George Washington Carver Center -- Garland TX
N 32° 54.396 W 096° 37.662
14S E 721869 N 3643428
The G.W. Carver School opened in 1948 to teach black children in Garland. It closed in 1970 when Garland schools finally desegregated. Today the old school buildings are used as a neighborhood service center, city offices, and a senior center.
Waymark Code: WMFEAK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/06/2012
Views: 6
The "George W. Carver School for Negroes" opened on land the City purchased in East Garland in 1948. This school educated children in grades 1-12 during the segregation era in Garland TX, and quickly became a vibrant center of the segregated African-American community in Garland. The Carver students chose a tiger to be their school mascot.
Twenty years later in 1968, with desegregation on the horizon, the last senior class at Carver High School graduated. The remaining Carver High students were reassigned to South Garland High School (SGHS). The South Garland HS football team is named the Colonels. A Southern Confederate Colonel is the mascot. The school flag is the Confederate battle flag. The school crest has a CSA colonel on it and Civil-War era crossed sabers. (REALLY)
The Carver School remained open for 1-8th graders until 1972, when the last elementary and middle school students were integrated into the formerly all-while campuses of the Garland school district. The Carver campus buildings were abandoned.
Soon, however the City of Garland found new uses for the buildings. Today the old Carver Tiger Gym has been expanded to house the City's Code Compliance offices, the local offices of the Dallas Urban League, and the Garland Housing Office. A health clinic is next door.
Across the parking lot in the former grade school building, the Carver Senior Center provides fun and fellowship for seniors. In fact, some of the African-American seniors at Carver attended the Carver School as children.
Many Garland African-American community leaders attended the Carver School. Its legacy lives on in their work and in the efforts of both the Carver Alumni Association and Carver's former students.
But that is not the end of the Garland Carver School story.
In 2007, the Garland Independent School District opened a new school named for George Washington Carver. This beautuful state-of-the-art school has embraced and incorporated the history of the former Carver School into its culture. The new Carver Elementary School adopted the old Carver School's tiger as their mascot, so we have a new generation of Carver Tigers in Garland. :)
Members of the Carver Alumni Association have donated their school memorabilia to the new Carver Elementary for display, and come frequently to talk with the students about the value of diversity and the importance of education. The school staff and the Carver alums have formed a wonderful partnership that uniquely enriches that school and their students.
In many ways, the former Carver School continues its mission of educating children and nurturing the community in Garland -- but this time, the lessons and efforts are for EVERYONE.
2 stories about Carver School that were published in the Garland Neighbors section of the Dallas Morning News in 2008:
GARLAND’S OLD CARVER SCHOOL HOLDS RICH HISTORY WHILE NEW CARVER SCHOOL HOLDS PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE
Story by Laura Perkins Cox
When the George Washington Carver School for Negroes opened, the Garland ISD, like so many other Southern school districts, was segregated by race. African-American children of all grade levels went to Carver, which was a combined elementary, middle, and high school.
“We had good teachers at Carver,” recalled Ms. Lillie Hopkins. “They made sure we learned. They worked us hard, but we got a good education.”
“We used out-of-adoption textbooks from the white schools,” remembered John Washington, a Carver school graduate now in charge of Student Services and Community Relations as an Assistant Superintendant with Garland ISD. “Our teachers educated us in spite of the hardships, and I remember many of them to this day.”
The Garland ISD officially desegregated in 1970. The George Washington Carver School closed in 1972. Once the decision was made to close Carver, some high school students transferred early to other Garland high schools. That decision was painful, both for those who left and for those who stayed behind.
The last Carver high school class graduated in 1966, but Carver continued as an elementary school only until it closed for good in the early 1970s. It would be 35 years before another GISD school bore the name of George Washington Carver.
The old Carver School building was eventually repurposed as a community center and city office building. It now serves as the home of several city departments, the Dallas Urban League, and the Carver Senior Center.
In August of 2007, the new George Washington Carver Elementary School opened. Many of the original Carver students attended and shared their traditions and history with the next generation of Carver Tigers. Carver students young and old bonded that day, and the legacy of the Carver school lives on. [end]
FORMER STUDENTS ATTEND 2008 G. W. CARVER SCHOOL REUNION
Story by Fran Walls and Virginia Willis
On the 19th of July, the GISD Special Events Center hosted the 2008 George Washington Carver School Reunion. Carver Alumni hold reunions and keep the history of their school, once a linchpin of Garland’s black community, alive.
People came from far and near to celebrate this momentous and emotional occasion. Nearly 200 former students, alumnae, teachers, faculty, and Carver supporters attended. Everyone greeted each other with hugs and hand shakes as the evening began. Soon, laughter was ringing out from all corners as old school chums remembered youthful antics and renewed friendships.
This reunion built on the successes of the past, and definitely lived up to its theme: Carver: A Living Legacy.
The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was none other than Carver alumnus John Washington, GISD's Assistant Superintendent, who attended Carver when it was still a segregated school. Special guests for the evening included Garland’s Mayor Ron Jones and his wife, Peggy, the President of the GISD Board of Trustees Linda Griffin, and District 2 Garland City Council representative Laura Perkins Cox.
Parents and some children of former students were also in attendance. Each received a warm welcome. Guest speaker Mrs. Verlene Norman Houston (herself a former teacher at Carver) gave a rousing speech recalling the good times at Carver, and exhorting her former students to continue to excel in their lives, and mentor the next generation, as their elders had done for (or to) them.
After an excellent meal and the singing of the Carver Alma Mater, the evening concluded with more socializing, music and dancing. A great time was truly had by all.
We encourage all former students to get involved and become active members of Carver Alumni Programs & Services (CAPS). Membership is open not only to former students and faculty, or those who attended any colored schools in Garland prior to the Carver School being established, but to anyone else who cares for the Garland community and wishes to help preserve the history and legacy of the George Washington Carver school(s). [end]
Address:
222 Carver Street
Garland, TX
75040
Web Site: [Web Link]
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