fourteen great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grand- children. KATIE A. STEWART - Teacher - English, Government, Drama, Speech and Reading, 1923-1970. Sponsored Drama Department, Head of the English Department, Debate Team and Basket Ball Coach. Won first place in Drama and Debating. ORA C. TAYLOR - Teacher - Homemaking MABEL B. TUCKER - Teacher - Home Economics I & II; and General Science, 1960-1962. Sponsored New Homemakers of America Chapter; Teen age Program of the Smith County March of Dimes; The Home and Family Living Class of Female and Male Students made up the Leadership Team of the TAP. FLORENCE E. VAUGHN - Librarian; sponsored the "Book Lover Club." Two children, seven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. FLORINE F. WARE - Teacher - English; 1957-1963; sponsored National Honor Society, Tri-Hi-Y. Married to Albert L. Ware; one child and two grand- children. WILLIAM WARREN - Teacher - Biology and Chemistry, 1934-1942. Sponsored Dramatic Club, Assistant Basketball Coach; Assisted Cheerleaders. Married to Julia B. Warren, one child and one grandchild. JAMES R. WILLIAMS - Band Director / Teacher - Band, 1944-1970. Won (16) consecutive Sweepstakes Awards as Band Director at Emmett Scott High School. 1st Concert, 1st in Marching and 1st in Sight Reading. Won 1st place in National Contest at Enid, Oklahoma; Best Marching Band in Large Hight School Competition. Married to Artelia Williams; two children and two grandchildren. NORMAN W. WILLIAMS - Teacher - Auto Mechanics; 1965-1070. Sponsored VICA (Vocational Industrial Club of America. Married to Joyce E. Williams; Four children and one grandchild. DELIUS E. WILSON - Teacher - Arts - 1951 to 1955. Sponsored the Hi-Y and Art Club. AUDREY WOODS - Teacher - Health and Physical Education; 1965-1970. Sponsored Dance Club Rosettes, Cheerleaders, and Modern Dancers.