Site of Blackshear High School
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member caleb.osborn
N 31° 50.995 W 102° 21.254
13R E 750352 N 3526851
Located at 501 S Dixie in Odessa, TX
Waymark Code: WM4QBM
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/19/2008
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member QuesterMark
Views: 13

This marker is located on the side of a road at 501 S Dixie in Odessa, TX near Magnet Elementary School.
Marker Number: 13490

Marker Text:
In early 1890, Inez Rathbun earned money teaching area students at the Ector County Courthouse. About the same time, Ector County organized a public school system. Over the next decades, the number of students in the area steadily increased. In 1921, the Texas Legislature officially established the Ector County Independent School District (ECISD). Both Anglos and Mexican-American students attended the same school. In 1932, the district established the first African American school in a one-room structure at the corner of South Muskingum and Myrtle streets. Ella Sayles served as the first teacher for the initial class of eight students. As the school grew, the district added a second classroom and utilized space at a nearby church. Although the district added three more rooms in the 1940s, by the 1947-48 school year, increased population caused the students to attend classes in shifts. In the fall of 1948, a campus for Blackshear High School opened at this site. Named for the noted Texas black educator Edward Lavoisier Blackshear, the school provided expanded facilities for African American students in the upper grade levels. Upon integration of all the district schools in 1966, the campus was converted for use as Blackshear Middle School. In 1983, it became a magnet elementary school. Its link to early education in the community and to its namesake educator remain significant today. (2006)


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les7h visited Site of Blackshear High School 01/01/2009 les7h visited it

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