Black Education in Bryan

On March 30, 1885, the City of Bryan purchased seven lots in this area as a site for a public school to provide separate but equal and impartial instruction for black children of the community, as prescribed by the Texas State Constitution of 1876. The "Bryan Public School for Colored" was the first educational institution established for blacks in Brazos County. When school opened in the fall of 1885, its principal was A.H. Colwell, who later became a prominent leader of black Republicans, and was named as a presidential elector from Texas in 1896. The original faculty included Mrs. Anne Alberson, Misses Mamie Burrows and Beatrice Calhoun, Mrs. Ada Scott Hall, and Mrs. Lenora Green, a classmate of Dr. William E.B. Dubois. The first school building of this site was a two-story frame structure, furnished with planks supported by kegs for seating. After the school burned in 1914, a brick edifice was constructed. In 1930, when the Kemp Junior-Senior High School was built across town, this facility became Washington Elementary School. After its destruction by fire in Sept. 1971, Washington Elementary was not rebuilt and the black students were integrated into the Bryan Public School System. Washington Park occupies most of the original site.

Black Education in Bryan is a historical marker in Bryan, Brazos County, dedicated in 1975. It is one of 54 historical markers documented in Brazos County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 172 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.6805, -96.3679 near Bryan. The nearest cataloged historic site is Sausley House (historic place), about 0.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include Bryan City Cemetery, Higgs, Walter J., House, and House at 600 N. Washington.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5041008664. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.