Upstairs at Caroline
Where Is the MUNY Designation?
RECEIVED Mon., Aug. 1, 2016
Dear Editor,
As Texas’ first golf course to allow blacks, Muny has won placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Why has similar attention not been given to the 75 acres being developed as “The Grove at Shoal Creek,” once the site of Texas’ first school for black children who were deaf, blind, or orphaned?
Founded in 1887 by the son of a former slave, funding was rounded up by three former Confederate generals. For 76 years it stood as a beacon of love and hope for many black Texas children who had no other options. Besides school lessons, vocational skills were taught that would allow the students to function independently in the world.
Here are the words of one student who attended the school from 1954-1961:
“I was proud and blessed to be able to be a student there. I learned to be courteous and how to treat other human beings, to be prepared and to do the best we can, but to believe that we can deal with whatever life gave us. You learned to be responsible for yourself, and to help others. Being at a school with other people with disabilities, you learned things that no one else did.”
When the Grove paves over this land, all traces of the school will disappear. Do the Tophers – who own the land – and our city leaders not care about the vital role this great institution played in our community? Why are the stories of the African-Americans who attended this school being forgotten? Our district representative Sheri Gallo has supported the Muny designation. Why is she strongly favoring this massive Grove PUD with no thought or consideration of the importance of this site to the African-American community?
As Texas’ first golf course to allow blacks, Muny has won placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Why has similar attention not been given to the 75 acres being developed as “The Grove at Shoal Creek,” once the site of Texas’ first school for black children who were deaf, blind, or orphaned?
Founded in 1887 by the son of a former slave, funding was rounded up by three former Confederate generals. For 76 years it stood as a beacon of love and hope for many black Texas children who had no other options. Besides school lessons, vocational skills were taught that would allow the students to function independently in the world.
Here are the words of one student who attended the school from 1954-1961:
“I was proud and blessed to be able to be a student there. I learned to be courteous and how to treat other human beings, to be prepared and to do the best we can, but to believe that we can deal with whatever life gave us. You learned to be responsible for yourself, and to help others. Being at a school with other people with disabilities, you learned things that no one else did.”
When the Grove paves over this land, all traces of the school will disappear. Do the Tophers – who own the land – and our city leaders not care about the vital role this great institution played in our community? Why are the stories of the African-Americans who attended this school being forgotten? Our district representative Sheri Gallo has supported the Muny designation. Why is she strongly favoring this massive Grove PUD with no thought or consideration of the importance of this site to the African-American community?
Aletha SaintRomain