The Blackwell School was a segregrated school in

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

, that served the city's Hispanic population from its construction in 1909 until the end of school segration in 1965. On October 17, 2022, President Joe Biden signed legislation authorizing the establishment of Blackwell School National Historic Site as a

unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (alb ...

of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

upon federal acquisition of the property. The site memorializes the history of supposedly "

separate but equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protecti ...

" practices in Texas and elsewhere, as well as the role of education in Mexican American culture and the Marfa community. The main schoolhouse building is made of

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

and has three rooms. The site also includes the Band Hall, built in 1927 as an additional classroom; other buildings have since been torn down. Originally called the Ward or Mexican School, in 1940 it was named after the principal Jesse Blackwell. At that time the school had grown to more than 600 students. After 1954, students were not permitted to speak Spanish; one former student recounted holding a mock funeral for the language. Although segregation was not required by state law, many Texas school districts practiced it until more than a decade after the ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

'' decision. Alumni formed the Blackwell School Alliance to preserve the school in 2006 when the

Marfa Independent School District Marfa Independent School District is a public school district based in Marfa, Texas, United States. In addition to Marfa, the district also serves the CDP of Redford, and the unincorporated communities of Plata and Shafter. In 2009, the schoo ...

proposed demolishing it. Their efforts led to the school's listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2019. The Alliance will continue to maintain the school until the National Park Service acquires sufficient land from the district. The national historic site will be the second area in the

National Park System The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties ...

specifically about Hispanic American history, after César E. Chávez National Monument.{{Cite web , last=Paulsen , first=Stephen , date=2020-09-11 , title=Reps. Hurd, Vela file bill to make Blackwell a National Historic Site , url=https://bigbendsentinel.com/2020/09/11/reps-hurd-vela-file-bill-to-make-blackwell-a-national-historic-site/ , access-date=2022-10-25 , website=The Big Bend Sentinel , language=en-US

References

External links

Official Site – National Park ServiceBlackwell School Alliance
National Register of Historic Places in Presidio County, Texas School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Marfa, Texas Segregated schools in the United States School buildings completed in 1909 Mexican-American history

See also

References

External links